The Mental Status Examination (MSE) and Risk

This one day course is concerned to underpin some fundamental aspects of working with mentally ill people. The MSE is usually conducted by a Psychiatrist but it is important for other social care / health staff to have a working knowledge of what it comprises and why these sorts of questions / observations are made. The main part of the course comprises a series of exercises which work through the standard MSE. 

The taking of Psychosocial History is often completed primarily by social care workers and should comprise an essential component to any assessment.

The second part of the course is the analysis and assessment of risk within mental health work. This section will address the nature of risk, the difference between risk analysis, risk assessment and risk management, the essentials of conducting risk assessments, the role of risk factors and how outcome formulation and intervention possibilities are involved. We will also look at H&S issues for workers.

LEARNING THEMES: by the end of the course, participants will have developed understanding and awareness re the importance of the following:

• Understand the fundamentals of the Mental Status Examination

• Develop knowledge and skills in undertaking Psychosocial History taking.

• Develop awareness of the nature of risk

• Develop risk analysis and risk assessment skills

• Develop risk management skills, including Health &Safety issues.

  Course Key Texts:

• Osiris Course Handout

• Goldberg D & Murray R (2002) The Maudsley Handbook of Psychiatric Medicine

• (Oxford, OUP)

• Blumenthal S & Lavender T (2001) Violence and Mental Disorder (London, Jessica Kingsley)

• Kemshall. H. & Pritchard. J. (eds) (1996 & 1997) Good Practice in Risk Assessment and Risk Management Volumes 1 and 2 (London, Jessica Kingsley)

• Pfafflin F & Adshead G (eds) (2004) A Matter of Security: the Application of Attachment Theory to Forensic Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (London, Jessica Kingsley)

• Prins H (1999) Will they do it again? Risk assessment in Criminal Justice and Psychiatry (London, Routledge)

• Pritchard J (ed) (2001) Good Practice with Vulnerable Adults (London, Jessica Kingsley)

• Hacking I (2001) An Introduction to Probability and Inductive Logic (Cambridge, CUP).

• Reder P & Lucey C. (eds) (1998) Assessment of Parenting: psychiatric and psychological contributions (London, Routledge)

• Weir A & Douglas A (eds) (1999) Child Protection and Adult Mental Health (London, Butterworth / Heinemann)

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