George Engel's Biopsychosocial Model

The biopsychosocial model finds its roots in psychosomatic medicine. The term was first brought to life by Roy Grinker, a neurologist and psychiatrist, in 1954. Grinker applied this concept into his world of psychiatry. It was about 1977 when George Engel took this “biopsychosocial” term and began to apply it directly to his focus within medicine (Ghaemi, 2009). Engel formulated his own model that offered a holistic alternative to the existing biomedical model. He felt the current model was too narrow focused; and it lacked empathy, compassion, and regard for the patient’s subjective experience. He believed in order to fully understand and respond to the patient’s suffering the clinician must provide the patient with a sense that they are indeed being heard and understood. This included the following three levles: biological, psychological, and social dimensions (Borrell-Carrio, et al., 2004). Engel felt no single patient, condition, or illness should be reduced to any one piece; and it should all be taken into account with each and every level of health care (as cited by Ghaemi,
In reality, the realm of clinical work is actually more complex and often requires a deeper look into a situation (as cited by Borrell-Carrio, et al., 2004). Engel’s approach presents an idea that “more is better”. By gathering more perspective into a situation, one would think it would bring you closer to a more highly complex realization to what is going on. However, though it seems like it could be common sense, it’s not necessarily scientific sense (Ghaemi, 2009). Question becomes, is more understanding better compared to a more structured model? Within biomedicine a more structured and practical guide is provided. With the biopsychosocial model where do you start? What needs to be addressed first? Where do you go to next? This right here could be a challenge. Excellent