Description

Writing a Diagnostic Assessment is central to the treatment process and a core component of most  mental health practitioners’ roles. Despite this, many mental health practitioners do not have the opportunity to master this skill, learning primarily on the job with little training or feedback. It is essential that mental health practitioners feel that they can engage in this practice in a way that is trauma-responsive, client-centered, ethical, meets the needs of their agency and third-party payers (especially MN DHS requirements), and is efficient.

Diagnostic Assessments live on for clients in their mental health records, court files and outcomes, relationships with service providers, and most importantly affect the ways that they see themselves in the context of their mental health. It is incumbent upon practitioners to ensure that we continue to hone our skills for diagnosis and assessment writing to ensure an ethical process that centers the client’s needs while maintaining compliance with statutory requirements.

This course is intended for both folks new to writing DA’s and to folks that want to brush up on skills and learn strategies for interviewing and writing more efficiently to DHS rule.

Objectives

After completing this one-hour presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Learn strategies for client interviews to aid in efficient writing of diagnostic assessments, with a focus on interviewing to assess safely for trauma history.
2. Review MN DHS statutory requirements for writing a Diagnostic Assessment, with special focus on cultural influences.
3. Practice with comprehensive clinical summaries, written to statute, which integrate data obtained in the interview with their clinical justification for the chosen diagnosis and assessment of client needs and referrals.

Key Benefits

Participants in this workshop are eligible to receive up to 3.5 CE Hours approved by the Minnesota Board of Social Work, CEP-204. 

For participants needing clinical clock hours (CCH), this workshop meets the requirements, as defined by the Board of Social Work: 

• Differential diagnoses and biopsychosocial assessment, including normative development and psychopathology: 2.5 CCH
• Clinical intervention methods informed by research and current standards of practice: 1 CCH

This workshop is eligible for 1 Hour of Cultural Responsiveness training. 

This asynchronous offering is not pre-approved for NBCC credit.