Demystifying the Psychiatric Case Formulation

Abstract

Until recently case formulation was an ethereal art, in that there was no standard, agreed-upon format for conceptualizing and writing formulations. However, the increasing emphasis on accountability in psychiatric care, the trend toward theoretical integration, and the difficulty trainees experience in mastering formulation skills highlight the need for a standard format. The descriptive, etiological and treatment-prognostic components qf a formulation are discussed as a standardformatfor conceptualizing and writing casefimnulations. Four written formulations are described in terms qf content, structure and process to illustrate this format.