Beyond Critique: The Partners for Change Outcome Management System as an Alternative Paradigm to Psychiatric Diagnosis
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
1-1-2018
Abstract
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.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
Volume
58
Issue
1
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Duncan, Barry L., Jacqueline A. Sparks, and Sami Timimi. "Beyond Critique: The Partners for Change Outcome Management System as an Alternative Paradigm to Psychiatric Diagnosis." Journal of Humanistic Psychology 58, 1 (2018): 7-29. doi: 10.1177/0022167817719975.