Psychopathology

Catalog description

The ability to systematically perform differential diagnosis and establish the larger context for understanding the diagnosis is essential to the professional counselor. Using case studies, students would perform a structured protocol for differential diagnosis with the current DSM disorders. The following primary skills are developed: Recognizing criteria of abnormality to increase sensitivity to identifying relevant symptomatology, performing the structured steps of a diagnosis, recognizing co-occurring disorders to understand the range of issues needed for treatment planning, performing a differential diagnosis to distinguish the correct diagnosis from similar conditions, identifying the influence of medical conditions on symptomatology, predicting the impact of crisis and trauma on symptomology and functioning to further quality treatment planning, and systematically appropriately ruling out malingering, factitious disorder, adjustment disorders, and substance etiology to finalize a correct diagnosis.