ABSTRACT
Thefollowingexchangewillreverberateinthemindsofstudents,cliniciansand examiners.
'Tellmeabouttheclient' 'Wouldyouliketoknowthehistory,thediagnosisortheformulation?' Thischapterfocusesfirstontakingasubstance-abusehistoryand,subsequently,
onformulatingthecase.Clearly,takingacompetentsubstanceabusehistorymust beembeddedinathoroughpsychiatricandmedicalhistoryandreadersarereferred totheOxfordTextbookofPsychiatry(Gathetal.,1989).
