The diagnosis in relational psychoanalysis: a unitary perspective

In this article the author points out the theoretical, methodological and clinical elements that call for a rigorous consideration of the diagnosis in relational psychoanalysis and dwells on the particular use that can be made of it in therapy. In the first part of the paper, also considering the recent contributions by Albasi, Lingiardi, Shedler and Westen, the specificity of psychological diagnosis is reiterated, aimed at grasping all the characteristics and psychological discomfort of people, rather than identifying diseases as medical diagnosis does, and the importance of taking into account all the cognitive dimensions at stake in the diagnostic process: the nosographic dimension (nomothetic), the formulation of the clinical case (idiographic) and the relational dimension (implicit). The fundamental thesis of the author is that the epistemic assumptions of the relational model, the theory of systems and the paradigm of complexity allow a unitary vision of personality, understood as a system endowed with coherence and capable of self-organising within the social system of which it is part.