Holland, P · The Journal of analytical psychology · 1997 · DOI
This study describes how one woman with ME/CFS improved over three years of talk therapy that focused on her emotions and relationships. The therapy helped her recognize patterns from her past—particularly how she swung between wanting closeness and withdrawing into isolation—which seemed connected to her physical exhaustion. As she worked through these patterns and built better relationships, including becoming pregnant, her fatigue improved.
This work challenges the false dichotomy of ME/CFS as 'either organic or psychological' by proposing that early relational trauma and dissociation can manifest as both physical and emotional symptoms. For patients, it validates the real physicality of their condition while exploring potential psychological contributors. For clinicians, it suggests integrated psychosomatic approaches may benefit some ME/CFS patients.
This single-case study cannot establish that psychological factors cause ME/CFS in general populations, nor can it prove psychotherapy is an effective treatment for ME/CFS broadly. The recovery observed may reflect natural disease course, life changes, or non-specific therapeutic benefits rather than the specific psychodynamic mechanisms proposed. No objective biomarkers or control group are present.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Holland, P (1997). Coniunctio--in bodily and psychic modes: dissociation, devitalization and integration in a case of chronic fatigue syndrome.. The Journal of analytical psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-5922.1997.00217.x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-holland-1997-coniunctio-bodily,
author = {Holland, P},
title = {Coniunctio--in bodily and psychic modes: dissociation, devitalization and integration in a case of chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {The Journal of analytical psychology},
year = {1997},
doi = {10.1111/j.1465-5922.1997.00217.x},
note = {PubMed: 9161122},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/holland-1997-coniunctio-bodily},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/holland-1997-coniunctio-bodily
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