Clinical Psychology Tools in Diagnosis

Psychological diagnosis is a practice that can involve many different tools. Each of the various tools has benefits and disadvantages. Often, mental health professionals utilize multiple diagnostic processes to derive a proper conclusion to the diagnosis of the individual. Understanding the function and use of the various diagnostic tools is important for a proper diagnosis.

Clinical Interview

• The clinical interview is perhaps the most important diagnostic tool of mental health professionals. During the clinical interview the psychologist will ask questions that are typically open-ended allowing him to gain greater insight into the psychological makeup of the patient. Every client will go through a clinical interview process to help come to a diagnosis. In some cases, multiple clinical interviews will be conducted prior to making a diagnosis. Occasionally, clinical interview questions are combined with treatment sessions to reassess and follow-up the progress.

Medical History

• Some psychological pathologies are a direct result of medical conditions. Therefore, it is very important to conduct a detailed medical history including discussion on any mental illnesses that run in the family. Doing this will not only allow for a better assessment of potential diagnosis, but may alter the treatment plan. For instance, you would not treat an individual with depression resulting from hypothyroidism the same as you would depression as a result of job loss.

Personality Assessments

• Personality assessments are widely used in diagnosis of psychological clients. One of the most popular assessments is an objective personality assessment known as the MMPI-II. This type of assessment allows for standardized scores regarding multiple aspects of the client's personality to be measured. These assessments are not used on every client and often are used for more complex cases; however, the information gained from the assessment is highly useful in coming to a proper diagnosis.

Specific Testing

• There are times in the diagnostic process in which one must conduct very specific test for a condition or behavior. Assessments may be specific for anxiety, depression, suicidal tendency, intelligence, autism and several other psychological elements. These assessments give standardized information allowing the mental health professional to gain insight into specific elements of the individual. For instance, intelligence assessments are highly useful when evaluating learning disabilities. Information gained from the assessment allows for a proper description of the phenomena and an ultimate diagnosis.

DSM

• The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is one of the main and most important tools used in clinical diagnosis. The latest version of the manual is the fourth edition text revision, or DSM-IV-TR. This manual lists all mental disorders that may be diagnosed. Each listed pathology contains a detailed description, specific diagnostic criteria, statistical information and medical billing codes. The DSM-IV-TR is used by every clinician to identify and diagnose mental disorders properly.