CLINICAL COMPASS Workshop in Psychopathology and Differential Diagnosis for Supervisors

CLINICAL COMPASS

Workshop in psychopathology and differential diagnosis for supervisors (2-weekend)

• Goals of the course:
• Provide participants with knowledge regarding:
• differences between psychotherapeutic and clinical diagnosis,
• basic concepts of general psychopathology,
• important issues in specific psychopathology (using diagnostic classifications).
• Introduction to skills for differentiating mental disorders (symptoms and their origins).
• Learning to recognize symptoms that may indicate psychogenic disorders and the most common psychopathological symptoms in somatic diseases.
• Acquiring clinical language:
• communication with other healthcare professionals,
• keeping psychotherapy process documentation in a way that meets necessary standards.

Program:

• Module I: Psychiatric Alphabet (General Psychopathology)
• Clinician's dictionary: precise definition of symptoms (e.g., difference between a delusion and an overvalued idea, hallucination and illusion, panic disorder and generalized anxiety).
• Status Praesens: how to describe appearance, drive, affect, thought form and cognitive functions of a patient in documentation so the psychiatrist knows exactly what is meant.
• Simulation: watching film/interview fragments and 'translating' patient behavior into the language of clinical symptoms.



• Module II: New Maps (Specific Psychopathology according to ICD-11/DSM-5)
• Changes in classifications: what's new in ICD-11? (e.g., new approaches to personality disorders, C-PTSD, gaming disorder).
• Subtle clinical pictures: how to recognize early schizophrenia, bipolar affective spectrum or neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD/ASD) in adults who 'manage' in life.



• Module III: The Art of Differentiation (Differential Diagnosis)
• Decision trees: algorithms of clinical thinking. 'If a patient has symptom X, check Y and Z before diagnosing A'.
• Organic exclusions: when 'depression' is the thyroid, and 'anxiety' is an arrhythmia? Basic somatic issues a psychotherapist must ask about.
• Case studies: analysis of cases where a 'high-functioning' patient masked serious disorders.

Facilitator:

Dr. Ludmiła Kosińska, MD, PhD – graduate of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Warsaw, specialist in clinical psychology (CMKP), recognized for work in child and adolescent psychotherapy (Min. of Health), certified psychotherapist (PTPG and PRP). In the process of certification training in Emotion-Focused Therapy (Greenberg). Completed level II EMDR training. Specialist in addiction psychotherapy (Min. of Health certificate). Earned a doctorate in medical sciences at the Military Institute of Medicine. For many years she worked in the Clinic of Psychiatry, Combat Stress and Psychotraumatology at the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw, focusing on psychological diagnosis and psychotherapy. Author of scientific publications. Currently maintains a private practice as a psychotherapist and psychologist and collaborates as a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology at SWPS University in Warsaw.

Dates and times:

- 13–14 March and 15–16 May 2026 (Friday and Saturday, 9:30–18:30 with a lunch break)

Location:

- Warsaw

Cost:

- PLN 3000 for 2 workshops. Deposit PLN 800; remaining amount due by 10 March 2026.

Registration:

- Via SMS to Kamila Kostrzewska, tel. 501 023 360