Abstract

In the present article, the authors review the interdisciplinary diagnostic framework offered by the second edition of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM-2), which is designed to assess the depth as well as the surface of patients' emotional, cognitive, interpersonal, and social patterns and to foster in the field an integration between nomothetic understanding and the idiographic knowledge useful for case formulation and treatment planning. First, they provide an introduction on the main features of the manual, also outlining its integrative and complementary perspective to the descriptive systems of the DSM and ICD. They then discuss how the PDM-2 may help to promote a better dialogue between the diagnostic process, clinical practice, and empirical research, as well as a deeper appreciation of the developmental perspective in making diagnostic formulations about problems in adolescence, childhood, and infancy and early childhood. Finally, they describe how the PDM-2 diagnostic process has been enriched by contributions from other branches of knowledge and theoretical traditions, such as the rapidly advancing neuroscience field.