How are patterns of psychological abnormality classified? Include a discussion of the development of the DSM system and the PTM Framework as two ways to look at what it means to understand psychological abnormalities and then form standards of assessment by conducting clinical assessment and then building a treatment plan based on that assessment.
(In the second essay, I’m asking you to compare as well as contrast the two approaches (the DSM and the PTM) as a way to build a treatment plan, but I don’t want you to actually write a treatment plan. This assignment is about which approach is better suited to planning for and working with someone who is seeking help with how to cope with their overwhelming feelings, thoughts and / or behaviors that interfere with living their lives.
The DSM has been in existence since 1952 and has a mixed relationship with the use of scientific tools. It was first organized as a theoretical manual based on Freudian psychology for editions 1 & 2. Then, in 1980, it moved to an empirical foundation for edition 3 and stayed with that approach for 33 years, til the publication of DSM 5. Then it returned to be a theoretical manual based this tie to the medical model (even though 33 years of data failed to support any of the 3 main hypotheses this model offers to explain psychological abnormalities).
The PTM model reflects what most clinical therapy schools have been teaching about how to approach building an understanding of the problems that are the focus for psychotherapy. It was first introduced in 2014 and has some direct scientific support for its claims as well as decades of indirect support based on the research various clinical approaches have generated over the years.)
