Brief
The brief creates a provisional clinical hypothesis. A provisional diagnostic hypothesis should include aspects of the following that are known at the time of the assessment:
- The clinician’s formulation of the cause of the client’s mental health symptoms, the client’s prognosis, and the likely consequences of the symptoms
- How the client meets criteria for the diagnosis by describing the client’s symptoms, the duration of symptoms, and functional impairment
- An analysis of the client’s other symptoms, strengths, relationships, life situations, cultural influences, health concerns and their potential interaction with the diagnosis and formulation of the client’s mental health condition, and alternative diagnoses that were considered and ruled out.