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 the Mental Health Treatment Plan series, please click here.

The next section of the mental health treatment plan is often referred to as “Recommendations.” Recommendations are closely related to our previous post in the Mental Health Treatment Plan series, the section about Partners in Therapy. Recommendations, which may require serious thought, fine-tuned perception, as well as practical research by your therapist, may actually refer to some of your partners in therapy. For example, your therapist may recommend that you see another type of professional while you are in therapy, such as a psychiatrist, a medical doctor, a social worker, and so on who might also be described as a partner in therapy. He might be specific—for example, he may recommend you get a complete physical in order to determine that your symptoms don’t have a physiological basis. Or he might suggest that you do a particular activity with a supportive friend or family member.

Those struggling with addictions might be urged to attend group therapy or go to 12-step meetings, depending, naturally, on your diagnosis and willingness. Your therapist might also recommend that you seek the help of specialized kinds of professionals or services. He might recommend you take an art class, or do job training or career-building coursework. He might even suggest you schedule some type of bodywork or see a personal trainer to help with physical tension or lack of exercise. He may simply recommend that you join a gym.

Your therapist should be as specific as possible with his recommendations if you aren’t comfortable “filling in the blanks.” If you both agree, for example, that swimming really helps you cope with the physical symptoms of stress but you aren’t sure when and where to do it, he might help you find a pool you can join and ask you to start swimming twice a week, gradually increasing the frequency if you can fit it into your schedule. Or he might suggest you decide how to schedule that activity in order to encourage you to get involved in planning some aspects of your life.

Recommendations should be written into the treatment plan, but remember–they almost always will change over the course of therapy. And, and of utmost importance, remember that recommendations should take into account your unique needs, strengths, abilities, and preferences. Your therapist’s recommendations over time can get more detailed as he gets to know you better.

Alexis

Alexis feels that her voice simply freezes up when she has to speak to her boss, coworkers or roommate. Although this is something we will work on in therapy, I happen to know that the community center of which she is a member (though she rarely attends), has a choir and the leader is a singing instructor. Alexis mentioned to me that she played both the violin and the piano until her teens and that she misses making music. The logical next step seemed to me to suggest she contact this woman and ask if she can schedule a couple of singing lessons.

For the first time, I see a rush of real enthusiasm from Alexis. She agrees to make the call when she gets home. She even tells me she will visit the center and ask about joining the choir!

Comments

This post currently has one comment or trackback.
You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts.

Trackbacks

From Psych Central's website:
What’s on The Schedule? The Mental Health Treatment Plan Series | Therapy Soup (March 22, 2010)

    Last reviewed: 10 Mar 2010