Fall 2025 SOWK 581 Week 05 - The #AMA - DSM-5

Fall 2025 SOWK 581 Week 05 - The #AMA - DSM-5

title: Fall 2025 SOWK 581 Week 05 - The #AMA - DSM-5

date: 2025-09-22 21:45:29

location: Heritage University

tags:

• Heritage University
• MSW Program
• SOWK 581

presentation_video: > Fall 2025 SOWK 581 Week 05

description: >

Week five is an asynchronous week, with no in-person class session. We will be exploring multicultural practice, which requires an understanding of theory and practice implementation. This week, students will read about (and take a reading quiz) multicultural practice. They will also look at the NASW and the indicators for cultural competency they lay out for social workers. Students will also be able to consider how cultural factors are assessed within diagnostic interviews. During my lecture vido we are just completing the #AMA - the DSM Edition that we ran out of time for in class. The agenda is as follows:

• Week Five Content
• AMA - DMS-5-TR Edition

The Learning Objectives for this Week Include:

• Know the NASW standards for cultural competence
• Practice using tools and strategies for assessing cultural needs
• Understand how multicultural worldviews affect the therapeutic relationship
• Stronger understanding of the DSM

Week 05 Plan

Agenda

• Week Five Content
• AMA - DMS-5-TR Edition

Learning Objective: Stronger understanding of the DSM

Week Five Content

Content

• Read Cooper and Granucci Lesser (2022) Chapter 4 Multicultural Practice
• Read National Association of Social Workers (2015) Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice
• Read Congress and Kung (2012) Using the _Culturagram to Assess and Empower Culturally Diverse Families_
• Watch my lecture video
• Consider also listening to an episode of the InSocialWork Podcast about Diversity/Cultural Competence

Weekly Online Discussion Forums

The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and provide meaningful perspectives, contributing to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can be related to the prompts or building on conversations shared by peers. There are four forums for this week, and you are expected to make at least six replies across any of the forums. These forums include the following:

• As usual, students can reflect on the chapter four reading and the discussion of the vignettes and multicultural practice.
• The textbook provides some specific tools related to multicultural practice, and students can provide an example of using the culturagram or ADDRESSING.
• Some of the questions in last week’s AMA - The DSM edition were about understanding culture related to the DSM. The American Psychiatric Association provides a cultural formulation interview (CFI) and you can engage in a forum learning about it more.
• I want everybody to read the NASW’s Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice, and there is a forum to discuss your findings. It is also a space for students to listen to podcasts about diversity and cultural competency and reflect on them.

Reading Quizzes

Complete W-05 Reading Quiz for Cooper and Granucci Lesser (2022) Chapter 04 due by Saturday 9/27, 8:00 AM

Q1

When should providers draw the line when recognizing if their clients’ symptoms are behaviors normal to their culture or just psychiatric symptoms?

When distinguishing between cultural norms and psychiatric symptoms, use a cultural formulation approach. If a belief is culturally normative and not causing impairment, it may not be pathologized.

Cultural Formulation Interviews

Q2

In the introduction to the DSM-5 video, the professor states that gambling is now considered only a process addiction. What does he mean by this? Also, in the past, DSMs’ explanations and courses have discussed the potential incorporation of gaming and sex addiction as a part of the DSM. Even in my SUD courses, they have discussed these addictions as actual diagnosable mental health issues that should be addressed and corrected. So why haven’t these been added?

Gambling is now recognized as a behavioral addiction in the DSM due to sufficient research. Psychiatry.org - Internet Gaming

Q3

My question is regarding diagnosing; how can we differentiate between similar conditions, for example, generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder? I know we have to carefully examine the symptoms, but I think it can become very confusing at the beginning as we begin diagnosing.

Differentiating similar diagnoses like GAD and panic disorder relies on DSM differential guidelines. Experience helps, but it’s about recognizing unique criteria for each diagnosis

Q10

how we can differentiate diagnoses between similar conditions. I’m sure people have been misdiagnosed before, and I’m wondering how we can tell two apart if they are teetering between the conditions.

Q4

There are people that face into trauma and able to trust, according to the DSM-5 and talks about two different types of stressors. How can we define the different types of stressors to client they are facing? For example, there is posttraumatic stress disorder ana acute stress disorder.

Q4

There are people that face into trauma and able to trust, according to the DSM-5 and talks about two different types of stressors. How can we define the different types of stressors to client they are facing? For example, there is posttraumatic stress disorder ana acute stress disorder.

Q5

How do you decide between two possible diagnoses that share symptoms? Another question I have is How do you handle situations where a client disagrees with their diagnosis?

If a client disagrees with a diagnosis, using psychoeducation and a collaborative approach is key. Involuntary settings might have more disagreement, but focusing on understanding and client education can help.

Q6

If the client sees another clinician for a second opinion, how should one go about it when the diagnosis may be different between clinicians (the other clinician and me)? Or the opposite occurs, where they come to me for a second opinion, and I believe their diagnosis is different from their first clinician?

When a client gets a second opinion, review prior records and note both diagnoses. Transparency about differing clinical opinions is important, and documenting both perspectives can clarify your assessment.

Q7

Where’s the line between normal distress and a diagnosable disorder? For example, people can feel anxious, but how much do they have to have that normal distress to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder?

The line between normal distress and a diagnosable disorder is about how intense, long-lasting, and impairing the symptoms are. If anxiety or distress disrupts daily life significantly, it may meet the criteria for a disorder.

Q8

Towards the end of the video, Professor Kinter showed an old list of the frequency of diagnoses where he was employed. Given your experience and immense knowledge, do you think there is a correlation between schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and addictive disorders, mainly alcohol, cannabis, and other substances?

They are all, in one way or another, involve psychoses - they all affect the mind and lose touch with reality.

There can be a correlation between disorders like schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and substance use disorders. They can overlap because all can involve psychosis or losing touch with reality.

Q9

If an individual regularly goes into an alcohol related psychosis, which is normally not permanent, but heavy alcohol use damages the brain, resulting in permanent brain damage, and elements of schizophrenia are now present, what would your diagnosis look like?

The two mirror each other so well, in my eyes, that if there’s no known or disclosed alcohol or substance use, then one could easily mistake one for the other.

With alcohol-related psychosis and potential brain damage, symptoms can mimic schizophrenia. Consider substance history and whether symptoms persist independently to refine the diagnosis.

Q11

Is there anything missing in the DSM that could be beneficial to diagnosing individuals?

DSM might benefit from a continuum-based model and a greater focus on strengths and resilience. It’s important to look beyond just diagnoses and consider positive factors in treatment planning

Q12

My question is regarding treatment. What are evidence-based treatments for borderline personality disorder? Also, what does a treatment plan look like for a person with schizophrenia?

For borderline personality disorder, DBT is a key evidence-based treatment. For schizophrenia, treatment often includes antipsychotic medication and supportive therapies. Cognitive-behavioral approaches may be used if the client has insight, but the core is symptom management and support.

Q13

When conducting a diagnostic interview, how do you balance being thorough without overwhelming the client? What are some common mistakes you see new clinicians make during the diagnostic process? How can we avoid them?

Q14

How do clinicians make sure they aren’t just focusing on the diagnosis but also the whole person?