Diagnostic concepts, multimodal and multiaxial approaches in psychotherapy and psychosomatics

Basic questions concerning diagnostic models in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychosomatics are discussed in this paper. Against the background of the different areas in psychodynamic-oriented diagnoses, the advantages and disadvantages of descriptive multiaxial diagnostical models like DSM-III-R and ICD-10 are examined. These conceptual reflections have been built on the findings from participation in Germany of a great number of psychotherapeutic/psychosomatic institutions in the field trials for the assessment of the Diagnostic Criteria for Research of ICD-10, chapter V. Some of the most important issues this study has raised are discussed.