Differential Diagnosis in the DSM Framework: Distinguishing Non-Pathological Mood and Anxiety Presentations, Adjustment Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder

Description

This course is a live, interactive webinar held on March 5, 2027, from 12pm-1pm Eastern Standard Time.

This reduced price webinar does not offer CE Credits. The same live event is available for purchase and offers 1 CE hour for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

Registration closes at midnight (EST) the day before the event

When a client presents with anxiety or low mood following a stressful life event, how do you determine whether their symptoms reflect an understandable response, adjustment disorder, or major depressive disorder? The distinctions can be subtle, yet they are essential for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment planning.

Distinguishing between these presentations requires more than identifying symptoms at a single point in time. This 1 CE-hour live webinar offers mental health professionals a systematic approach to evaluating symptom patterns, examining their relationship to life stressors, and recognizing when a diagnostic formulation may need to change.

Led by Jason Buckles, Ph.D., LPCC, this training draws on more than 25 years of clinical experience and over two decades of teaching DSM-based assessment and treatment planning at the graduate level. As a longtime behavioral health consultant and former statewide clinical director, Dr. Buckles brings extensive experience navigating complex diagnostic presentations and translating diagnostic principles into practical clinical decisions.

Through straightforward, literature-informed instruction and practice-based examples, Dr. Buckles breaks down the diagnostic reasoning involved in distinguishing non-pathological mood and anxiety responses from diagnosable conditions. His approach emphasizes a structured, repeatable process that helps clinicians move beyond symptom checklists to consider the broader clinical picture and changes over time.

The training begins by examining the boundary between understandable emotional distress and symptoms that may warrant a clinical diagnosis. Participants will explore how to differentiate non-pathological mood and anxiety presentations from adjustment disorder, including presentations with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, and major depressive disorder with anxious features. Particular attention is given to symptom duration, diagnostic thresholds, stressor onset, exclusion criteria, and the progression of symptoms beyond the original stressor. Dr. Buckles also addresses the influence of substances, medications, medical conditions, and cultural factors on diagnostic decisions. The course concludes by reinforcing the importance of longitudinal assessment, diagnostic reconsideration, and screening for suicidal ideation and other safety concerns regardless of the working diagnosis.

Key Takeaways:

• Distinguish distress from disorder: Develop a more systematic approach to determining when anxiety or low mood reflects an expected response to life circumstances and when symptoms may meet criteria for adjustment disorder or major depressive disorder.
• Apply critical diagnostic discriminators: Learn to evaluate symptom thresholds, duration, stressor relationships, longitudinal course, and exclusion criteria to support well-reasoned diagnostic decisions.
• Recognize when the diagnosis needs reconsideration: Strengthen your ability to track symptom changes over time, identify alternative explanations, and revisit an initial diagnosis as new clinical information emerges.

Why This Course?

• Address a common diagnostic challenge: Anxiety and depressive symptoms frequently overlap with ordinary responses to stress. This focused training examines the clinical distinctions that can influence case formulation, diagnostic accuracy, and treatment planning.
• Learn from extensive clinical and teaching experience: Dr. Buckles combines decades of behavioral health practice with graduate-level DSM instruction, offering practical guidance on applying diagnostic criteria to complex presentations.
• Invest in clinically relevant continuing education: Telehealth Certification Institute provides accessible, high-quality professional development designed to strengthen clinical judgment and support ethical, informed care. This focused 1 CE-hour webinar offers an opportunity to revisit foundational diagnostic principles and sharpen skills applicable across therapeutic approaches.

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate non-pathological presentation of anxiety and/or mood disruption from adjustment disorder and major depressive disorder using DSM-5-TR logic.
• Use duration, symptom threshold, longitudinal course, temporal relationship to substances/medications, and exclusion criteria as the principal discriminators.
• Construct a differential that actively considers onset of stressor(s), possible development of clinically significant symptoms that exceed expected response, and a longitudinal tracking of course that allows for diagnostic re-consideration.

Accurate differential diagnosis depends on recognizing not only which symptoms are present, but also how they develop, interact with life circumstances, and evolve over time. Whether you are revisiting foundational DSM principles or refining an established assessment process, this webinar offers practical guidance for making more defensible diagnostic decisions and establishing a sound foundation for treatment.

Format and Access

This course is a live, interactive webinar.

Course Details

Schedule: (listed in Eastern Daylight Time)

• 12:00 pm - 12:50 pm Lecture
• 12:50 pm - 1:00 pm Q&A

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a live, interactive webinar. Enrollment includes access to live event(s) but does not include recordings of the presentations.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Jason Buckles, Ph.D., LPCC

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Jason earned his Bachelor’s in Psychology at New York University in 1996. While there, he worked on diagnostic projects at Bellevue Hospital and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He earned his Master’s in Counseling at The University of New Mexico in 2001 and his Ph.D. in Special Education at The University of New Mexico in 2016. His dissertation focused on the experiences of direct support professionals who support people with sexually challenging behavior. Since 2002 Jason has been the owner of Talkabout Inc., a Behavior Consultation agency specializing in support for people with intellectual disability and concurrent mental health diagnoses. From 2012 through 2016, Jason was the Statewide Clinical Director of the New Mexico Department of Health – Bureau of Behavioral Support, overseeing statewide systems of behavioral support consultation. From 2016-2019 Jason was the Executive Director of A Better Way of Living, a CQL-accredited agency that provides life-wide supports for people with intellectual disability. He is currently a contracting consultant with the New Mexico Department of Health, where he supervises the sexual risk screening program, and the ongoing development of behavior support systems, and provides statewide trainings on co-occurring mental health conditions for people with intellectual disability, among other topics. For several years Jason has also served as the Program Manager for the Developmental Disability/Mental Illness project with the University of New Mexico. For most of the past 20 years, he was a part-time instructor at both The University of New Mexico, teaching Introduction to Intellectual Disability, and at New Mexico Highlands University, teaching DSM Assessment for Counselors.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

This reduced price webinar does not offer CE credits, just great content.

The same live event is available for purchase and offers 1 CE hour for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of attendance to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Agreement

By registering for this event you are agreeing to the following:

• 24 hour notice is required if you are not able to make it to a live event. Recordings are not provided to webinar registrants.
• To update and test using Zoom.us/test before the event to ensure you are ready for the event.
• Since this is a live interactive event it means that your interaction during the event is expected.  Your name and image will be visible to other participants during the live event. You will NOT be included in any recording made.
• An evaluation must be completed within one week of the event. Continuing Education credit(s) cannot be issued unless you attend the event and the evaluation is submitted.  (Evaluation is not mandatory for APA hours)
• Partial CE credits are not possible; therefore you are required to be present throughout the event in order to receive CE credits.
• Respect all other participants during the event as though you would if you were sitting with the other attendees at a conference table:
  • Dress appropriately
  • Be in a private location void of distractions
  • Do not multitask
  • Do not drive during an event
  • Remain on mute unless you are sharing with the group

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement