Volume_4_Issue_3_Digest

TPC D igest 33 Historical Underpinnings, Structural Alterations and Philosophical Changes: Counseling Practice Implications of the DSM-5 – DIGEST Stephanie F. Dailey Carman S. Gill Shannon L. Karl Casey A. Barrio Minton Stephanie F. Dailey, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at Argosy University. Carman S. Gill, NCC, is an Associate Professor and chair of the counseling programs at Argosy University. Shannon L. Karl is an Associate Professor at Nova Southeastern University. Casey A. Barrio Minton, NCC, is an Associate Professor at the University of North Texas. Correspondence can be addressed to Stephanie F. Dailey, 1550 Wilson Blvd., Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22209, stdailey@argosy.edu. R egardless of background, training or theoretical orientation, professional counselors must have a thorough understanding of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-5 ), published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013. The purpose of this article is to review major structural and philosophical changes from the DSM-IV-TR to the DSM-5 and to explain the implications that these changes may have on professional counselors and diagnostic practice. To accomplish this, the authors begin with a review of the development of the DSM and an overview of the 13-year revision process that began after the publication of the DSM-IV-TR and resulted in the DSM-5 . Having described different iterations of the DSM , from its first edition to the DSM-IV-TR , the authors summarize psychiatry’s attempts to standardize mental illness classification. The authors give a historical overview of the many versions of the DSM and their progression from a purely descriptive approach of mental disorders to rigid classification systems. In a review of the most current revision process, the authors highlight the DSM-5 Task Force’s goal of eradicating the use of not otherwise specified (NOS) diagnoses, to eliminate functional impairment as a necessary component of diagnostic criteria, and to use empirically based evidence to justify diagnostic classes and specifiers.