Susan Welsh (asker) Jun 5, 2013:

I agree Actually, I think the choice of "client" per my relative's letter to me has more to do with American political correctness than it does with the choice of a translation for Betroffener. I will probably continue to translate it in a variety of ways, according to context. Thus, if there is a specific ailment, you could say "those affected by PTSD," and it would sound natural, whereas in other cases "patient" might be better.

Anne Schulz Jun 5, 2013:

...yet I prefer to think of my patients as patients ('sufferers', to go back to the Latin roots) whom I help the best I can, rather than clients to whom I deliver a service which they are entitled to by virtue of their health insurance policy.

Susan Welsh (asker) Jun 5, 2013:

input from a psychotherapist in the USA I asked a relative who is a therapist, and who replied with this:
"This question of `patients' versus `clients' is something that we addressed in graduate school. There is the issue of the medical model which is considered to be irrelevant in terms of therapeutic process. 'Patient' and the medical model are considered pathologizing. The traditional doctor/patient relationship is also not considered collaborative, but hierarchical; in therapy world, the way of thinking is more collaborative, even as we debate and remain aware of the question of power and hierarchy in the consulting room. Though we have book learning and training, we strive to collaborate with the wisdom of the client. I have been trained to refer to the people with whom I work as 'clients,' rather than 'patients' as people I 'treat.'"

Svetlana Virjnevschi Jun 4, 2013:

Affected person I've seen "affected person" being used in similar contexts, for ex. here: http://www.medica-tradefair.com/cipp/md_medica/custom/pub/co... (switch the language to see German article)

Susan Welsh (asker) Jun 4, 2013:

@Anne Thank you Anne, that is what I suspected, but was not sure.

Susan Welsh (asker) Jun 4, 2013:

some more examples, from other jobs This term is so pervasive in the literature that I give a couple of other examples from my TMs, for reference.
1. Subjects in a clinical trial (students who procrastinate): Anders als bei Lopez und Wambach, die den Betroffenen raten, mindestens 0,5 Stunden pro Tag zu prokrastinieren, handelt es sich bei der hier vorgestellten Methode nicht um eine paradoxe Intervention.
2. Bulimia: Für die BN wurden von Erwachsenen Lebenszeitprävalenzen von 1% berichtet, wobei die meisten Betroffenen komorbid an weiteren psychischen Störungen leiden.
3. Bulimia, clinical trials: So lassen sich zwischen remittierten Betroffenen und gesunden Kontrollprobanden keine Unterschiede mehr bezüglich der Emotionsregulation feststellen.
4. OCD: erleichtert die Identifikation von Funktionalitäten gerade auch Betroffenen das Verständnis ihrer Erkrankung, kann die Behandlungsmotivation verbessern und wichtige Hinweise für die Definition störungsübergreifender Therapieziele geben.

Ramey Rieger (X) Jun 4, 2013:

Hello Susan! There's little alternative to "patient", "client" being the most common, but rather cold, term. A more wordy possibility is "those seeking help/assistance". I agree that "afflicted" is rather negative, but "the seeker" is nearly esoteric. Patients, are what they are and what they will remain, why not say so?

stehletheo Jun 4, 2013:

The context is the determining factor and "affected persons" comes closest to what is conveyed in the source text, in my opinion. I wouldn't use the word "patient" as it also exists in German and it seems clear that this term is avoided.

Anne Schulz Jun 4, 2013:

@Susan I agree with your feeling and considerations. "Betroffener" is a common German substitute for patient, largely used to avoid repetition. Unless there are other indications from your text, that the author wishes to avoid the term "patient", it seems ok to me to use patient throughout (or "client", as Maxime suggested).

David Moore (X) Jun 4, 2013:

Hi Susan, I don't think you'd find anyone this side of the pond disapproving of your own "Those affected"; I'm a little surprised you don't like it...

Elisabeth Moser Jun 4, 2013:

If it is just to distinguish the therapist (or therapist in training) from the patient, I would simply use the word patient :)

Susan Welsh (asker) Jun 4, 2013:

more context This article is about training of therapists in behavioral therapy, and refers to the patients or persons in therapy only in the most general way. Nothing is said about what disorders the patients may be suffering from, for example. I think that "afflicted" could carry a negative connotation, unlike "affected" (which is the word I used). It would be unnecessary to say "in a therapeutic setting" here, since that is all that is being discussed throughout the article. Basically, the author wants to distinguish between the therapist and "the guy on the couch" (my terminology!).

Elisabeth Moser Jun 4, 2013:

Without further context, could you possibly say the persons in therapy (or: in a therapeutic setting, these persons ...) b/c afflicted would have a negative connotation as well?