This article presents an alternative approach to the DSM for the understanding and treatment of patients with psychiatric conditions. This alternative approach, based on The Perspectives of Psychiatry, requires a systematic consideration of the patient's psychiatric condition from 4 perspectives: disease, dimensional, behavior, and life story. The Perspectives approach offers a way of understanding the nature and origin of clinical presentations and provides a clear structure for developing personalized treatment plans. Although the approach was originally articulated at Johns Hopkins University, a review of the literature shows significant dispersion of elements of the model to other institutions in several countries. The Perspectives approach is increasingly used as a method for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders and is a valuable educational tool for teaching psychiatry to students.