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Download treatment plan template in Microsoft Word format.
Developing a Mental Health Treatment Plan
As a mental health professional, whether you’re a doctor or a therapist, one of your many responsibilities is to develop a mental health treatment plan for each patient you see. This is typically required by most health insurance companies as proof that the patient is indeed receiving treatment, and to outline the type of treatment strategies being used to correct the problem or disorder. This may seem like a gigantic hassle, but the reality is that, according to several different studies, these types of plans have proven very effective in the treatment of a wide variety of mental and emotional illnesses, largely because they allow the patient to participate and have a stake in his/her own treatment and recovery. In this article we will go over the basics of creating a mental health treatment plan, showing you the various steps you’ll need to take to ensure each required element has been properly addressed.
A Quick Note about the Mental Health Treatment Plan
In every successful endeavor there are three required elements: a beginning, middle, and an end, and this same mantra holds true when speaking about the mental health treatment. Consequently, the mental health treatment plan is much more than just a way to obtain insurance reimbursement; it sets a beginning, middle and an end to your treatment strategy, and creates a working plan that, together with your client, you can follow, adapt and amend as the treatment process evolves. It not only allows the two of you to set goals for the treatment period, but can help chart the progress being made with regard to certain milestones. In essence, it lets the patient see that the treatment is actually working, which is, after all, the most important aspect of mental health treatment.
Developing a Mental Health Treatment Plan
Developing a mental health treatment plan involves a few basic steps, each as important as the next. These steps can best be categorized as:
• Set the Treatment Goals. When setting treatment goals with a client you should always shoot for specificity. In other words, if a client says he would like to “reduce anxiety,” ask him or her to clarify what that means to them. Does it mean being able to read comfortably for an hour? Or maybe feel more at ease in a small group situation? The more specific you are with the goals you list the more measurable those goals will tend to be.
• Objectives or Steps. What steps will you take as the provider to meet each of these goals? Will you use therapy, medication, or perhaps a combination of the two? What steps will your client take to reach these goals? This section is where you create a detailed plan for achieving each of the goals you’ve created with the help of the client.
• Timeframe. When creating a mental health treatment plan, some goals will naturally take longer to achieve than others. The “timeframe” portion of the treatment plan is where you will set reasonable dates as to when progress towards each of the goals will be measured.
• Transfer to Treatment Planning Form. Once you’ve created the goals, the steps to achieve them and the timeframe for each, transfer the information to a treatment planning form and have the client sign it as an indication that he/she is in agreement with what you have written. This step is generally considered the “red tape” step, as this is the form you will use when dealing with the various insurance companies.
The mental health treatment plan should be a living, breathing document that you can amend or adapt as situations and treatment goals change, but for legal and record keeping purposes, always remember to have the client sign off on any changes you might make.