Art psychotherapy and the use of psychiatric diagnosis: Assessment for art psychotherapy

Abstract

This article raises concerns over the use of psychiatric language by art psychotherapists in their assessment of patients. Using the situation of assessment for art psychotherapy, it argues for an individual approach to each new patient as free as possible from preconceptions arising from diagnostic labelling. The limitations imposed on the art psychotherapist by such labelling, blocking the recognition and addressing of any individual personal or sociopolitical context, are contrasted with the possibilities of a more open therapeutic interaction available through the avoidance of diagnostic labelling.

Key Words:

• assessment
• cure
• diagnosis
• illness
• language
• psychiatry