Diagnosis by a Psychologist

When a psychologist is taking a decision on the diagnosis of a person, one should be careful of many criteria and the decision taken should be supported by the rest of the scientific world. The three major criteria are static criteria, cultural and functionality criteria. The last one is the most important of all.

Cultural difference is the first criteria. Movement of different nationalities within all countries has made all countries secular and each country has a mixture of cultures. A psychologist must have the knowledge about different cultures as some things may be dealt as a taboo and in some places considered excellent. The client and the psychologist can build up a stronger relation if one keeps to the cultural aspects.

For example, the doctor would advice a woman not to stay within the house all the time as that could be the cause of depression, but he can’t do so when he is dealing with a Muslim woman, because it is functional of their culture that the Woman stays put in the house.

Based on age and gender one must make a diagnosis. One cannot expect all age groups like the elderly, children and adults to show the same results in a psychometric test. This is due to the different anatomical and physiological functionalities of the brain. Different stages of life will tend to have different scores on the marking sheet.

Also the language should be taken into consideration, people

may not understand clearly what the psychologist is trying to convey in the case of a communication gap. For this problem, diagrams and drawings may be used to explain to the patient clearly.

Psychologists must formally declare their areas of competence and demonstrate to the College of Psychologists that they are competent to practice independently in their declared areas.

Dr. Jeremy Frank a Toronto Psychologist and therapist with a private practice on Centre Street between Bathurst and Dufferin in the heart of Thornhill.Toronto Psychologist can help with a variety of problems including depression, eating disorders, anxiety and uncontrollable worry, panic attacks, crisis management, social anxiety, relationship problems.