DAFT Workshop12.30-14.00 February 27 2015

Conference Room A: Ashbourne Training Centre Kingsway Hospital Derby DE22 3LZ.

Wanted and Unwanted Effects of Medical Labels in Systemic Practice

Facilitator: Chris Ward This workshop will explore the attitudes we might take towards medical diagnosis. A medical diagnosis defines a person’s problem as real, objective and abnormal. We also assume that something named by a diagnosis is one single thing, belonging to one single individual. Each of these implications poses problems for systemically minded practitioners. Some people reject the very idea of psychiatric illness or of medical diagnosis. Others go to the opposite extreme, uncritically accepting medical diagnoses as facts over which they have no control. Such people might see therapy as an adjunct to medical management. Still others probably fudge the issue, never making difficulties associated with diagnosis clear either to themselves or to their clients. The workshop is an opportunity to share the dilemmas we have faced in relation to these issues from perspectives such as those of people being given a diagnosis, of those witnessing a diagnosis in a family member, and of clinicians who make or contribute to the making of a diagnosis. A clinical example will illustrate several of the issues. No easy answers are promised, but the aim of the workshop will be to remind us of the responsibilities placed on us, both as service users and as service providers, when we use the language of diagnosis.

This workshop is free and both parents/carers and professionals are welcome. PPD Certificates are awarded. Come along with your lunch if you want to. No need to book. If you would like to keep up to date with DAFT news including the latest on presentations and conferences see:

http://derbyshireaft.wordpress.com/branch-workshops/

The DAFT Committee meets after the Presentations from 2.00-3.00pm and we welcome new members who can offer time to plan and plot future events.