Events

The 2013 release of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM-5) is the largest change to hit the field of mental health in over 20 years. An entire generation of therapists has been trained knowing no other diagnostic scheme besides the now obsolete DSM-4. On May 22, 2013 the new DSM-5 diagnostic manual will be released worldwide. In honor of this event, we will be holding a 90 minute webinar on this same day to help people navigate through the extensive changes in this new manual. We will review the many changes that have been made to the manual as well as summarizing key concepts of the new diagnostic schema. We will review new diagnoses not seen before such as Persistent Depressive Disorder, Intellectual Developmental Disorder, Social Communication Disorder, Hoarding Disorder and many others. We will also explore some of the controversies of the new text including the removal of the bereavement exclusion in Major Depression as well as the elimination of Asperger’s in lieu of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Finally, we will also look at the new conceptual view in DSM-5 of “illness as a spectrum.” This concept is woven throughout the new manual. It sees the majority of mental issues as more within a spectrum between normal functioning and highly symptomatic. Clients move fluidly within this spectrum of functioning instead of “labeled” as mentally ill.