How to write client treatment plans quickly and efficiently, according to therapists

Finishing your treatment plans more efficiently saves you time, so you can focus more on caring for your clients (and yourself). These tips can help you stay on track. 

Know what to include in a therapy treatment plan.

While every treatment plan is tailored to your clients’ unique needs, they should contain some of the same key components across the board. Keeping these points in mind as you create and revise your client care strategy can help make treatment planning more efficient. Some examples are:

• Start date
• End date
• Client goals
• Client strengths
• Client obstacles
• Objectives
• Interventions
• Confirmation
• Authorization

Create your own template.

Some electronic health record software includes treatment planning templates you can simply fill in. But if you work in a private or group practice that doesn’t provide templates, creating your own can help speed along the treatment planning process, says Madison Hamm, a psychotherapist with Grace Therapy & Wellness in Austin, Texas.

Make an inventory.

It can be time-consuming to research different potential goals and interventions each time you write a treatment plan. That’s why Hamm suggests making a document with several boilerplate examples of common problems, goals and objectives, and interventions. When it’s time to write or update, simply work from the pre-written information in the treatment plan to tailor this to your spe

Rely on evidence-based information.

It’s crucial to use evidence-based best practices in your treatment plans, especially for determining interventions you’ll use to treat your clients. Take time before you write the plan to parse through peer-reviewed studies and the Wiley treatment planner, which can help you determine interventions to use in therapy. Along with speeding the process, you’ll have the necessary justification for the work you’re doing in therapy. “If an insurance company reviews your plan or you get audited, everything should make sense and be backed up by evidence,” says Hamm. 

Create a treatment planning ‘plan.’

It’s up to you when to create and update your treatment plans, but having a timeframe in mind — and even creating recurring calendar reminders — can help you stay on track toward your clients’ goals. Nick Bognar, a private practice therapist based in Pasadena, Calif., writes initial treatment plans by the end of the third session with a new client. “At that point, I feel like I can make a conceptualization of what’s going on and how I want to deal with it,” he says. 

You may organically update your clients’ treatment plans when they are progressing or their symptoms change. Some providers make it a point to do so every 90 days, though you can pick a cadence that makes sense for your workflow. 

To ensure you check in with each client regularly, it can also help to pick a time of year to check in about treatment plans, as long as that time adheres to your accreditations and insurance contracts. For example, Bognar makes a point to discuss treatment planning with his clients around Labor Day. Ask your clients if they feel they’re progressing toward their goals and if they want anything to change about therapy. This dedicated discussion can also ensure your client feels considered and heard in the treatment planning process, which can further strengthen your therapeutic relationship.