The mood disorder work group has proposed to eliminate the bereavement exclusion criterion from the diagnosis of major depression in the 5th edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (2012) "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." The proposal would break tradition with the long-held distinction between…

For this ninth article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, this author provides a summary of a concussion- related case and provides responses to a series of questions by three members of the school psychology profession. The issue in this…

Emotional and behavioral difficulties often interfere with children's acquisition of academic, career, and social skills. Counselors assume an important role in the mandated multidisciplinary evaluation of children with emotional disturbance (ED), but the field lacks a standard battery of assessment procedures for working with children who have…

This article examines recent literature related to the diagnosis of Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) in childhood. First, the article discusses diagnostic criteria presented in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Next, it explores the diagnostic procedures for AD/HD…

Overconfidence in clinical judgment is a common problem among counselors that undermines the validity of the counselors' assessments and, by implication, the quality of client services. The authors evaluated an instructional module designed to reduce overconfidence among counselor trainees who completed an assessment task that exposed them to some…

This article reports the results of a national survey of school counselors that gathered information about the extent of school children's psychiatric diagnoses and usage of psychotropic medication, school policy issues arising from these practices, and counselors' perceived need for further training. Results support the assertion that…