Let’s talk about treatment plans. If you have never been to therapy before it might sound very medical and procedural. Really it is a collaborative discussion around what you want to happen in therapy and how you will know when you have reached that goal. It helps to set the stage for the therapy process; however, it is okay for goals and expectations to change as you do.
Treatment planning usually happens within the first session or two; depending on how long the assessment or intake is and can take an entire session for some clients. It creates an outline for success that helps drive therapy and measure realistic expectations. Realistic expectations are an important discussion to be had, so that one does not feel they are “failing” in therapy or feel less motivated because change is slower than they would like. Baby steps or small steps still move therapy forward.
Let’s visualize a client together to help describe the importance of treatment planning. This client struggles with depressive symptoms: feeling sad most of the time, has a lack of interest in things that they used to enjoy, has feelings of hopelessness, loss of energy, and has trouble concentrating ( please keep in mind, there are other symptoms of depression, this is just for this scenario). The client and therapist discuss the client’s overall goal of reducing feelings of depression. However, this client’s experience of feeling depressed is unique to them; so, how depressed they feel at any given time is subjective. So, a great tool to help both the client and therapist collaboratively tell if the client is feeling less depressed over time would be to use a scaling tool. The client could use a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most depressed they have ever felt and 1 being the least depressed they have ever felt to find a baseline for the client’s symptoms and help the therapist understand the client’s feelings. This is also a great tool to use at each session to monitor progress. Over time, both the client and therapist can see if the client is feeling less depressed; determine what tools may have helped with this; or, if it is time to use some new techniques in therapy. Readjusting plans in therapy is okay.
Hopefully, this helps you understand how important a treatment plan can be to therapy; however, your treatment plan will be unique to you; your goals, your needs.
