The Importance of Systematic and Effective Treatment Planning

Ausually quiet and withdrawn young woman became verbally abusive to her supervisor and warned him that if she were not promoted to a job commensurate with her outstanding abilities, she was going to ‘‘come back with a gun.’’ A few weeks earlier, she had had a brief consultation with a psychiatrist, who diagnosed her as having a major depressive disorder and prescribed antidepressant medication. A man who had been a capable and hardworking accountant was referred to an employee assistance counselor because of a sudden and extreme decline in his performance. After some brief and unsuccessful efforts were made to remotivate the man, he was fired from his job. A woman had been treated with years of unsuccessful psychoanalysis, during which she had been told that her difficulty in concentrating and her chaotic lifestyle reflected her efforts to avoid dealing with her early losses.