Counseling Methods: Diagnostics

Abstract

The need for diagnosis in counseling has been a subject of discussion during the past year. Since 1942, nondirective counselors have stressed the needlessness and even the hazards of diagnostic procedures. In 1949 this point of view was presented in a comprehensive statement by Snygg & Combs (1). These authors, adopting what they entitle a "phenomono logical psychology of individual behavior," state that the purpose of counseling is to assist the individual to perceive himself as he is, to accept this perception, and to behave accordingly. Diagnostic techniques, being imperfect, can only lead the counselor, who is another source of error, to arrive at erroneous conclusions about the client and thus retard rather than facilitate the process of self-understanding through which the client is progressing.The contradictory point of view has been presented by Super (2):As a user of psychological tests and as a diagnostician of vocational aptitudes and interests the counselor has available information which may be of crucial im portance to the client and of value to society. But neither the individual nor society may be aware of the availability and significance of that information; the client may never ask for it, and the counselor may never seek to obtain or to share it, if strictly nondirective procedures are used. One might ask whether it is ethical for a counselor to let a high school student work through his attitudes toward going to college and to make college plans without checking up on his mental equipme nt for going to college. Does a counselor who knows that a young man who is planning to enter a skilled trade actually has abilities and interests which might make him a scientist of considerable stature owe it to his client to make him aware of that fact? And does he owe it to society? It is not only attitudes which make for success and satisfaction: abilities, opportunities, and awareness also play a part. The COlln selor has an obligation beyond that of assisting the client to assume responsibility for his own action, although that seems to be the s<jle objective of counseling set up by the non-directive school. He also has responsibilities for the detection and optimum use of talent, and for helping some clients to achieve insights into them selves and into society which they might not develop in sufficient time if left to direct the entire course of counseling themselves.The only reported experiment indirectly related to this problem is pre sented in a paper by Seeman (3), who examined the assumption made by the nondirectivists that clients, if given the opportunity, are capable of determining the kinds of information about themselves that will be useful in counseling and that they will select appropriate tests. A group of 170 clients seeking vocational counseling were interviewed by eight counselors I

Counseling: Therapy and Diagnosis

“…Berdie's question (13) in the Annual Review of Psychology for 1950. This will undoubtedly occur at some time in the future.…”

Constructing and deconstructing transitive diagnosis.

“…Before the 19th century, concepts of insanity were based on observable behaviors. During the 19th century, physical symptoms (e.g., cold and blue extremities was a sign of catatonic schizophrenia) and self-reports (e.g., mood, thought content, hallucinations) were also used to define categories (Berrios, 1996). In addition, through postmortem examinations, scientists attempted to identify brain lesions that were presumed to be associated with disturbed behavior.…”

“…In 1942, Carl Rogers published Counseling and Psychotherapy: Newer Concepts in Practice, marking the beginning of his nondirective approach. The nondirective movement in counseling typically asserted that diagnosis had no implications for treatment (Berdie, 1950). Perhaps because his personality included a penchant for system building, Kelly saw diagnostic practice as having the potential to inform clinical practice but only if a diagnostic system carried implications for change.…”