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The Impending Demise of "Designer Diagnoses"

Implications for the Use of Concepts in Practice

Virginia Commonwealth University

Dianne F. Harrison

Florida State University

Walter W. Hudson

Arizona State University

This article suggests that the increasing attention to the inadequacies of popular language and labeling, called designer diagnoses by the authors, in describing people's psychological traits and emotional distress is good news for clinicians who strive to incorporate critical thinking skills into theirday-to-day assessment decisions about clients. Specifically, the article discusses three errors in reasoning that may have led to the demise (or impending demise) of such terms as codependent, dysfunctional families, and even the broad use of the term borderline. Produc tive modes of thinking needed to avoid similar conceptual hazards that are certain to appear in the field in the future are also discussed.

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