National psychosomatic socienteis have existed in many countries for many years. Until 1970s, however, international exchane of information had been handicapped by language and geographic barriers. To meet this demand, expressed by many workers in the field, the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine (ICPM) was founded in January 1970 during the International Congress co-sponsered by the Argentine Society of Psychosomatic Medicine (Sociedad Argentina de Medicina Psicosomatica) and the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine (USA). The enormous interest in tha Congress and an attendance of over six hundred medical scientists and practictioners from Latin American and North American countries convinced the Organizing Committee of the great interst in an international psychosomatic organization. The Congress itself was an educational success. Its main presentations in the English language appeared in the Vol. II, No. 5 of Psychosomativs. Those in the Spanish language were published in the Investigacion Psicosomatica, edited in Buenos Aires in March 1971. In order to conduct its official business, the Organizing Committee of the College met for the second time in November 1970 in Bemruda. During that meeting the objectives of the College and the guidelines for the First International Congress were defined. The College Constitution was written and the Governing Body was elected. The first World Congress on Psychosomatic Medicine was held in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1971. From the very beginning ICPM was formed by a group of international physicians, most of whom were quite prominent in academic circles. Psychosomatic medicine has always been considered a multidisciplinary field, inclusive of physicians of all clinical specialties and other healthcare professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, nurses and so forth. Jon Streltzer, Hoyle Leigh, and Chase Kimball were among the first ICPM members and presidents. A Dutch delegation, including Drs. Jan Bastiaans, Herman Mustaph, Henk Pelser and Professor J.J. Groen, was among those instrumental in the founding of ICPM.
At the time of the founding of ICPM and in the early years, major theoretical summaries and explications of the field were being produced. In a paper entitled “Conceptual Developments in Psychosomatic Medicine: 1939–1969”, Chase Kimball listed ten concepts that described psychosomatic medicine that are as accurate and pertinent today as they were in 1970: “All illnesses have psychosocial aspects that influence their cause, precipitation, manifestation, course and outcome.;” “The approach to the individual suffering from a specific illness is specific depending on the idiosyncrasy of the patient’s life situation, which includes, in addition to attending to the disease process, attending to the psychological and social correlates.” (Kimball CP. Conceptual developments in psychosomatic medicine: 1939–1969. Ann Intern Med. 1970;73:307–15).
The most prolific author of that period summarizing and defining the theory and practice of psychosomatic medicine was founding ICPM member Z. J. Lipowski. His definition, still widely accepted today, was “It is the scientific discipline concerned with the study of the relationships of biological, psychological and social determinants of health and disease”. “It is a set of postulates and guidelines embodying a holistic approach to the practice of medicine”. (Lipowski ZJ. Psychosomatic medicine in the seventies: an overview. Am J Psychiatr. 1977;134:233–44).
Please download the following two pdf files to read more about the ICPM history and enjoy reading the several papers you can find in https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cxrcvqotvdk50jr/AAAvCygja770vWKq2u4ktRN2a?dl=0
