Strengths, protection and risk

Strengths, agency, values and recovery goals

Capabilities, preferences, values, relationships and roles the person wants to use or preserve.

Strength/recovery contextClinically reviewed

SocialBehaviour

Fit, function and alternatives

Test this factor against the case

A contextual factor earns a place in the formulation when case evidence links it to the presentation, not because it is present.

Check alternatives

Do not infer the process from a label, search phrase or diagnosis alone. Assess actual circumstances and source-specific population limits.

Next steps

Elicit case evidence, examine alternatives, discuss the hypothesis with the person, and revise when relevant evidence changes.

Qualification

Do not manufacture strengths from demographics or reduce them to factors thought to offset risk.

Caveats for this record

Educational formulation aid, not a diagnostic instrument, score or treatment order.
No generated history, trauma, protective factor, or patient preference may be asserted without case evidence.

Record status

Record type: Strength/recovery context
Population: Adult-general clinical formulation; apply narrower source population limits
Review: Clinically reviewed

Evidence

S02OCA and IOCA Formulation Guidelines

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists · PDF text, pages 1–7; visual retrieval failed. PDF pp. 1–3, sections 1–6; p. 7 revision history.

Assessment convention, not a universal documentation rule. Historical examples include obsolete diagnostic axes and language that should not be copied. The 2025 update includes IOCA terminology, not demonstrated wholesale clinical revalidation.

S08Comprehensive Care Standard

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care · HTML text. Comprehensive assessment and care planning, Actions 5.10–5.14.

Organisation-level Australian standard, not a validated psychiatric formulation template.

Link withheld: this source remains held and is cited as metadata only.

Evidence references only. Each source's own limitations still apply.

Strengths, protection and risk

Dynamic risk state and change from baseline Foreseeable scenarios, means/opportunity and mitigations Protective factors and reliability

Guide modules

Rapid clinical formulation guide Foundations, terminology and evidence limits Practical assessment-to-formulation workflow Risk formulation and management linkage Documentation templates and worked examples

How to use this

Record the case evidence yourself. Nothing here is a patient finding, and no factor becomes a cause because it appears in the formulation.

Strengths, protection and risk

Strengths, agency, values and recovery goals

Capabilities, preferences, values, relationships and roles the person wants to use or preserve.

Strength/recovery contextClinically reviewed

SocialBehaviour

Fit, function and alternatives

Test this factor against the case

A contextual factor earns a place in the formulation when case evidence links it to the presentation, not because it is present.

Check alternatives

Do not infer the process from a label, search phrase or diagnosis alone. Assess actual circumstances and source-specific population limits.

Next steps

Elicit case evidence, examine alternatives, discuss the hypothesis with the person, and revise when relevant evidence changes.

Qualification

Do not manufacture strengths from demographics or reduce them to factors thought to offset risk.

Caveats for this record

Educational formulation aid, not a diagnostic instrument, score or treatment order.
No generated history, trauma, protective factor, or patient preference may be asserted without case evidence.

Record status

Record type: Strength/recovery context
Population: Adult-general clinical formulation; apply narrower source population limits
Review: Clinically reviewed

Evidence

S02OCA and IOCA Formulation Guidelines

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists · PDF text, pages 1–7; visual retrieval failed. PDF pp. 1–3, sections 1–6; p. 7 revision history.

S08Comprehensive Care Standard

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care · HTML text. Comprehensive assessment and care planning, Actions 5.10–5.14.

Organisation-level Australian standard, not a validated psychiatric formulation template.

Link withheld: this source remains held and is cited as metadata only.

Evidence references only. Each source's own limitations still apply.

Strengths, protection and risk

Dynamic risk state and change from baseline Foreseeable scenarios, means/opportunity and mitigations Protective factors and reliability

Guide modules

How to use this

Record the case evidence yourself. Nothing here is a patient finding, and no factor becomes a cause because it appears in the formulation.