Volume_4_Issue_3_Digest

TPC D igest 37 Victoria Kress, NCC, is a Professor at Youngstown State University. Casey A. Barrio Minton, NCC, is an Associate Professor and Counseling Program Coordinator at the University of North Texas. Nicole A. Adamson, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Matthew J. Paylo is an Associate Professor at Youngstown State University. Verl T. Pope, NCC, is Chair and Professor of Counseling at Northern Kentucky University. Correspondence can be addressed to Victoria Kress, 1 University Plaza, Youngstown, OH, 44555, victoriaekress@gmail.com. T he release of the DSM-5 has brought about many changes in the field of mental health. Arguably one of the most significant changes in this latest edition of the DSM is the removal of the multiaxial system. This change has implications for the way that counselors diagnose and conceptualize clients’ cases. The authors of this article provide practice suggestions specific to the removal of each axis in order to assist counselors in adjusting to the new diagnostic system. In the past, counselors have had to consider several factors in adapting the DSM system to fit within their counseling practice. Philosophical differences between the DSM , which relies upon the medical model, and the field of counseling, which promotes a developmental and wellness model, have had to be reconciled. In the DSM-5 , Axes I, II and III have been eliminated, and any disorders previously coded on these three Axes are now listed together. This change suggests that there is no differentiation between medical and mental health conditions and disorders. While this may reduce stigma by comparing mental disorders to medical disorders, it also may reinforce the concept that people diagnosed with a mental disorder are biologically flawed. The removal of the multiaxial system presents other issues in fully conceptualizing contextual factors and their roles in clients’ presenting issues. Axis IV was helpful in The Removal of the Multiaxial System in the DSM-5 : Implications and Practice Suggestions for Counselors – DIGEST Victoria E. Kress Casey A. Barrio Minton Nicole A. Adamson Matthew J. Paylo Verl Pope