February 6, 2022 The biopsychosocial model promised a more integrated psychiatric approach to patients. It assumed biological and psychosocial factors were paramount to effectively treat human disease and suffering. It has not, however, influenced conventional psychiatry as George Engel had envisioned. This article describes many of the strengths and weaknesses of the biopsychosocial model, as well as how AQAL and Integral Methodological Pluralism include the model’s partial truths and transcend its shortcomings.
Baron Short
BARON SHORT, M.D., has studied Integral Theory and its application in medicine and psychiatry since 2000. He is in his fifth year of residency training in internal medicine and psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is a primary investigator in a pilot study, “Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Meditation.” Dr. Short hopes to better understand the neurophysiology involved in the meditative experience as such knowledge could influence future clinical treatments and our ideas on the philosophy and spirituality of mind. In addition to his clinical rotations, academic presentations, and research interests, he is an avid teacher for medical students and new residents. He hopes to collaborate and offer one of the first Integral Medicine courses accessible at a medical university in the near future.