Welcome to the Madden America podcast, your source for science, psychiatry, and social justice.

Hello, and welcome to the Madden America podcast. My name is Justin Carter, and I'm the science

news editor for the Madden America website. You can find all of our

reporting under the research news category on the homepage. Psychiatric diagnosis has come under increased

scrutiny in recent years following the release of the fifth edition of the APA diagnostic and statistical

manual DSM-5 in 2013. In the lead-up to the release of the DSM-5, two organizations that played a prominent

role in challenging the, quote, Bible of psychiatry were the British Psychological Society

and the Society for Humanistic Psychology, which is Division 32 of the American Psychological

Association. Leaders of these two groups, including our guests today, came together to form

the task force for diagnostic alternatives, a group of mental two groups, including our guests today, came together to form the Task Force for

Diagnostic Alternatives, a group of mental health professionals committed to challenging

and reforming diagnostic practice in the field. Today, on February 12, 2020, the Task Force

on Diagnostic Alternatives released a new open letter regarding the reform and revision of diagnostic systems

and mental health. Listeners can find the full letter and the links for this post and can add their

names and support as well. I'm fortunate to be joined by two leading members of the task force,

Sarah Kamens and Peter Kinderman, who are here to discuss the new open letter. Sarah Kamens is an assistant professor of psychology at the State University of New York,

SUNY, college at Old Westbury,

and is co-chair of the Task Force for Diagnostic Alternatives for the Society of Humanistic Psychology.

Her research examines the intersections between emotional distress and structural marginalization.

More specifically, she studies the ways in which lived experiences of psychosis and trauma are entangled within social conditions in the world.

Peter Kinderman is the past president of the British Psychological Society and a professor of

clinical psychology at the University of Liverpool. He's also a past guest on Madden America

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