Clinical Judgment in Case Conceptualization and Treatment Planning Across Mental Health Disciplines

Abstract

This study compared clinical judgment on case conceptualization and treatment planning (TP) tasks among psychologists, mental health counselors, and social workers using Clinical Treatment Planning Simulations depicting anxiety and affective disorders. Orientation and work setting did not significantly influence judgment; experience exerted a “modest” curvilinear effect Mental health counselors scored higher than social workers and similar to psychologists on both tasks. The best predictors of TP scores for the anxiety disorder were interventions addressing stress management and family dynamics; strong predictors for the affective disorder included focus on family dynamics and the therapeutic relationship. Implications of findings for training are discussed.