Psychosomatic medicine applies the principle of psychosomatic correlation to health keeping as well as disease prevention and treatment. With the establishment of the bio-psycho-social medical model, it is realized by modern medicine that psychological factors have an impact on the occurrence and development of most human diseases. The application of psychosomatic therapies, however, is still limited in the modern medical system. In the theoretical system of Chinese medicine, the philosophy of combining body with spirit has a long history. Among a great variety of acupuncture schools, the five-element acupuncture is known as a typical one, which has unique features in diagnosis and treatment of psychosomatic diseases. It is a natural healing therapy under the instruction of the great harmony between nature and human as well as the holistic idea of human body. From the perspective of the five elements, the dominant element of patients is identified, and the characteristics of temperament, character, emotion, words and deeds of people like those of the five elements are taken from the characteristics of seasonal changes in nature, forming the basic framework for classification of the five elements of people. It emphasizes the mutual influence of mind and body, attaches importance to the internal cause of disease (internal injury due to emotional disorder), and the treatment sequence is from inside to outside. The treatment focuses on the corresponding meridians of the dominant element to stimulate the self-healing ability of the human body, and at the same time cures the spirit and mind, fully reflecting the holistic view of traditional Chinese medicine. The five-element acupuncture is a unique therapy for both physical and mental healing, which deserves wide dissemination and application.

five-element acupuncture  /  psychosomatic disease  /  psychosomatic therapy  /  traditional Chinese medicine