Am I Crazy? To Diagnose or Not to Diagnose That is the Question.

Leslie A. Slagel and Rick Myer, Ph.D.

Duquesne University School of Education

109 Canevan Hall

Pittsburgh, PA 15218

coofran@aol.com

There has been an explosion in research in the field of crisis intervention. Dramatic events such as the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Red Lake School shootings, and the problems associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, and the Washington,DC sniper shootings have contributed to this growth. When a catastrophic event occurs, mental health counselors use the terms psychological emergency and psychological crisis to describe the symptoms their clients present. Adding to the confusion is the concept of trauma, a term also used synonymously with crisis. A natural tendency for most mental health counselors is to utilize diagnosis to classify the reactions of clients who have experienced a catastrophic event. The most popular tool for diagnosis is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV. Experts in the field have expressed concern in using a symptom based model to explain and provide treatment for what can be considered a normal or expected response to unusual or extraordinary events.

In this workshop, the presenters will begin by differentiating the terms of emergency, crisis and trauma. Differentiating these terms will provide consistency in the language used by mental health professional to describe the client and will determine the appropriate level of intervention. Second, we will examine the benefits and potential problems of using the medical model approach to crisis intervention. Next, the presenters will examine briefly several strength-based approaches for clients in crisis. Lastly, the presenters will discuss implications for training.

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