Ecosystemic epistemology: an alternative paradigm for diagnosis.

An alternative paradigm for diagnosis based on cybernetics, ecology, and systems theory is proposed. This paradigm, termed "ecosystemic epistemology," suggests that diagnosis focus on knowing problematic situations in an ecological and systemic way. Theoretical statements concerning this approach are delineated with specific references to major family therapists. This discussion provides a foundation for an ecosystemic epistemology for diagnosis that addresses the following issues: (a) the meaning of system; (b) the symptom's presence in the system; (c) the therapist's presence in the system; (d) the ecological relationship system that emerges in diagnosis; and (e) the relation between ecosystemic epistemology and the process of diagnosis. In effect, this paper attempts to formally describe the underlying epistemology inherent in the work of therapists who approach diagnosis in an ecological and systemic way.