Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual: (PDM)

This manual is based on current neuroscience and treatment outcome studies that demonstrate the importance of focusing on the full range and depth of emotional and social functioning. Beginning with a classification of the spectrum of personality patterns and disorders found in individuals and then describing a profile of mental functioning that permits a clinician to look in detail at each of the patient's capacities, the entries include a description of the patient's symptoms with a focus on the patient's internal experiences as well as surface behaviors. Intended to expand on the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)and ICD (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) efforts in cataloging the symptoms and behaviors of mental health patients, this manual opens the door to a fuller understanding of the functioning of the mind, brain, and their development.

"Emphasizes the importance of individual personality patterns...which qualify as full-blown disorders only at the extremes."  —The New York Times 

The Alliance of Psychodynamic Organizations is a collaboration of the major psychoanalytic organizations including the American Psychoanalytic Association, International Psychoanalytical Association, the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association, American Academy of Psychoanalysis, and National Membership Committee on Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work.