Biological, psychological and social factors contribute to health and disease
The biopsychosocial model is a way of thinking about health that resists the temptation to simplify. It recognises that biology doesn’t act alone - that our thoughts, emotions, relationships, memories, and environments all shape the way we feel, heal, and hurt. It’s not a rejection of science, but an invitation to look wider. To see the person in their context. To ask “what’s wrong with the tissue”, but also ask “what’s going on in the system”. By looking at how different parts of the system interact, this approach helps us to identify problems that maintain our pain - and once we are aware of them, we can improve them.
A biopsychosocial approach is just a biomedical approach with a broad lens
The biopsychosocial model is often framed as a modern, more holistic response to the shortcomings of biomedicine. We don’t see it that way. It’s not a soft alternative - it’s a broader lens on the same system. Biology doesn’t stop at the edge of the cell. Thoughts are biological. Emotions are biological. Social interactions are biological. If they’re not, what are they? Rather than dismissing the biomedical model, the biopsychosocial model extends it - zooming out to consider the real impacts of the different factors that affect our lives. We’re not saying a biological approach is wrong; we’re encouraging people to broaden their understanding of biology to include very real interactions that are not always obvious.
Health problem emerge from a complex set of interactions
Many people approach pain through a mechanical lens - searching for a single cause that can be fixed, removed, or replaced. But pain doesn’t come from one place, and healing involves the whole body. Health is the product of complex interactions across multiple different body systems, and it is shaped by history, context, load, and adaptation. Problems don’t exist in isolation - they exist in networks, and emerge through interactions. This approach means that problems are more complex, but it also means that problems are easier to treat. Given that many things contribute to pain, many things can be used to improve it. Learning more about these interactions can help you to identify effective targets for change.
Science is catching up to common sense
For a long time, these ideas about pain felt like speculation - observations without mechanisms. But that’s changing. We now have solid evidence that inflammation changes mood, that expectations influence nociception, that loneliness alters immune function. We’re finally seeing that “soft” factors like stress and social connection have hardwired biological consequences. That doesn’t make the problem less complex - but it does make it more real. The lines between systems are blurring. The idea that biology acts in isolation is fading. New knowledge is expanding our sense of what is possible, based on real biological factors we are just starting to understand.
Permission To Move
Each year we provide healthcare to people in more than 30 countries. Our clinical team are based in Adelaide and Melbourne, and offer in-person treatment Monday to Friday.
177 Gilles St, Adelaide SA 5000
Permission To Move acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.
hello@permissiontomove.com
(+61) 434 294 209
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