CHYS 2P35 - Diagnosis and Treatment Overview

CHYS 2P35 - Diagnosis and Treatment (Lecture 2 Notes)

• Patient: A person who receives treatment.
• Client: A person seeking psychological services; this language suggests collaboration rather than a passive recipient. Child voice is also important.
• Clinician: The person providing treatment.
• Psychologist: A mental health professional offering psychological services. They have advanced training in diagnosing and treating psychological disorders.
• Psychiatrist: A medical doctor (MD) who specializes in diagnosing and treating people with psychological disorders.
• Clinical Psychologist: A mental health professional trained in behavioural science, who provides direct services to clients. Their scope of practice includes diagnosis.
• Other professions: Child and Youth Care Practitioners, Registered Psychotherapists, Social Workers, etc. also provide services.

Importance of Language

• Avoid using labels that focus on the disorder (e.g., "the mentally ill," "psycho").
• Use person-first language (e.g., "a person with autism" instead of "autistic person").
• Use language the client finds most comfortable.

The Diagnostic Process

• Definition: A systematic approach to classifying disorders in clients.
• Diagnostic Manual (DSM-5): Provides consistent diagnoses based on symptom presence or absence. Critical for a consistent and accurate diagnosis.
• Reliability: The consistency of diagnoses across different clinicians and individuals with similar symptoms.
• Validity: The accuracy of a test, diagnosis, or rating in characterizing a person's psychological status. It is essential to use the right tool for the job.

DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)

• A book from the American Psychiatric Association that defines psychological disorders with standard terms and definitions.
• Divided into chapters with related disorders—a useful tool.

Diagnostic Steps

• Principle Diagnosis: The primary reason a person seeks professional help.
• Differential Diagnosis: Ruling out alternative conditions.
• Comorbidity: Multiple diagnoses occurring within a single person

Case Formulation

• Clinicians analyze factors influencing a client's current psychological status—important for understanding the factors influencing the client.
• Includes protective and risk factors.
• Integrates a psychosocial model.

Cultural Formulation

• Clinician's assessment of the client's cultural identification.
• How culture affects how the client perceives and experiences distress (beliefs, interpretations, coping).

Planning the Treatment

• Immediate Goals: Crisis management, ensuring safety, building rapport.
• Short-term Goals: Reducing symptoms, addressing interfering behaviours.
• Long-term Goals: Deeper changes in the client's overall psychological health. Identifying risk factors, appropriate interventions, and safety are important.

Modality of Treatment

• Individual Psychotherapy: One-on-one treatment. Important factor for the client's recovery.
• Other modalities: Family therapy, group therapy, etc.

Outcome of Treatment

• Remission: Individual symptom reduction so that it does not interfere with behaviour to a level that requires a diagnosis.
• Important to monitor and track progress
• Prevention strategies are important.