Psychiatric Consultation: Part II. Conceptual and Pragmatic Issues of Formulation

Abstract

Seven principles governing the selection and organization of data during the process of psychiatric consultation are presented. These are based upon conceptual decisions implicitly made by the psychiatrist during his clinical investigation. Three case examples illustrate the principles, followed by discussion which focuses on the pragmatic considerations influencing how these decisions are made. Three additional case examples serve to illustrate the effects of the pragmatic factors. The entire analysis is based upon the general systems model developed in Part I.¹