How to use the Wiley treatment planner

What is a Wiley treatment planner?

A Wiley treatment planner, also called a PracticePlanner, is part of a series of books published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The planners help mental health clinicians better treat their clients by providing customizable, evidence-based treatment goals, objectives, and interventions for specific psychological diagnoses. Along with treatment planning, Wiley treatment planners include templates therapists can use for progress notes and homework assignments.

There are several different treatment planners, including ones for adult, adolescent, and child psychotherapy and addiction treatment. Each PracticePlanner is written to align with expectations from third-party and federal payers.

Therapists commonly use Wiley treatment planners to improve their client care and make administrative work, such as documentation, less stressful. “I've had a copy of the Wiley treatment planner in my office bookshelf for six years now and refer to it often,” says Maddie Tong, a licensed therapist and Headway’s senior associate of clinical education. “I feel more confident and comfortable starting with new clients knowing this is available for me to refer to to improve treatment.”

4 benefits of using a Wiley treatment planner

Guides you in setting treatment goals

Clarifying treatment goals is essential for supporting your client through their mental health journey. A treatment planner, Tong says, can help you identify goals and objectives based on your client’s presenting concerns and diagnosis. With clarity on therapy objectives, you can use time with your clients more efficiently. You can also effectively communicate what the client can expect in sessions, building confidence and rapport in the process.

Helps you customize interventions

Along with helping you pinpoint therapy goals for clients, the Wiley treatment planner also provides suggested interventions that can help you reach those milestones. “Particularly in starting out as a therapist, this was extremely helpful to familiarize myself with what interventions and exercises could help me reach certain goals with clients,” she says.

Improves documentation

The administrative side of therapy can be time-consuming. Using a treatment planner can help improve your clinical documentation, promoting organization and compliance. “I feel my notes in general have gotten clearer and more clinically attuned after utilizing the treatment planner,” says Tong.

Tracks client progress

Sometimes clients come to therapy not knowing what “better” or “progress” may look like. And while no healing is linear, Tong says having a robust conversation around treatment, progress, and goals — with the help of a Wiley treatment planner — can set the client up for better success in getting their needs met and finding clarity in what that looks like.

How to use a Wiley treatment planner

Wiley treatment planners were originally (and still are) published as books. But you can also access them online, commonly through electronic health record (EHR) systems. When you know you’ll be working on a treatment plan for a client, it may help to review the planner around a few potential diagnoses or concerns you know the client wants to address.

Though no treatment plan is one-size-fits-all, the treatment planner can be used for ideas on objectives and interventions as well as compliant documentation. It should always be used in tandem with conversations you're having with the client themselves to make sure it fits their needs and desires for treatment. “Treatment planning should be a collaborative process between therapist and client,” says Tong.

Wiley treatment plan example

Here is an example of a Wiley treatment plan addressing a client’s loneliness symptoms.

How therapists should navigate confidentiality and mandated reporting

If you’re not sure how to proceed in a situation, Tong suggests reaching out to a clinical supervisor or trusted colleague for help navigating difficult decisions and next steps in supporting your client.

Mandated reporting is a big, important responsibility, but it shouldn’t harm your therapeutic relationship. When confidentiality is a part of the conversation from the beginning of treatment, your clients should be aware that mandated reporting is in place to protect people — not to punish them or to betray their trust.

“Our goal is to be able to best support them and their safety in an ethical way,” says Tong. “The hope is that incorporating confidentiality and the possibility of reporting into the room helps build trust and helps clients feel more secure in the relationship.”

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