The DSM-5: Concerns and Criticisms
Presented by John A Carney, DSW on 04-04-2014 at 9 a.m. Pacific to 11 a.m. Pacific (2 p.m. Eastern)
Dr. Carney will discuss how the DSMs have lacked scientific validity ever since the DSM-III was released in 1980, why the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has made no claims of construct validity for its manuals since 1987, and their inter-rater reliability has steadily declined since 2000.
The DSM-5 has been the most fiercely criticized manual for several reasons:
- The continued predominance of the biomedical model, despite the 30-year-long failure of APA researchers to uncover a link between brain biology and putative mental illness.
- The continued salience of psychoactive medications as the primary mode of treatment, despite continuing evidence of their harmful, life-threatening side effects and the lack of evidence of their treatment efficacy.
- The inclusion of certain diagnoses by APA researchers into the new DSM—such as Somatic Symptom Disorder—that defy credulity and, again, lack scientific, supporting evidence.
As an alternative, Dr. Carney will present promising psychosocial treatment approaches, particularly Collaborative Psychological Formulation, currently being clinically tested and promoted by psychologists in Great Britain and the United States that appear effective in treating persons in distress with little to no reliance on psychoactive medications.
Professionals determined to provide effective and ethical treatment to those who need it must actively oppose the continued reliance on the DSMs to define and guide mental health treatment in the United States and Western Europe. Dr. Carney will explain that the forced treatment advocated in all U.S. governmental jurisdictions constitutes violations of the several human rights conventions to which the United States and Western European governments have been signatories. Any opposition to the existing status quo, including the advocacy of alternative, non-chemically altering treatments, will be construed as political in nature and will oblige those promoting change to organize and act in concert. Strategies for accomplishing this, including the "Team Formulation" proposed by Lucy Johnstone as integral to psychological formulation, will be discussed.
This web conference is designed to help clinicians:
- Explain why the DSM-5 lacks scientific validity;
- Describe why the biomedical model is still being used today;
- List effective treatments with little or no reliance on psychoactive medications;
- Determine whether a link between brain biology and putative mental illness exists.
Dr. Carney recommends participants read and become familiar with the following prior to this web conference:
If you have any questions about this web conference or would like more information, please contact us here.
Continuing Education (CE) Information
Two CE credits will be provided by GoodTherapy.org for attending this web conference in its entirety.
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GoodTherapy.org, SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0395.
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Registration Information
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Meet the Presenter
John A Carney, DSW
Dr. Carney has been a social worker for the last 44 years. He has spent 35 years working within the public system for the mental health field. He has been trained in the Bowen Theory and in Linehan’s Kialectical Behavior Theory. He has also trained as an Alinsky community organizer.
Dr. Carney served as the director of FEGS case management program, a welfare agency located in New York, from which he recently retired after 17 years. He currently has a consultation and psychotherapy practice, and he regularly blogs for madinamerica.com. He is the National Coordinator for the Committee to Boycott the DSM-5, whose goal is to diminish the use and sales of the DSM-5. Dr. Carney is committed to doing what he can to promote positive change in the mental health field, especially in the public systems.