Diagnosen stellen und dabei personzentriert sein

Abstract

Psychiatric diagnoses in the person-centered framework. Carl Rogers was very skeptical about diagnoses in counseling and psychotherapy. The reasons for his skepticism published in 1951 refer to irrelevance of diagnostics for the therapeutic process, to a considerable lack of transparency of the diagnostic process, and to social devaluation. He mentioned problems of disorder classification in a footnote conceding the use of psychiatric diagnoses in the future, provided that the problem of low reliability will be solved.
Criticism of any kind of classification of mental disorders began later, and it continues to exist. The main argument against it is the complexity and individuality of human psyche that cannot be covered by a diagnostic label.
In this paper, we will show how to make or comprehend diagnoses of mental disorder without losing sight of the individual person. We will describe an extended model of incongruence between self and experience, and a person-centered model of empathy, acceptance and congruence with respect to psychosocial situations and mental disorders. From our point of view, it is important to understand not only the person, but also his or her social situation and mental disorder. This approach broadens our spectrum of being empathic, accepting, and congruent.