Processual Diagnosis
The gods have placed the diagnosis before the therapy. This scientific principle – meaningful in some areas, is of little help in counselling, even rather damaging. Nevertheless, a diagnostic procedure is required. However, this must be compatible with other fundamental conditions for successful counselling: dialogue, acceptance, appreciative relationship, being taken seriously as an individual and non-selective perception for the uniqueness of the problem. Therefore, diagnosis is done processually. What does that mean? Processual means that there is only diagnosing, but no diagnosis: One commences the counselling, the counsellor perceives himself, the client and the emerging relationship pattern, he reflects upon this, gathers information, selects from this those things which seem relevant to him, brings this into the communication and intervenes. He studies the verbal and non-verbal reactions of the client, the counsellor perceives himself, the client and the emerging relationship pattern, … and everything restarts from the beginning and repeats itself in many loops. Diagnosing is never finished. Fixed diagnoses would be dysfunctional, because they easily form schemata, which restrict perception, and they are self-fulfilling.