Diagnosis Made Easier: Principles and Techniques for Mental Health Clinicians

From the Publisher

"This excellent volume is a very practical, well-organized, and elegant guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders. As readers of his other books know, Morrison is a great writer with a wealth of clinical knowledge, wit, and great common sense. This volume will be highly appreciated by medical students, psychiatry residents, psychology interns, and their teachers. It is a terrific teaching text."--Richard Balon, MD, Wayne State University School of Medicine

"This introduction to the process of mental health diagnosis is the best and most readable book on the topic I have seen. The author has an engaging, even entertaining manner of introducing the reader to basic principles of diagnosis. He uses excellent examples to apply these principles to a variety of common Axis I and II diagnostic categories. I was particularly impressed with the inclusion of tables that succinctly summarize the complex material. This book would be appropriate for any graduate-level course on the topic of DSM-IV diagnosis in any of the human service professions."--Joseph Walsh, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University

"Dr. Morrison’s extensive clinical experience shines through in this well-written, accessible guide to the complexities of mental health diagnosis. The book is brought to life with numerous clinical case examples, providing students and clinicians with rich illustrations of how diagnostic principles can be applied across a wide range of presentations. This text is particularly well suited for courses in clinical assessment and interviewing, though seasoned practitioners will also find it useful for sharpening their skills."--Martin M. Antony, PhD, Ryerson University, Toronto

"Morrison has again written a very useful book for mental health practitioners. This easy-to-read book is spiced with pertinent clinical vignettes and flow charts. The book provides a series of diagnostic algorithms that nicely complement the treatment algorithms increasingly being used in clinical practice. After all, treatment algorithms are of little use if the diagnosis is incorrect. Students and residents will find this a most helpful contribution, and experienced clinicians also will have much to gain."--David L. Dunner, MD, University of Washington
 "This book presents a clear, easy-to-follow framework for understanding the process of diagnosis."--Carolyn A. Bradley, PhD, Department of Social Work, Monmouth University

PsycCRITIQUES

"This book pulled me in, because it is different than most other books on diagnosis, it fills a niche, and the writing style is marvelous....Morrison adopts the role of a friendly tutor, one who has a wealth of clinical experience but assumes that some readers are new to this and that some seasoned clinicians were trained poorly or have developed bad habits that interfere with their capacity to reliably diagnose patients with precision. He writes in a style that is both scientific and professional, but also conversational....This book would be of value to students in training, as the basis for a course on diagnostics, or as a reference honing the skills of experienced clinicians, which is exactly how I used it. This is an exceptional book that must be read and reread because of the wealth of information it contains."--PsycCRITIQUES

Psychiatric Services

"A useful resource for clinicians to learn a systematic approach for arriving at diagnoses....Appropriate for students and those in early postgraduate training, as well as more experienced clinicians endeavoring to teach this material. For these readers, it could also serve as a useful foundation for building a thoughtful approach to psychiatric diagnosis."--Psychiatric Services