ASSESSMENTS

It is common that referrals to CDS UK are made because there are no comparable services within NHS services and so we work to ensure that our assessments are thorough and robust. Assessing clinicians are all trained and experienced in administering these assessments, and they all have extensive experience with patients with a range of dissociative presentations in a clinical setting.

An assessment with CDS UK is designed to:

• Definitively diagnose the presence of a dissociative disorder
• Assess the patient’s suitability for therapeutic intervention
• Enable an appropriate treatment plan to be formulated, where appropriate
• Explore the possibility of collaboration with local services to support the patient

Our assessments usually take place over 4 or 5 hours and is broken into two sections, as below:

Psychotherapy assessment: An assessment to provide a robust risk assessment and evaluate the emotional state of the patient, the level of trauma and dissociation experienced, the ability to make use of psychotherapy and the level of support available locally.

SCID-D (Structured Clinical Interview for Dissociative Disorders): An internationally validated
diagnostic interview, which systematically and comprehensively identifies the presence, nature and level of any dissociative disorder using the following criteria:

Amnesia – a specific and significant block of time that has passed but that cannot be accounted for by memory.

Depersonalisation – Detachment from one’s self e.g., a sense of looking at one’s self as if one is an outsider.

Derealisation – a feeling that one’s surroundings are strange or unreal. Often involves previously familiar people.

Identity Confusion – subjective feelings of uncertainty, puzzlement, or conflict about one’s identity.

Identity Alteration – objective behaviour indicating the assumption of different identities or ego states, much more distinct than different roles.

At CDS UK we also have a Specialist Consultant Psychiatrist available for consultation where needed. This could be particularly helpful if local psychiatry is not involved, or for when a second opinion is required or needed. They can also input into treatment recommendations.

Following the assessment, a detailed assessment report will be provided to the patient and other relevant health care professionals involved in their care, and the relevant NHS funding organisation. This report will typically include a diagnosis, treatment recommendations and an overview of presenting risks.

Though our assessments are very detailed, and we recognise how challenging the process may be for patients, our clinical team aim to make the process as manageable as possible.