Allen Frances and Dismay at the DSM--The debacle in Psychiatry

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20. Yes, it does indeed

I couldn't agree more with what you say nolabear.

At some point during the last twenty years we, as a profession, have been sold this bill of goods that says an insurance agent in Topeka knows more about my client/patient than I do here face to face with them. We have been told to now treat the 'disease' (the labeled diagnosis) and not the person themselves.

I worked in clinical settings and took insurance for about a decade in my private practice. I went through a major health crisis and did not work for the better part of five years as I went through chemotherapy and then rehabilitation. I made a tough decision two years ago when I started back to work. I no longer take insurance...period. I have returned to my roots and practice somatics and psychodynamic approaches that still view the whole person within their various contexts, be it a marriage, a family, or a society.

If you haven't, check out the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM). It is an alternative used by various analytical therapeutic systems, however, it is very practical even for more 'modern' schools as it views the client as a whole system and not just a collection of symptoms looking for a labeled diagnosis.