Tuesday, 27 October 2026 at 7 pm
The body and psyche are not two separate worlds. The way we live, experience, feel, think, and relate to ourselves and others constantly intersects with the physiology of our body. Psychosomatics lies at this intersection of the psychological and the physical.
In this talk, we will discuss psychosomatics as an important field for understanding the human condition, from its historical development to contemporary insights into the connection between emotions, the autonomic nervous system, and bodily processes. We will pay special attention to stress and its significance in the onset and maintenance of various difficulties, as well as the ways in which the body reacts when it is subjected to prolonged strain.
We will also address the internal conflicts that can arise between our desires, needs and conscious attitudes, and the various ways in which emotional experience can be expressed through the body. At the same time, the body can become a source of psychological experience, interpretation and meaning, so the relationship between the physical and the psychological is not a one-way street.
In our discussion, we will touch upon psychosomatic and functional bodily symptoms, insomnia, allergic reactions, autoimmune diseases, and cancer, with the aim of clearly distinguishing scientifically-founded knowledge from simplistic psychological interpretations of illness.
We will also discuss how attention, expectations, and the way we interpret bodily sensations can influence our physical experience. We will not present psychosomatics as a story about “it's all in the head”, nor that every illness has a hidden psychological meaning. We will try to open up a space for a more complex and contemporary understanding of the relationship between the body, emotions, stress, illness, and psychological life.
The discussion will feature Marija Roth Jelisavčić, a psychologist and psychotherapist, and Prim. Jadran Morović, MD, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist.