The
Arts
in
Psychotherapy,
Vol.
22,
No.
3,
pp.
181-187,
1995
Copyright
0
1995
Elsevier
Science
Ltd
Printed
in
the
USA.
All
rights
reserved
0197-4556/95
$9.50
+
.OO
Pergamon
0197.4556(95)00028-3
THE
PROBLEM
OF
PROFESSIONAL
DIAGNOSIS
IN
DR.
HERMAN
SMITSKAMP*
THE
ARTS
THERAPIES
Abstract
in
Dutch
Tot
op
heden
beschikken
we
in
de
creatieve
ther-
apie
niet
over
een
diagnostisch
model,
dat
specifiek
is
voor
creatieve
therapie
en
tegelijkertijd
voldoet
aan
professionele
vereisten.
Na
het
op
een
rijtje
zetten
van
de
professionele
vereisten
wordt
een
specifiek
diagnostisch
model
voor
creatieve
therapie
gepresenteerd.
Dit
model
is
ge-
baseerd
op
de
bekwaamheid
van
de
creatief
therapeut
om
zowel
de
inhoud
als
de
vorm
te
kunnen
analiseren
van
de
kunst-uitingen
van
de
klient.
Een
onderzoeksproject
is
gestart
waarin
dit
model
uitgewerkt
wordt
tot
een
in
de
praktijk
bruikbaar
en
valide
diagnostisch
instrument,
op
basis
waarvan
te
zijner
tijd
tevens
voorspellingen
gedaan
kunnen
worden
over
verwachte
duur
van
de
therapie,
kans
op
succes,
enz.
Poetic
knowledge
is
knowledge
with
more
diflerent
differences
(associations,
paraphrases)
than
exact
knowledge.(.
.)
Exact
knowledge
presupposes
poetic
knowledge
(de
Jong,
1992;
translation
by
H.
Smitskamp).
In
the
creative
arts
therapies
(drama,
music,
art,
dance,
poetry,
horticulture),
I
consider
the
question
of
professional
diagnosis
as
one
of
the
most
urgent.
We
arts
therapists
are
very
rich
in
being
able
to
use
our
intuitive
and
imaginative
insights
into
the
artistic
and
creative
growth
of
our
clients
and
in
the
therapeutic
value
of
this
process.
Our
wealth,
however,
is
also
our
weakness.
When
asked
to
articulate
specific
“an-
chor-points”
or
criteria
on
which
we
base
our
deci-
sions
we
tend
to
become
both
talkative
and
rather
vague.
Each
client
and
each
arts
therapist
has
his
or
her
own
individual
quality.
Much
depends
on
the
inter-
mediate
artistic
space
between
the
client
and
the
arts
therapist,
while
past
experiences
of
the
therapist
with
similar
or
different
clients
vitally
influence
both
judg-
ment
and
encounter.
Objective
measures
can
never
be
a
substitute
for
artistic
and
creative
processes.
If,
however,
we
fail
to
articulate
anchor-points,
criteria
and
objective
measures
to
be
used
as
a
basis
for
de-
cisions,
the
arts
therapies
will
primarily
remain
in
the
domain
of
magic.
In
the
following
paragraphs
I
will
outline
some
basic
diagnostic
principles
for
an
arts
therapies
diagnosis.
Diagnosis
as
a
Professional
Requirement
One
of
the
essential
requirements
of
any
psycho-
therapist
is
that
he
or
she
can
make
a
diagnosis
of
the
patient
or
client;
that
this
diagnosis
is
based
on
the
skills
and
methods
of
the
profession;
that
this
diag-
nosis
can
be
understood,
inspected
and
discussed
by
colleagues
(the
requirement
of
intersubjectivity);
and
that
this
diagnosis
is
“researchable,”
by
which
I
mean
that
it
can
be
treated
as
a
hypothesis
that
can
be
confirmed
or
refuted
on
the
basis
of
specific
data.
These
requirements
apply
both
to
psychotherapists
and
to
arts
therapists.
I
will
first
discuss
some
of
the
problems
the
arts
therapist
encounters
when
trying
to
fulfill
these
requirements.
I
will
then
describe
a
set
of
principles
for
arts
therapeutic
diagnosis.
I
will
con
