Takaaki Koyazu

Schematic Understanding of the Worried Patient with Somatoform Disorder

The problem of “doctor shopping behavior” of the somatizing patient resides in the big deviation between the patient’s self-diagnosis and the doctor’s medical diagnosis. The former is subjective, the latter objective. The doctor’s reply “there is nothing wrong with you” does not work well. Rather it results in a feeling of distrust of the doctor in the patient’s mind. The importance of making use of a collaborative therapeutic relationship in cognitive therapy is asserted.