Assessment and Diagnostic Thinking in Clinical Work with Birth to Five Guided by the DC:0-3 

Participants will learn about the assessment framework embedded in the DC: 0-3R that emphasizes unique developmental and relational needs of infants/toddlers in the context of their families. This framework promotes a thorough assessment process that is a foundation for clinical formulation of the factors that are contributing to overall child functioning and capacity to successfully cope with the challenges of daily life. The multi-axial framework promotes diagnostic thinking that identifies contributions of constitutional (physical, health), medical/developmental, relational, psychosocial and functional social-emotional factors to clinical understanding of the child’s presentation of challenges and competencies. Integration of the data represented by the axes helps to establish a strong connection between diagnostic formulation and treatment planning.  

Participants will learn about a reflective assessment practice model for clarifying diagnostic issues and treatment needs guided by the assessment framework embedded in the DC: 0-3R. Assessment procedures operationalize DC: 0-3R informed observation based strategies for examination of presenting problems to ground diagnostic thinking in essential questions about a child’s functional competencies, developmental progression and relationship context, deliberately including caregivers in a collaborative exploration.

About the Instructor

Donna R. Weston, Ph.D., Dr. Weston is a licensed psychologist with over 25 years of experience in teaching, training, research and clinical work with young children and their families.  Dr. Weston’s training includes a PhD in Developmental Psychology from  the University of California, Berkeley, clinical internship at the Infa-Parent Program at the University of California, San Francisco, and child analytic training at the Hanna Perkins Center, Cleveland OH.   She has clinical experience working in pediatric outpatient settings, children’s mental health services, developmental disabilities services, intervention research settings, and private practice. Currently Dr. Weston is with Early Childhood Mental Health services at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland where she is director of  an interdisciplinary clinical  assessment team that provides assessment services for the birth to five age range.  From 2001 to 2006, Dr. Weston directed the Graduate Certificate Program in Infant Mental Health at the University of Washington and also has developed interdisciplinary Infant Mental Health community based training programs for staff members working for mental health and developmental intervention programs.  She was Co-Principal Investigator and clinical supervisor for a  clinical research project  at the University of Washington which piloted the integration of infant parent psychotherapy for mothers in recovery and their young children who were receiving intensive case management services.  Dr. Weston is a member of the ZERO TO THREE Training Group for the Diagnostic Classification 0-3 and has provided numerous training events nationally and internationally for practitioners on assessment, diagnosis, and use of the DC:0-3R. 

Registration

Program begins promptly at 9:00 a.m.