[Identity crisis and training of psychiatrists]

A trend towards remedicalization in Psychiatry has become apparent in the 80's and 90's. Most psychiatrists tend however to maintain an eclectic attitude, although a few manifest a clear identity crisis leading sometimes to an hyperidentification with one of the psychiatric theoretical models. The training programs for psychiatric residents should take into consideration two important factors in the building up of the professional identity of the future psychiatrists: the tendency of the residents to identify with the ideology of their teachers and the modelling effect of the different types of clinical activities on the theoretical approach of the clinician.