For clinical translation, the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) must stand on its own two feet.

TThe Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) offers an empirically derived, dimensional framework for conceptualizing mental health difficulties, designed with both research and clinical applications in mind. Although the HiTOP Consortium has made meaningful progress in developing clinical tools and training resources, current messaging frames HiTOP primarily as a corrective to shortcomings of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) classification systems. We argue that this framing may not resonate with clinicians, who tend to engage with existing nosologies pragmatically-using them flexibly for billing, administration, and communication-rather than adhering rigidly to their criteria and may therefore be less concerned with their limitations. In this Viewpoint, we contend that any clinical uptake of HiTOP would be better supported by highlighting its strengths and practical benefits in their own right, without relying on critiques of the DSM and ICD. To this end, we outline five foci for communicating HiTOP's potential clinical value, grounded in its intrinsic strengths rather than positioning it merely as a remedy for shortcomings of traditional nosologies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).