This trusted practitioner resource and course text is grounded in James Morrison's experience with more than 15,000 mental health patients. Morrison provides a complete framework for interviewing adult patients about their current symptoms, personal and family history, mental status, behavioral risks, and other relevant issues. He offers guidance for selecting the best strategy for any clinical situation, building rapport, overcoming common challenges, and communicating findings. Appendices include a detailed semistructured interview and a self-assessment tool for interviewers, both with...

This popular practitioner guide and course text takes the reader step by step through diagnostic decision making in mental health. Acclaimed for both the clarity of his writing and his clinical expertise, James Morrison provides principles and decision trees for evaluating information from multiple sources and constructing a valid, clinically useful working diagnosis. More than 100 vivid vignettes--from the straightforward to the toughest cases--illustrate the practical application of these methods. Essential topics include developing a differential diagnosis and dealing with comorbidity. ...