Facilitating the Implementation of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) in Clinical Practice

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a nosology that aims to improve upon traditional diagnostic systems by conceptualizing psychopathology dimensionally and hierarchically. A major unanswered question about HiTOP is whether and how the system can be used effectively in clinical practice. The current study reports the efficacy of the Clinical Translation Workgroup’s first workshop in facilitating the implementation of HiTOP in clinical practice. The 6-hour workshop is now available in recorded format for continuing education. It includes an introduction to HiTOP and describes the use of HiTOP in assessment/measurement, case conceptualization, treatment planning, and with diverse and underserved populations. At baseline, participants rated the usefulness of HiTOP similar to the DSM but reported more knowledge about how to use the DSM for a range of clinical activities, such as treatment planning, monitoring patient outcomes, and documenting/billing for services. After the workshop, participants rated HiTOP as more useful than the DSM for most tasks and reported equivalent knowledge about the DSM and HiTOP for all tasks except billing for services. These results suggest that training in the clinical application of HiTOP increases familiarity with and confidence in the utility of the model among clinicians. Future work will continue to refine the workshop, evaluate its effectiveness, expand its scope to include additional topics, and develop more tools for incorporating HiTOP into clinical practice.