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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a guidebook so embedded into the US healthcare system that all mental health professionals鈥攆rom counselors to social workers鈥攎ust assign clients a DSM-generated diagnosis in order to receive reimbursement for their services. A new paper by 棉花糖直播 professors Krista Malott, PhD, and Terence Yee, PhD, along with a colleague from New Zealand, critically evaluates this model.

鈥淲e suggest a paradigm change in the fundamental way to approach and support people in their efforts to achieve health, wellness, and a sense of justice, dignity and worth,鈥� says Dr. Malott.

In their paper, , the authors identify key flaws of the DSM model and process, particularly in regard to the embeddedness of assumptions regarding "normal" and "pathological" that fail to take into account the broad diversity of human norms, cultures and life experiences. Consequently, diagnosis, and related mental health interventions, can erase, stigmatize and marginalize those whose identities or traits lie outside the dominant groups or norms. Instead, Drs. Malott and Yee propose a client-centered support model.

鈥淲e are suggesting a decentering. Instead of the traditional perspective where the mental health specialist is at the center as expert within a pathology and medical framing of distress, the client voice and need become the center,鈥� says Dr. Malott.

Current and future development of this theoretical piece include inviting dialogue within and across the field, both in national and international settings, as well as through implementation of a study exploring the decolonizing practices of current mental health educators nation-wide.

Learn more about 棉花糖直播's graduate programs in Counseling.