This treatment plan outlines objectives and interventions for treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The goals are to reduce anxiety symptoms to improve daily functioning, and help the client learn coping skills. Objectives include understanding their anxiety, learning relaxation techniques, limiting worry through a scheduled worry time, and challenging irrational thoughts. Interventions focus on psychoeducation, relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, and exposure exercises to target worry and avoidance. The client practices skills through daily homework assignments and applying techniques to anxiety-provoking situations.
This treatment plan outlines objectives and interventions for treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The goals are to reduce anxiety symptoms to improve daily functioning, and help the client learn coping skills. Objectives include understanding their anxiety, learning relaxation techniques, limiting worry through a scheduled worry time, and challenging irrational thoughts. Interventions focus on psychoeducation, relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, and exposure exercises to target worry and avoidance. The client practices skills through daily homework assignments and applying techniques to anxiety-provoking situations.
This treatment plan outlines objectives and interventions for treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The goals are to reduce anxiety symptoms to improve daily functioning, and help the client learn coping skills. Objectives include understanding their anxiety, learning relaxation techniques, limiting worry through a scheduled worry time, and challenging irrational thoughts. Interventions focus on psychoeducation, relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, and exposure exercises to target worry and avoidance. The client practices skills through daily homework assignments and applying techniques to anxiety-provoking situations.
This treatment plan outlines objectives and interventions for treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The goals are to reduce anxiety symptoms to improve daily functioning, and help the client learn coping skills. Objectives include understanding their anxiety, learning relaxation techniques, limiting worry through a scheduled worry time, and challenging irrational thoughts. Interventions focus on psychoeducation, relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, and exposure exercises to target worry and avoidance. The client practices skills through daily homework assignments and applying techniques to anxiety-provoking situations.
Definitions: Excessive and/or unrealistic worry that is difficult to control
occurring more days than not for at least 6 months about a number of events or activities. Motor tension (e.g., restlessness, tiredness, shakiness, muscle tension). Autonomic hyperactivity (e.g., palpitations, shortness of breath, dry mouth, trouble swallowing, nausea, diarrhea). Hypervigilance (e.g., feeling constantly on edge, experiencing concentration difficulties, having trouble falling or staying asleep, exhibiting a general state of irritability). Goals: Reduce overall frequency, intensity, and duration of the anxiety so that daily functioning is not impaired. Learn and implement coping skills that result in a reduction of anxiety and worry, and improved daily functioning.
OBJECTIVES INTERVENTIONS
1. Describe situations, thoughts, 1. Focus on developing a level of
feelings, and actions associated trust with the client; provide with anxieties and worries, their support and empathy to impact on functioning, and encourage the client to feel safe attempts to resolve them. in expressing his/her GAD symptoms. 2. Ask the client to describe his/her past experiences of anxiety and their impact on functioning; assess the focus, excessiveness, and uncontrollability of the worry and the type, frequency, intensity, and duration of his/her anxiety symptoms (consider using a structured interview such as The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule–Adult Version). 2. Verbalize an understanding of 1. Discuss how generalized anxiety the cognitive, physiological, and typically involves excessive behavioral components of worry about unrealistic threats, anxiety and its treatment. various bodily expressions of tension, overarousal, and hypervigilance, and avoidance of what is threatening that interact to maintain the problem (see Mastery of Your Anxiety and Worry—Therapist Guide by Zinbarg, Craske, and Barlow; Treating GAD by Rygh and Sanderson). 2. Discuss how treatment targets worry, anxiety symptoms, and avoidance to help the client manage worry effectively, reduce overarousal, and eliminate unnecessary avoidance. 3. Assign the client to read psychoeducational sections of books or treatment manuals on worry and generalized anxiety (e.g., Mastery of Your Anxiety and Worry—Workbook by Craske and Barlow; Overcoming Generalized Anxiety Disorder by White). 3. Learn and implement calming 1. Teach the client calming/ skills to reduce overall anxiety relaxation skills (e.g., applied and manage anxiety symptoms. relaxation, progressive muscle relaxation, cue controlled relaxation; mindful breathing; biofeedback) and how to discriminate better between relaxation and tension; teach the client how to apply these skills to his/her daily life (e.g., New Directions in Progressive Muscle Relaxation by Bernstein, Borkovec, and Hazlett-Stevens; Treating GAD by Rygh and Sanderson). 2. Assign the client homework each session in which he/she practices relaxation exercises daily, gradually applying them progressively from non-anxiety- provoking to anxiety-provoking situations; review and reinforce success while providing corrective feedback toward improvement. 4. Learn and implement a strategy 1. Explain the rationale for using a to limit the association between worry time as well as how it is to various environmental settings be used; agree upon a worry time and worry, delaying the worry with the client and implement. until a designated “worry time.” 2. Teach the client how to recognize, stop, and postpone worry to the agreed-upon worry time using skills such as thought stopping, relaxation, and redirecting attention (or assign “Making Use of the Thought- Stopping Technique” and/or “Worry Time” in the Adult Psychotherapy Homework Planner by Jongsma to assist skill development); encourage use in daily life; review and reinforce success while providing corrective feedback toward improvement. 5. Verbalize an understanding of 1. Assist the client in analyzing the role that cognitive biases play his/her worries by examining in excessive irrational worry and potential biases such as the persistent anxiety symptoms. probability of the negative expectation occurring, the real consequences of it occurring, his/her ability to control the outcome, the worst possible outcome, and his/her ability to accept it (see “Analyze the Probability of a Feared Event” in the Adult Psychotherapy Homework Planner by Jongsma; Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders by Clark and Beck). 6. Identify, challenge, and replace 1. Explore the client’s schema and biased, fearful self-talk with self-talk that mediate his/her fear positive, realistic, and response; assist him/her in empowering self-talk. challenging the biases; replacing the distorted messages with reality-based alternatives and positive, realistic self-talk that will increase his/her self- confidence in coping with irrational fears (see Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders by Clark and Beck). 2. Assign the client a homework exercise in which he/she identifies fearful self-talk, identifies biases in the self-talk, generates alternatives, and tests through behavioral experiments (or assign “Negative Thoughts Trigger Negative Feelings” in the Adult Psychotherapy Homework Planner by Jongsma); review and reinforce success, providing corrective feedback toward improvement.
(Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional) Sharon L. Johnson-Therapist's Guide to Clinical Intervention, Second Edition_ The 1-2-3's of Treatment Planning (Practical Resources for the Me(1).pdf
(Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional) Sharon L. Johnson-Therapist's Guide to Clinical Intervention, Second Edition_ The 1-2-3's of Treatment Planning (Practical Resources for the Me(1).pdf
