Introduction

This introduction provides information on the historical background to the emergence of The BodyMind Approach (TBMA), why the first author became interested in medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), now subsumed under the new term body distress disorder (BDD) and a short biography of the second author. A brief impact statement is presented, after which definitions of the most relevant terms (MUS/BDD and TBMA) are offered as context. This is followed by the purpose of the book, what it covers, its audience and how to use it. Finally, we give an overview of the chapters and what they cover.