My Philosophy on Diagnosis

“Symptoms” are not simply outward expressions of inner illness or dysfunction, but powerful representations of a person’s courageous efforts to survive. What the mental health profession refers to as “symptoms” is evidence of one’s creativity and resourcefulness to bear painful life circumstances when no other options are visible or accessible. Developing these survival strategies, though perhaps ineffective and a source of suffering, signals an already-present and active capacity in a struggling person to acquire alternative, more effective approaches to living. Transforming these capacities into more adaptive skills to coping with life’s inevitable difficulties is core to the therapy process. Problems are not signs of pathology, but evidence that current survival strategies might have outlived their usefulness in your current life, or may need to be applied judiciously, rather than as the default option.

Holding in mind that language around “diagnosis” is used for mental health insurance reimbursement purposes is critical. People are not defined by diagnoses. Rather, they respond to pain with the human reserves available in that moment. As the complex experiences contributing to distress are understood, change becomes possible. I invite my clients to consider other means of surviving, and even thriving. Therapy offers opportunities to uncover the stories that “symptoms” hold.

Together, we can help make the unbearable bearable and the unspeakable speakable.