SOCW 6090 Week 3 The Mental Status Exam and Risk and Safety Assessments

The process of clinical diagnosis begins with a diagnostic interview. During this interview, a social worker conducts a Mental Status Exam (MSE) and assesses suicide, violence, and other safety risks. Suicide risk is on the rise in the United States overall and within many populations, such as teens. Suicide attempts are common in individuals with mood disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and borderline personality disorder. The diagnostic interview plays an important role, then, not only in understanding a client’s mental state and presenting symptoms but in identifying potential for self-harm.

This week, you focus on individual elements of the diagnostic process. You start with how to conduct a diagnostic interview and MSE. You also consider the risk assessments that are part of the diagnostic interview, particularly how to respond to a positive suicide risk assessment.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Analyze an example of a suicide assessment
Develop a safety and response plan based on a suicide risk assessment
Analyze an example of a diagnostic interview
Develop a Mental Status Exam (MSE) write-up based on a case

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Morrison, J. (2014). Diagnosis made easier: Principles and techniques for mental health clinicians (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Chapter 10, “Diagnosis and the Mental Status Exam” (pp. 119–126)
Chapter 17, “Beyond Diagnosis: Compliance, Suicide, Violence” (pp. 271–280)

American Psychiatric Association. (2013t). Use of the manual. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.UseofDSM5

American Psychiatric Association. (2013b). Assessment measures. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.AssessmentMeasures

Focus on the “Cross-Cutting Symptom Measures” section.

Chu, J., Floyd, R., Diep, H., Pardo, S., Goldblum, P., & Bongar, B. (2013). A tool for the culturally competent assessment of suicide: The Cultural Assessment of Risk for Suicide (CARS) measure. Psychological Assessment, 25(2), 424–434. doi:10.1037/a0031264

Osteen, P. J., Jacobson, J. M., & Sharpe, T. L. (2014). Suicide prevention in social work education: How prepared are social work students?. Journal of Social Work Education, 50(2), 349-364.

Blackboard. (2018). Collaborate Ultra help for moderators. Retrieved from https://help.blackboard.com/Collaborate/Ultra/Moderator

Note: Beginning in Week 4, you will be using a feature in your online classroom called Collaborate Ultra. Your Instructor will assign you a partner and then give you moderator access to a Collaborate Ultra meeting room. This link provides an overview and help features for use in the moderator role.

Document: Case Collaboration Meeting Guidelines (Word document)

Document: Collaborating With Your Partner (PDF)

Document: Diagnostic Summary Example (Word document)

Note: This is an example of a diagnostic summary that can be used as a template for Part I of the Assignment.

Required Media

Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload TranscriptLaureate Education (Producer). (2018b). Psychopathology and diagnosis for social work practice podcast: The diagnostic interview, the mental status exam, risk and safety assessments [Audio podcast]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

MedLecturesMadeEasy. (2017, May 29). Mental status exam [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/RdmG739KFF8

Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (Producers). (2014). Clinical interviewing: Intake, assessment and therapeutic alliance [Video file].

Watch the “Suicide Assessment Interview” segment starting at 01:44:37. This is the interview with Tommi, which will be used for the Discussion.
Watch the “Mental Status Examination” segment starting at 01:22:23. This is the case of Carl, which will be used for the Application.

Optional Resources

First, M. B. (2014). Handbook of differential diagnosis. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association

Chapter 1, “Differential Diagnosis Step by Step” (pp. 14–24)

Document: Suggested Further Reading for SOCW 6090 (PDF)

SOCW 6090 Week 3 The Mental Status Exam and Risk and Safety Assessments