Collaboration is a key part of social work practice. Most MSW professionals engage in these processes during the postgraduate practice years that each state requires before their licensing moves from supervised to independent status. Even beyond those requirements, peer consultation and collaboration are key aspects of most social work practice settings.
For this Assignment, your Instructor has paired you with a consultation colleague. Imagine that you and your colleague are working with the client featured in the case study your Instructor assigned. Your task is to provide a diagnosis and present your findings in the Week 7 Discussion.
Your diagnosis can come from any part of the DSM-5, so frequent communication and research with your colleague may be needed. Your colleague is there to help you think out, consult on, challenge, research, and polish your process before you record and post your own final analysis of this case in Week 7. Your diagnosis could originate from any section of the DSM-5, which means that constant contact and research with your colleague may be required. Your colleague’s role is to Help you in thinking about, consulting on, challenging, researching, and polishing your method before you record and upload your own final analysis of this case in Week 7 of the course.
The collaborative process that begins with this Assignment is meant to offer a secure environment in which you and your partner can practise refining your differential diagnosis and case discussion skills. It is expected that you will meet with your designated partner at least once this week via Collaborate Ultra and begin thinking about the case you have been assigned. You must summarise the encounter, as well as any preliminary analysis of the case, in this Assignment.
The collaboration that begins in this Assignment is intended to provide a safe venue for developing your differential diagnosis and case discussion skills with your colleague. This week you meet with your assigned partner at least once via Collaborate Ultra and begin considering the assigned case. In this Assignment, you describe that meeting and any initial analysis of the case.
To prepare:
Using the case study provided to you by your instructor.
Consult the Case Collaboration Meeting Guidelines document found in the Learning Resources.
Read ahead to the Week 7 Discussion instructions so that you can plan and reflect accordingly.
Note: In the Week 7 Discussion, you make your final findings presentation as an individual, not with your partner.
By Day 7
Submit a 1- to 2-page paper in which you describe your team meeting. In your write-up, make sure to address the following:
Describe the quality of your working relationship with your colleague.
Critically reflect on strengths of collaborative relationship and areas for improvement.
Describe your case in 100–150 words.
Identify the red flags in your case study to be further evaluated.
Outline your and your partner’s plan for further research and consultation, identifying specific tasks that you are each doing in this regard.
Is there a chief complaint in the case? If so, what is it?
Are there any medical or substance problems that could account for symptoms? What are they? What factors should you consider when ruling these problems in or out?
Identify four possible mental disorders with the strongest relevance to your case. What spectra are they are on? What other issues (if any) in the case might need further research?
Make a plan for further researching your four diagnostic possibilities and any related issues. You are expected to use peer-reviewed journals in the Walden Library.
