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A social work perspective on the adjustment disorders
- Authors:
- WALSH Joseph, CORCORAN Jacqueline
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Mental Health, 9(1-6), 2011, pp.107-121.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The adjustment disorders represent a client's problematic reaction to an environmental stress rather than assuming an internal functioning deficit. As a sole diagnosis, they account for 5-21% of voluntary mental health client consultations. However, they are controversial because of their relative lack of diagnostic validity and reliability. They may also be overused by social workers to avoid stigmatising clients. The purpose of this article is to explore the suitability of the adjustment disorders as clinical diagnoses, and to provide, through 2 case illustrations, intervention guidelines for social workers. Both illustrations provide example of assessment questions, risk and resilience considerations, and procedures for goal setting and treatment planning. The article argues that these diagnoses represent consistency with social work professional values in their focus on the interaction between persons and their environments, and in calling specific attentions to stressors that can be addressed during the intervention process. Social workers should therefore be encouraged to use these diagnoses when appropriate.
Clinical assessment and diagnosis in social work practice
- Authors:
- CORCORAN Jacqueline, WALSH Joseph
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 518p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Oxford
This user-friendly textbook not only guides social workers in developing competence in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) system of diagnosis, it also assists them in staying attuned during client assessment to social work values and principles: a focus on client strengths, concern for the worth and dignity of individuals, appreciation of environmental influences on behaviour, and a reliance on evidence-based approaches. The authors, seasoned practitioner-scholars, provide an in-depth exploration of fourteen major mental disorders that social workers commonly see in practice, integrating several perspectives in order to meet the challenges social workers face in client assessment. A risk and resilience framework helps social workers understand environmental influences on the emergence of mental disorders and the strengths that clients already possess. Social workers will also learn to apply critical thinking to the DSM when it is inconsistent with social work values and principles. Finally, the authors catalogue evidence-based assessment instruments and treatments so that social workers can intervene efficiently and effectively, using the best resources available. Students and practitioners alike will appreciate the wealth of case examples, evidence-based assessment instruments, and treatment plans that make this an essential guide to the assessment and diagnostic processes in social work practice.