Toward an Operative Knowledge of Psychological Problems:
The Strategic Diagnosis
Alessandro Bartoletti and Giorgio Nardone
Abstract
In the field of psychotherapy, the idea that diagnostic knowledge should precede any future clinical treatment is still very dominant. This assumption is further strengthened by the wide diffusion and influence of the psychiatric approach onto clinical practice, which entails the use of “Mental Disorders Manuals” such as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders) as the first step towards the treatment of psychopathologies. This article suggests that a correct theoretical knowledge of psychological problems (and the relative clinical labels) can be achieved only after applying effective solutions, inverting the entire diagnostic process from a nosographic/nosologic “first knowing, then changing” to an operative “knowing through changing”. Indeed, only effective solutions can “explain” problem’s functioning, thus entitling for diagnostic labeling of the problem itself.
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