Beyond Critique: The Partners for Change Outcome Management System as an Alternative Paradigm to Psychiatric Diagnosis

Critics claim that current psychiatric diagnostic systems lack reliability, validity, and clinical utility; are incompatible with known evidence of how change occurs in psychotherapy; are compromised by bias; and risk harmful effects for clients. This article argues that the Partners for Change Outc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of humanistic psychology 2018-01, Vol.58 (1), p.7-29
Main Authors: Duncan, Barry L., Sparks, Jacqueline A., Timimi, Sami
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bias
Classification
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
Diagnostic systems
Egalitarianism
Feedback
Humanistic psychology
Medical diagnosis
Mental disorders
Paradigms
Psychotherapy
Realignment
Reliability
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Critics claim that current psychiatric diagnostic systems lack reliability, validity, and clinical utility; are incompatible with known evidence of how change occurs in psychotherapy; are compromised by bias; and risk harmful effects for clients. This article argues that the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS), a transparent, egalitarian process that collects and utilizes client feedback at each session, convincingly addresses these concerns. Furthermore, it suggests that PCOMS offers a viable alternative to the reimbursement and administrative functions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases. The authors propose that PCOMS represents a radical realignment of the practitioner/client relationship via full, dialogical partnership at every level of psychotherapy practice and thus constitutes a step toward a new paradigm that reconnects psychotherapy and humanistic psychology with its core relational values.
ISSN:0022-1678
1552-650X
DOI:10.1177/0022167817719975