Religious issues in diagnosis: The V-Code and beyond

• Published in: Mental health, religion & culture religion & culture, 2003-07, Vol.6 (2), p.161-173
• Main Authors: Scott, Stacey, Garver, Stacy, Richards, Julie, Hathaway, William L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1367-4676; 1469-9737
• DOI: 10.1080/1367467021000038200

This paper addresses the issues around considering clients' religious and spiritual functioning as a matter of client diversity. Such issues may be under appreciated by many clinicians. The introduction of a religious and spiritual problem V-Code (V62.89) into the DSM-IV provided a significant accommodation of client religious and spiritual functioning in contemporary psychodiagnostics. The V-Code allows for explicit identification of a non-pathological religious or spiritual focus in treatment. The nature of and history of the V-Code's inclusion in DSM-IV is briefly reviewed. The strengths and limitations of the V-Code for raising clinician awareness of the religious and spiritual domain of client functioning is discussed and illustrated by a number of case examples. The V-Code approach is contrasted with Hathaway's (2003) clinically significant religious impairment concept. Both are viewed as making complementary contributions to a religiously and spiritually sensitive clinical practice.