Symptom-Based Social Work

between disorder and non-disorder, where normal distress and mental disorder, which often display similar symptoms. The fact that symptom based systems has been developed in a way that fails to distinguish normal distress from disorders, thus yields the very sorts of abuses that it was designed to prevent. It’s believed in recent proposals that overall make the situation with respect to false positives much worse (Wakefield, 2010).
Wakefield also points out, is the context rather than the symptoms that reveal a disorder. Yet some practitioners simply rely on the symptoms to diagnose disorders, without understanding the nature of a problem (Wakefield, 2010). For an example, he mentions symptoms used such as sadness, loss of appetite, lack of
Unlikely other doctors and caretakers who’s primarily focus is the patients’ medical health, and not so much there overall well-being (Dubois, 2007). Through the clinical social worker using the languages of empowerment and strengths, clients are engaged in a therapeutic process in which they experience themselves as experts on their life circumstances, self-determining, competent, and active participants in constructing a better life for themselves and others (Greene, Lee, & Hoffpauir,
According to Harkness, the role and scope of clinical social work have expanded. With an estimated 170,790 clinical social workers certified or licensed to assess, diagnose, and treat mental disorders in the United States (Harkness, 2011).
Clinical Social Work is a state regulated professional practice. It is guided by state laws and regulations. In most instances, clinical social workers are required to have the following credentials; a master’s degree from a social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Clinical Social Workers must have a minimum of two years or 3,000 hours of post master’s degree experience in a supervised clinical setting, and a clinical license in the state of practice (NASW, 2005).
Diagnostic errors rarely become causes of action for malpractice, and diagnostic errors represent a small percentage of malpractice claims and awards. Incorrect treatments rarely become causes of action as well, but they represent the largest percentage among causes for malpractice claims and awards, and incorrect treatments, which are the sequel of diagnostic errors or failures to utilize correct diagnoses as guidance for treatment. The differential diagnosis of mental disorders has become an absolute need in clinical social