BEYOND DIAGNOSIS: POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT IN UNDERSTANDING THE SUBJECT

Vollständiger Abstract

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Psychological assessment constitutes an important process for investigating psychological phenomena, conducted in response to a specific demand and applicable across different contexts of psychological practice. Psychodiagnosis, in turn, plays an important role in the clinical context and is characterized as a time-limited assessment process in which interviews, projective and/or psychometric tests, observations, and other psychological techniques may be used, as determined by the professional according to the objectives of the assessment. Although these processes may contribute to the formulation of diagnostic hypotheses and to the understanding of psychological functioning, understanding the subject requires considering aspects that extend beyond diagnostic classification. In this sense, this article aims to discuss the possibilities and limits of psychological assessment and psychodiagnosis in understanding the subject, considering their history, singularity, and the different contexts that shape their constitution. Based on a literature review, the article seeks to problematize reductionist perspectives on diagnosis without disregarding its clinical relevance, as well as the technical and scientific rigor required in the assessment process. Diagnosis may constitute an important resource for understanding and guiding professional practice, provided that it is not regarded as a totalizing definition of the individual and that subjective experience is recognized as extending beyond diagnostic categories.