Professional association SAPPM

Origins of the professional association

In the aftermath of the Second World War, there was a call for a corrective that respects the dignity and subjectivity of the human being and anchors it as a basic reality in modern medicine. Although psychosomatic illnesses have been described since ancient times, they were – despite their frequency – overlooked or stigmatized by the increasingly positivistic and fragmented medicine of the early 20th century.

In response, a successful reform trend emerged in various European countries and the USA from the 1950s onwards. In the 1980s, psychosocial medicine was declared a compulsory part of the curriculum at medical faculties.

The SAPPM emerged as a professional association in 2008 from various Swiss predecessor associations.
Psychosomatic medicine is now well established in Switzerland.

Present and outlook

In the last three decades, psychosomatic medicine has received a great deal of attention as a result of the increase and improved recording of stress-related illnesses. At the same time, research into psychosomatic disorders has made great progress. Medical understanding has emancipated itself from dualistic-based “psychologizing interpretations” and is developing into an exciting alloy of natural sciences and humanities.

Thanks to its overarching position as a second medical qualification (in addition to a specialist title of choice), psychosomatic medicine in Switzerland has a strong cross-sectional nature and has a broad interdisciplinary impact with subject-related sub-differentiations, such as gynecological psychosomatics, pediatric psychosomatics, neurological psychosomatics, etc..

The SAPPM already has almost 1,000 members throughout Switzerland. The majority of members are committed to patients in primary care.

As a professional association, SAPPM is identified with the task of tackling issues relevant to the future together and in an interdisciplinary manner with other areas.

Organizational structure of SAPPM