CLINICAL-PRACTICE BEYOND SCIENCE - DEBUNKING THE SCIENTIFIC MYTH

The theme of the RANZCP 28th Conference questioned the science of clin ical practice. This question is explored in the light of prevailing pa radigms of 20th century psychiatry and recent claims by scientism, esp ecially biologism, that assumes an organic causation for all abnormal behaviour. It is argued that a paradigm of objective science is necess ary to understanding many aspects of mental illness, but not sufficien t to explain certain essential phenomena, such as altered states of co nsciousness and empathy, encounted daily in clinical practice. Discard ing these phenomena in the name of ''science'' runs the risk of clinic al practice becoming ''mindless''. The ''reconquest of the subjective' ' is offered as a way to extend clinical practice beyond objective sci ence.