Prof. Dr. Peter Henningsen
Professor of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy
Psychosomatic medicine • functional somatic syndromes • biopsychosocial model of chronic illness
About the expert
Focus: Biopsychosocial framework for chronic illness and Long COVID
Professor and Director of the Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the Technical University of Munich. A leading voice in modern psychosomatic medicine, arguing that the equation 'psychosomatic = psychologically caused' is decades out of date — instead the field studies how psyche, body, and social factors interact across both the origin and the course of illness. Frequently consulted in the German Long COVID discourse to push back against both extremes (pure-psyche dismissal and pure-organic reductionism).
Why this matters
Academic researcher focused on psychosomatic medicine, functional somatic syndromes, and the biopsychosocial framework for chronic illness. Tends to argue that the equation 'psychosomatic = psychologically caused' is decades out of date — instead the field studies how psyche, body, and social factors interact across both the origin and the course of illness. Strongest on framework rigor, less involved in the specific organic-mechanism research the Long COVID field is also pursuing.