In the Netherlands psychotherapeutic help is made financially possible a.o. by the Disablement Insurance Act of 1967. Since social institutions are offering financial help in an organized way the problem of criteria has arisen. What is the value of psychotherapy for restoring capacity for labour. Who can be helped by psychotherapeutic method(s), who not. In the medical profession a lot of misconceptions and biases about psychotherapy exist. On the other hand, between psychotherapists there are many misconceptions and biases about m.d.'s handling psychosocial problems. In this article it is pointed out that there are 3 interrelated roots on which misconceptions and biases are based. Scientifically

• Basic concepts underlying psychotherapeutic methods and underlying medical strategies are in many ways different. As a rule these differences in basic concepts are not explicit to workers in the two fields. Discussions are severely troubled by this.

Socially

• Indication for psychotherapy and value of psychotherapy are judged by criteria related to the concept of disease. Psychotherapeutic concepts as a rule do not implicate these criteria like symptoms, causes, prognosis. As social institutions offering financial help use these criteria, psychotherapists are urged to use them, although they have no value in their way of thinking and strategies.

Individually

• Patients are urged, consciously or unconsciously, to 'translate' their troubles and problems in terms of (somatic or psychic) disease. It has become an implicit social value that disease will be accepted for help, psychic or social problems hardly. This attitude is reinforced by social systems using only disease as criterium for financial help. A plea is made to formulate criteria for financial help derived from the scientific concepts underlying special techniques for example like those used in psychotherapy.