Changing Views of Psychiatric Diagnosis and Classification

December 3, 2025

This presentation will be an ONLINE VIRTUAL LIVE on December 3, 2025, from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET. While this activity is LIVE and can only be viewed during the time specified, the evaluation will be available online until December 31, 2025. Go to the Overview tab to learn how to participate for continuing education credit, watch the broadcast and download the slides.

Clinicians inherit a categorical playbook that implicitly treats diagnoses as natural kinds, yet everyday psychiatry is saturated with comorbidity, diagnostic instability, and weak alignment with biology. What’s missing often is a conceptual orientation that acknowledges dimensional, hierarchical, and dynamic structure while remaining usable in clinic. This lecture supplies that orientation: it shows why neo-Kraepelinian assumptions falter, outlines a pluralistic nosology fit for clinic, and illustrates it with contemporary developments.

Target Audience

This activity is intended for physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, counselors, and other mental health professionals. 

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, attendees will be able to:

  • Describe the historical development of Kraepelinian and neo-Kraepelinian psychiatric classifications
  • Analyze how questions of classification have intersected with questions about the nature of mental illness
  • Identify contemporary developments in dimensional approaches to psychopathology

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Price: Free. All courses offered through Sheppard Pratt are free of charge. There is no need to cancel if you cannot attend or complete a course, as no refund is necessary. Not completing an activity acts as a cancellation. 

For more information on how to participate in this course, please read to the bottom of the page to review all of the directions. 
For directions on how to participate in the program, refer to the FAQ page.

To participate in the interactive synchronous distance learning format course, you will download the handout, watch a webcast of the live broadcast hosted through Notified, and complete the required posttest, evaluation, and attestation for credit. A 75% is required for the posttest. You may retake it as many times as necessary to achieve that score. Once you have completed all the components of the Course Progress bar, the certificate will be available for immediate download. The certificate will also be saved in your account transcript.

Outline of Activity:

12:00- 12:05 pm: Introduction

12:06- 12:50 pm: Presentation

12:51- 1:00 pm: Q&A

1:00 pm: End of event

Registration closes on December 3, 2025, at 11:59 am ET. The course expires and cannot be completed after December 31, 2025.

Please contact [email protected] if you have questions, concerns, grievances, or for ADA accommodations.

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TO EARN CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT FOR YOUR ATTENDANCE

1. Before the Event

  • Log in to Your Ethos Account:
    Access your Sheppard Pratt Ethos account and locate the activity by series, title, or speaker name.
  • Register for the Course:
    Go to the Register tab, click the green Take Course button, and follow the prompts.
  • Complete the Pretest.
    Note: You cannot proceed beyond this point until your attendance is confirmed by entering the codeword.

2. Register to Watch the Live Broadcast (Separate from Course Registration)

Important: This registration is different from registering for the course in Ethos. You must complete both registrations to watch the broadcast and earn credit.

How to Register:

  1. Click the Broadcast Registration Link (also located in the Overview tab): https://onlinexperiences.com/Launch/QReg/ShowUUID=D784B8FD-9FD3-4605-9D7E-9D9F05ECFD11
  2. Enter your first name, last name, and email address. Click Submit.

How to Join:

  • At the scheduled time use the same link.
  • If you have already registered, scroll down and click Already Registered, then enter your registered email address and click Submit.
  • The broadcast link will be active at 11:30 AM.

3. Download the Handout

4. During the Event

  • Attendance Verification:
    A codeword will be announced during the live broadcast. This codeword confirms your attendance and unlocks the remaining required components for credit.
  • How to Submit the Codeword:
    • Via Website: Go to https://cme.sheppardpratt.org/code and enter the codeword.
    • Via SMS: Text the codeword to 410-291-8061.
      Tip: Save this number in your contacts for convenience.
    • Via Course Progress Bar: You can type in the codeword in the box where it asks for it after you complete the Pretest.

Important:
The codeword submission window remains open for nearly four weeks. High traffic may cause delays immediately after the event. If the system is slow, wait and try again later.

5. After the Lecture

  • Go to My Account > Pending Courses and select the course by clicking the course title.
  • Click Take Course and use the navigation buttons in the lower right corner for best results.
  • Complete all components in the Course Progress Bar:
    • Posttest
    • Evaluation
    • Credit designation
  • Once completed, the certificate will be available for immediate download. Your transcript will reflect the earned credits.

Questions?

Visit our FAQ page or email [email protected].

Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 ACEP NBCC clock hours
  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 1.00 Category I credits for Social Workers
  • 1.00 Psychologists
  • 1.00 MNA Contact Hours for Nurses
  • 1.00 Participation
Course opens: 
09/25/2025
Course expires: 
12/31/2025
Event starts: 
12/03/2025 - 12:00pm EST
Event ends: 
12/03/2025 - 1:00pm EST
Add to calendar: 
Rating: 
0

There is no commercial support for this activity.

About the speaker

Awais Aftab, MD, is clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University and a psychiatrist at Southwest General Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. His academic, educational, and public-facing work focuses on conceptual and critical issues in psychiatry. His first book, “Conversations in Critical Psychiatry,” is an edited volume of interviews published in 2024 by Oxford University Press. He is a senior editor for the journal “Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology.” He writes online on his Substack newsletter, Psychiatry at the Margins.

Disclosure Statements

Sheppard Pratt holds the standard that its continuing medical education programs should be free of commercial bias and conflict of interest. In accord with Sheppard Pratt's Disclosure Policy, as well as standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Medical Association (AMA), all planners, reviewers, speakers and persons in control of content have been asked to disclose any relationship he /she has with any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients, during the past 24 months. All planners, reviewers and speakers have also been asked to disclose any payments accepted for this lecture from any entity besides Sheppard Pratt, and if there will be discussion of any products, services or off-label uses of product(s) during this presentation.

Awais Aftab, MD, reports that he was on the community advisory board for Osmind (2023-2024) and receives royalties from Oxford University Press during the past 24 months. He will not discuss any products, services, or off-label uses in this presentation. All relationships have been mitigated through review.  

Event Planners/Reviewers Disclosures: The following event planners and/or reviewers are reported as having no financial interest, arrangement or affiliation with any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients, during the past 24 months: Todd Peters, MD, Michael C. Hann, MD, MBA, Ronald Means, MD, Rajeev Krishna, MD, PhD, MBA, Louis Marino, MD, Devi Bhuyan, PsyD, Manan Shah, MD, Vittoria DeLucia, MD, Chad J. Lennon, MD, Crystal DeVito, PhD, Faith Dickerson, PhD, MPH, Carrie Etheridge, LCSW-C, Tom Flis, MS, BCBA, LBA, LCPC, Paula Bostwick, MSN, RN, CENP, Alfredo Sagisi, DNP, MS, RN, FACHE, Maggie O'Neill MSN, RN, PMH-BC, Lisa Illum, MLIS, MEd, and Jennifer Tornabene.

Physician Statement: Sheppard Pratt is accredited by The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.  Sheppard Pratt takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CME activity.  Sheppard Pratt designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nurse Statement: Sheppard Pratt is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the Maryland Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Sheppard Pratt takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CME activity. This activity provides 1.0 contact hours for nurses.

Psychologist Statement: Sheppard Pratt is authorized by the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists as a sponsor of continuing education. Sheppard Pratt takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CE activity.  Sheppard Pratt designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.0 contact hours for Psychologists.

Social Worker Statement: Sheppard Pratt is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners of Maryland to offer continuing education for Social Workers.  Sheppard Pratt takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CE activity. This activity is approved for 1.0 contact hours in Category I credits for Social Workers.

Counselor Statement:  Sheppard Pratt has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5098.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Sheppard Pratt is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.  This activity is available for 1.0 NBCC clock hours.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 ACEP NBCC clock hours
  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 1.00 Category I credits for Social Workers
  • 1.00 Psychologists
  • 1.00 MNA Contact Hours for Nurses
  • 1.00 Participation
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Directions to attend and complete the activity for credit are located on the Overview tab. 

Click the Take Course button to proceed into the course to complete the requirements for credit. 

Required Hardware/software

Optimal System Configuration

Flash Player: Adobe Flash Player 10.1+
Browser: Firefox 3+, Internet Explorer 8.0+, Safari 4.0+, or Google Chrome 7.0+
Operating System: Windows XP+ or Mac OS X 10.4+
Internet Connection: 1 Mbps or higher

Minimum Requirements

Windows PC: 500-MHz Pentium II; Windows XP or higher; 128 MB RAM; Video Card at least 64MB of video memory; Sound Card at least 16-bit; Macromedia Flash Player 10 or higher, audio playback with speakers for programs with video content; Firefox 1.1+, Internet Explorer 7.0+, Safari 1.0+, Google Chrome, or Opera
Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.3 or higher with latest updates installed; 1.83MHz Intel Core Duo or faster; RAM: 128MB or more; Video Card: at least 64MB of video memory; Sound Card: at least 16-bit

Hardware/Software Specifications

This internet-based CME activity is best experienced using Internet Explorer 8+, Mozilla Firefox 3+, Safari 4+. This Web site requires that JavaScript and session cookies be enabled. Certain activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of the content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Windows Media Player.