Diagnosis Made Easier Principles and Techniques for Mental Health Clinicians 3rd Edition by James Morrison (2024)

Diagnosis Made Easier: Principles and Techniques for Mental Health Clinicians, Third Edition (2024) by James Morrison is an incisive, widely adopted practitioner resource and course text — fully updated for the DSM-5 Text Revision (DSM-5-TR). This definitive guide takes the reader step by step through diagnostic decision making in mental health, bringing clarity and structure to one of the most challenging aspects of clinical practice.

Detailed guidelines are presented for evaluating information from multiple sources, constructing a wide-ranging differential diagnosis, creating a safety hierarchy, and using decision trees to arrive at a valid working diagnosis. The book addresses the specific issues that arise when diagnosing the conditions most frequently encountered in mental health practice, with a strong emphasis on how diagnosis informs effective treatment planning. More than 100 vivid clinical vignettes illustrate the diagnostic process and allow readers to practice their skills.

New to this edition: revised throughout for DSM-5-TR, including the new diagnosis of prolonged grief disorder; a new chapter on eating and sleeping disorders including updated decision trees; new and revised vignettes; and updated suggested readings.

Topics covered: the diagnostic method; building a database from interviews, history, and collateral informants; differential diagnosis across mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, psychotic disorders, substance-related disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, personality disorders, and cognitive disorders; evaluating risk; using decision trees; formulating diagnoses with comorbidity; and communicating diagnosis to clients and families.

Essential for: psychiatry residents; clinical psychology doctoral students; psychiatric nurse practitioners; clinical social workers; licensed professional counselors; marriage and family therapists; psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows; and practicing mental health clinicians of all disciplines. Pairs ideally with Morrison's DSM-5-TR Made Easy.