Psychological Treatment Plan
It is recommended that students review the e-book The Complete Adult Psychotherapy
Treatment Planner (Jongsma, Peterson, & Bruce, 2014) for additional assistance in
completing this assignment.
Clinical and counseling psychologists utilize treatment plans to document a client’s
progress toward short- and long-term goals. The content within psychological treatment
plans varies depending on the clinical setting. The clinician’s theoretical orientation,
evidenced-based practices, and the client’s needs are taken into account when developing
and implementing a treatment plan. Typically, the client’s presenting problem(s),
behaviorally defined symptom(s), goals, objectives, and interventions determined by the
clinician are included within a treatment plan.
To understand the treatment planning process, students will assume the role of a clinical or
counseling psychologist and develop a comprehensive treatment plan based on the same
case study utilized for the Psychiatric Diagnosis assignment in PSY645. A minimum of five
peer-reviewed resources must be used to support the recommendations made within the
plan. The Psychological Treatment Plan must include the headings and content outlined
below.
Behaviorally Defined Symptoms
• Define the client’s presenting problem(s) and provide a diagnostic impression.
• Identify how the problem(s) is/are evidenced in the client’s behavior.
• List the client’s cognitive and behavioral symptoms.
Long-Term Goal
• Generate a long-term treatment goal that represents the desired outcome for the
client.
o This goal should be broad and does not need to be measureable.
Short-Term Objectives
• Generate a minimum of three short-term objectives for attaining the long-term goal.
o Each objective should be stated in behaviorally measureable language. Subjective
or vague objectives are not acceptable. For example, it should be stated that the
objective will be accomplished by a specific date or that a specific symptom will
be reduced by a certain percentage.
Interventions
• Identify at least one intervention for achieving each of the short-term objectives.
• Compare a minimum of three evidence-based theoretical orientations from which
appropriate interventions can be selected for the client.
• Explain the connection between the theoretical orientation and corresponding
intervention selected.
• Provide a rationale for the integration of multiple theoretical orientations within this
treatment plan.
• Identify two to three treatment modalities (e.g., individual, couple, family, group,
etc.) that would be appropriate for use with the client.
It is a best practice to include outside providers (e.g., psychiatrists, medical doctors,
nutritionists, social workers, holistic practitioners, etc.) in the intervention planning
process to build a support network that will assist the client in the achievement of
treatment goals.
Evaluation
• List the anticipated outcomes of each proposed treatment intervention based on
scholarly literature.
o Be sure to take into account the individual’s strengths, weaknesses, external
stressors, and cultural factors (e.g., gender, age, disability, race, ethnicity,
religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.) in the evaluation.
• Provide an assessment of the efficacy of evidence-based intervention options.
Ethics
• Analyze and describe potential ethical dilemmas that may arise while implementing
this treatment plan.
• Cite specific ethical principles and any applicable law(s) for resolving the ethical
dilemma(s).
The Psychological Treatment Plan
• Must be 8 to 10 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references
pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing
Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
o Title of paper
o Student’s name
o Course name and number
o Instructor’s name
o Date submitted
• Must use at least five peer-reviewed sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as
outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Attention Students: The Masters of Arts in Psychology program is utilizing the Pathbrite
portfolio tool as a repository for student scholarly work in the form of signature
assignments completed within the program. After receiving feedback for this Psychological
Treatment Plan, please implement any changes recommended by the instructor, go to
Pathbrite (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., and upload the revised
Psychological Treatment Plan to the portfolio. (Use the Pathbrite Quick-Start Guide to
create an account if you do not already have one.) The upload of signature assignments will
take place after completing each course. Be certain to upload revised signature
assignments throughout the program as the portfolio and its contents will be used in other
courses and may be used by individual students as a professional resource tool. See the
Pathbrite (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. website for information and
further instructions on using this portfolio tool.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for
the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
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