To give our readers a better sense of what an effective mental health treatment plan looks like, I have been recreating a treatment plan here through a series of blog posts. To see other posts in this series, please click here.

The next section of the mental health treatment plan I like to use is number three—the Therapist’s Objectives—in a nutshell, your therapist’s “to do” list. These objectives are the actual courses of action that your therapist will take to help you reach your goals. They may be very specific, and describe the methods and techniques (also known as interventions), that your therapist will be using. Or, they may be more general.

Alexis

At this point in Alexis’s session we have already discussed and written up the:

1) Problem Statement(s)

Alexis is exhibiting signs of depression.

Alexis feels her worst problem is her insomnia.

Alexis feels her secondary problem is her sadness.

2) Treatment Goal(s)

Alexis will be free from the signs and symptoms of depression.

Now we are going to go a little deeper and describe the finer points of addressing the problem and reaching Alexis’s goal(s). We decided that for now, Alexis’s primary (and only) treatment goal will be:

Alexis will be free from the signs and symptoms of depression.

As Alexis’s therapist, I am going to make sure my objectives support her goal. Though in some cases I might describe very specific interventions I will use, in many cases, including this one, I am going to be more general—if I bog Alexis down with too much information, we might get distracted from the end goal.

For some patients, seeing more than one objective can be overwhelming, but Alexis has expressed a strong desire to see more upfront. Although I might have chosen one or two objectives to start (we can always add more—remember the Treatment Plan is a living document), in this case it seems Alexis is capable of assimilating a few objectives in the initial treatment plan—she is highly intelligent and highly motivated. However, even though they are written here and even though we may end up adding more as therapy progresses, we will probably devote a few sessions to each one of these.

3) Therapist’s Objectives

Help Alexis identify and talk about what the signs and symptoms of depression are.

Help Alexis identify and talk about three external factors that trigger her symptoms of depression.

Help Alexis identify and talk about three internal factors that trigger her symptoms of depression.

Teach Alexis proven methods to help alleviate or manage the signs and symptoms of depression that she is experiencing.

Next time in this series on the Treatment Plan we will discuss the Patient’s Objectives.

Report This Post

Share: Facebook | del.icio.us | Digg it | reddit | StumbleUpon

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    Last reviewed: 9 Feb 2010