Assessing Youth with Psychotic Experiences: A Phenomenological Approach

Abstract

Psychotic experiences may be part of normal development or indicate a wide range of mental disorders. This article shows how a systematic, domain-based, phenomenological approach to assessing psychotic symptoms in youth facilitates the gathering of the nuanced clinical information necessary to understand a child's specific experience. Mapping this information onto a narrative timeline, while understanding the evolution and developmental context of psychotic experiences, is essential in making an accurate diagnostic formulation and appropriate treatment plan for youth presenting with psychotic experiences.

Keywords: Assessment; Delusions; Diagnosis; Hallucinations; Phenomenology; Psychosis; Schizophrenia.