Clincial Assessment: DSM-IV-TR

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1. Create a brief response to each of the following questions.

One approach to help you with an assignment like this one is to provide a tentative outline, which will be aligned around the questions, and then respond to the five questions, which you can consider for your final copy. This is the approach this response takes. I also attached two excellent APA resources for future reference.

RESPONSE:

Mr. and Mrs. Lawson brought their 4-year-old adopted daughter, Clara, to see Dr. Mason, a psychiatrist. Clara was polite in greeting Dr. Mason, but did not smile and kept her gaze down as she took a seat. Mr. and Mrs. Lawson sat next to Clara and began explaining their concerns. They described Clara as a quiet child who has recently begun throwing temper tantrums, during which she is inconsolable. Her sleep and eating patterns have changed, and she no longer wants to go to preschool.

Your tentative outline would be aligned with the questions, something to the effect:

I. Introduction

II. Clinical Assessment (e.g., include scenario, other questions to ask)
A. Other Assessment and Screening Tools
B. Intervention (e.g., information needed to make when considering aqn appropriate interventions)

III. Cliental Diagnosis
A. DSM-IV-TR Axis

IV. Conclusions (e.g. restate purpose, and sum up main findings).

Now let's consider the questions, which you can consider for the appropriate sections.

Assessment of Clara is the process of evaluating her for the presence of a mental illness or disorder, utilizing the diagnostic format and categories in DSM-IV-TR and generally includes an interview with the family and child, behavioral observations and review of the medical record, if any. Although psychiatric assessment is a dynamic process that in reality occurs over time, for the purposes of this paper it occurs in one session (Netherton, Holmes & Walker, 1999).

1. What other information would you like to learn during the interview with the family? What questions would you ask?

You may want to know other types of information.

I would want to know if the family had experienced any major changes that might have affected the child and other family members. Also, I would be interested in learning if there were any events at school recently that the parents were aware of that might have impacted Clara. I would want to have more details about the changing patterns of eating and sleeping. I would also want more information on how the child behaved prior to these observed changes and about her quietness.

I would want to ask the parents how Clara behaved prior to these observed changes. I would want to know what they mean when they refer to Clara as being a quiet child and to give specific examples of her quiet behavior prior to the ...