Medical approaches to suffering are limited, so why critique Improving Access to Psychological Therapies from the same ideology
Author(s) -
James Binnie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of health psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1461-7277
pISSN - 1359-1053
DOI - 10.1177/1359105318769323
Subject(s) - psychotherapist , psychological distress , psychology , ideology , distress , psychological theory , psychological therapy , mental health , social psychology , psychiatry , anxiety , politics , political science , law
Although the article by Scott rightly questions the dynamics of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies system and re-examines the recovery rates, finding quite shocking results, his recommendations are ultimately flawed. There is a strong critique of the diagnostic procedures in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services, but the answer is not to diagnose more rigorously and to adhere more strictly to a manualised approach to psychotherapy. The opposite may be required. Alternatives to the medical model of distress offer a less stigmatising and more human approach to helping people with their problems. Perhaps psychological therapists and the people they work alongside would be better served by a psychological approach rather than a psychiatric one.
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