Abstract
In defining psychotherapy, the central importance of person-related understanding and of the therapist–patient relationship are emphasized. When psychotherapeutic methods are applied in psychosomatic medicine, the therapist needs to be patient- and situation-oriented, rather than illness-oriented; his efforts need to be directed towards personal growth by restoring unity between psychic and somatic experience and by increasing awareness of the relation between life events and disease. In such work, Winnicott’s concepts of the early infant-mother relationship and of transitional phenomena are particularly valuable. The treatment setting needs to be flexible and a psychodynamic psychotherapeutic approach can be combined with other psychological treatment methods like hypnosis, autogenic training and behaviour therapy.