The profile of the psychiatrist is being affected by all kinds of developments that are occurring in psychiatry and in many other fields and disciplines. The latest profile depicts the psychiatrist primarily as a medical specialist. The biopsychosocial model has been discarded following a round of brief and confusing criticism and the focus is now on intentional brain functions. However, the latter is not completely in focus and the interpretation is ambiguous. On closer consideration we find it impossible to continue supporting the biopsychosocial model. Nevertheless, it can still serve us well as a broad-based familiar-sounding paradigm. We describe a model that fits into this paradigm.