TPC-Journal-V4-Issue3

The Professional Counselor \Volume 4, Issue 3 161 must recognize the context in which signs and symptoms occur and pay attention when something does not “fit” with how a client presents for treatment. Assessing prior mental health treatment (including outcomes), cultural factors and potential motives to fake an illness can assist counselors in making an accurate differential diagnosis. Consider to what extent signs and symptoms are related to substances. A wise and influential professor and mentor during my graduate training said, “Always assess for substance use!” Clients can present with a variety of conditions that are induced by prescription or over-the-counter drugs, illicit substance, or herbal supplements (Nussbaum, 2013). An important emphasis within the DSM-5 is substance-use and substance- induced disorders, which are included in many relevant diagnostic criteria (APA, 2013). Counselors are well- advised to make this determination in the initial assessment and continue to assess throughout the course of treatment. Consider to what extent signs and symptoms are related to another medical condition. Clients present with signs and symptoms that may be caused by or coincident with another medical condition in a variety of ways. Nussbaum (2013) defined possible manifestations including (a) medical conditions that directly or indirectly alter signs and symptoms, (b) treatments for medical conditions that alter signs or symptoms, (c) mental disorders and/or treatments that may cause or exacerbate medical conditions, or (d) both a mental disorder and a medical condition that are not causally related. Counselors should gather medical information from the client and appropriately follow up with medical personnel as needed to ensure proper and accurate diagnosis, which will lead to more targeted and effective treatment. Consider to what extent signs and symptoms are related to a developmental conflict or stage. A primary strength of counseling professional identity is the focus on human development as a key factor in client distress and resiliency. The counseling practice of “meeting clients where they are” includes where they are developmentally. Counselors must recognize where incongruence exists between what clients present and the expected behaviors or characteristics of their particular developmental stage. Nussbaum (2013) stresses the importance of gathering a comprehensive psychosocial history to determine expected developmental milestones. Being on the lookout for developmental delays, regressive behaviors of an earlier developmental period, primal defense mechanisms, or signs of “a developmental conflict in a particular relationship” (p. 201) will help ensure that all essential contextual factors are addressed when making a diagnosis. Consider to what extent signs and symptoms are related to a mental disorder. The definition of mental disorder has not changed significantly from previous versions of the DSM : a mental disorder is “a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in…cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes…[and] usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities” (APA, 2013, p. 20). Identifying mental disorders, or the process of diagnosis, involves more than clear-cut observations and often includes the consideration of complex factors involving comorbidity, symptom clusters “that may be part of a more complex and unified syndrome that has been artificially split in the diagnostic system” (Nussbaum, 2013, p. 202), overlap between diagnostic criteria, genetic predisposition, and the mutual influence of two or more conditions. Counselors must be careful to consider the presence of these factors, consult when necessary, and take into account differential diagnosis to determine the most appropriate diagnosis given the verbal and observable data available. Consider whether no mental disorder is present. Sometimes a client may present with symptoms that do not meet the full diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder, despite significant distress in social, occupational or other areas of functioning. In these cases, utilizing the not otherwise specified or unspecified diagnoses may be