Treatment Planning
A plan is an argument, not a form
A treatment plan states what will change, how anyone will know it changed, who does what, and when it will be reviewed. Items test whether you can tell a goal from an objective and whether the plan actually follows from the assessment.
What must be present
- Problem statements drawn from the assessment, written in behavioral terms, not labels.
- Goals: broad, client-owned, stated in the client's language, describing the desired end state.
- Objectives: SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound - and each linked to a goal, with a stated method of measurement.
- ASAM-driven services: the dimensions identified in evaluation determine intensity, modalities, and referrals.
- Client participation and signature, counselor signature and date, defined review intervals, and revision whenever needs change (relapse, new diagnosis, change in living situation).
- Strengths and supports, not only deficits; family, community, and mutual-help resources; any legal mandate.
- Discharge and continuing-care planning beginning at intake.
Traps
Activity mistaken for outcome ('client will attend three groups' is a service, not a goal); objectives that two counselors could score differently; a plan written before assessment is complete; a plan never revised after a relapse; promising services the program does not offer; excluding the client from planning and then calling them unmotivated.
Worked example
Problem: Client reports drinking 12 beers daily and has two DWI arrests in 18 months. Goal: Client will reduce alcohol-related risk and never drive after drinking. Objective: By [date], client will identify three personal triggers and two coping alternatives for each and review them with the counselor, documented in the record.
Rule of thumb
If two clinicians reading the objective would disagree about whether it was met, rewrite it.