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The Biopsychosocial Model of Evaluation and Treatment in Psychiatry

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Atlas of Psychiatry

Abstract

The biopsychosocial (BPS) model was developed in 1977 by the late George L. Engel and psychiatrist John Romano, supported by the research of Adolf Meyer (1948) and Roy Grinker (1960s). The BPS was developed to address the shortcomings of the biomedical model that was dominating the mid-twentieth century. Engel considered the biomedical model to be problematic: it was reductionistic and dualistic in nature (the mind and body were treated as separate entities), where the patient was viewed as an object, and only biological factors were accounted for when addressing a patient’s illness. Through collaboration with Romano, Engel aimed to provide a more holistic view of evaluating and treating a patient’s suffering and illness by placing value on the psychological and social factors related to the patient’s subjective experience. As such, the BPS model defined disease as an interaction between biological, psychological, and social factors; similarly, treatment would also follow biological (medication and surgery), psychological (psychotherapy), and social (health policy changes) interventions. According to Engel, the BPS model captured what was essentially lacking in the biomedical model, the humanistic and patient-centered care of viewing a patient and his/her attributes as a human being. As Engel viewed it, the BPS model would not only become a better “scientific model” for practice but also for education and medical research. Despite its shortcomings, the BPS model is still regarded as a very useful tool in psychiatry teaching. It is recommended that the model may benefit from broadening its scope and conceptualizing cultural and structural factors, reflecting more on cross-cultural differences and conditions (social, economic, and political) rather than assuming homogeneity across communities, cultures, and society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Psychology, School of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain, Busaiteen, Kingdom of Bahrain

    Luma Bashmi

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Alexander Cohn, Shawna T. Chan & Katrina DeBonis

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Gabriel Tobia

  4. Psychiatry Department, The Behman Hospital, Cairo, Egypt

    Yasmine Gohar

  5. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Nathalie Herrera

  6. San Diego Health, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Raymond Y. Wen

  7. Cedars-Sinai Health System, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of California Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Waguih William IsHak

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  1. Luma Bashmi
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Correspondence to Luma Bashmi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cedars-Sinai Health System, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, University of California Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Waguih William IsHak

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Bashmi, L. et al. (2023). The Biopsychosocial Model of Evaluation and Treatment in Psychiatry. In: IsHak, W.W. (eds) Atlas of Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15401-0_3

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