Experiential therapy was developed in the 1960s and 1970s and was heavily influenced by Gestalt therapy. What differentiates this approach from other therapeutic options is its focus on learning through experience, rather than relying solely on talk therapy. Your sessions can incorporate active and expressive activities to help your clients process their emotions, internal conflicts, and beliefs. Keep reading to learn how to create an Experiential Therapy treatment plan, with an example.
Common interventions in experiential therapy include role-playing, psychodrama, and mindfulness-based practices. You can also incorporate art, music, and adventure therapy. This approach is used with clients who are struggling with depression, anxiety, relational concerns, low self-esteem, and trauma. It can help clients who are struggling with unhealthy behaviors and emotional dysregulation concerns.
Experiential therapy can be tailored to each client and is suitable for use with individuals of all ages, including children, adolescents, adults, and families. You can adapt your interventions to varying developmental levels. This approach can be used in both inpatient and outpatient treatment settings, including individual, family, and group therapy sessions. Experiential therapy can be used in conjunction with other therapeutic approaches, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS).
Setting Goals and Objectives With Clients in Your Experiential Therapy Treatment Plan
When creating your experiential therapy treatment plan, it is essential to consider your clients’ capabilities, motivations, and presenting concerns. This includes their cognitive, emotional, and motor capabilities, as there are significant differences between children, teens, and adults. Younger clients can benefit from sensory, creative, and playful activities, whereas teens and adults can use reflective, metaphor-based, and insight-focused activities.
You will want to focus your activities and energy on their goals and presenting concerns. This can include processing trauma, expressing emotion, building self-esteem, creating behavioral changes, and developing healthy relationship skills. It is important to ensure that your clients’ symptoms have stabilized before using experiential therapy interventions. Using interventions prematurely can be overwhelming, especially with new clients, where you’re still building the therapeutic alliance.
A gentle way to incorporate experiential therapy into your clinical sessions would be to use worksheets. Worksheets can be used to promote session engagement and serve as references for clients outside the session. TherapyByPro is a leading provider of customizable therapy worksheets and templates. Some of their experiential therapy worksheets that could be incorporated into your sessions include:
What to Include in an Experiential Therapy Treatment Plan
As we progress through the various components of an experiential therapy treatment plan, we will follow the customizable treatment plan template available with TherapyByPro. This is an editable document that you can tailor to your preferences, clinical setting, and therapeutic approach. Continue reading for an introduction to the hypothetical client, Jane.
Example for Jane:
Jane, a 32-year-old woman, has scheduled a session at your outpatient practice. Her intake paperwork indicates that she is feeling “stuck” after the ending of a long-term relationship.
Upon meeting with her, Jane explained that she had been struggling with feelings of loneliness, emptiness, and withdrawal. She noted that she is more irritable than usual and is easily triggered. She has been struggling with sleep and has indicated a decrease in her appetite. Jane said that she has found it difficult to trust others since the end of her relationship because she had long-term plans and goals with her partner, who left her.
Jane denied a history of serious mental health concerns, noting that she has had difficult periods in her life before. She tried counseling in the past for a short period of time because she felt as though her progress was limited. Jane denied all SI concerns and verbalized strong motivation for treatment.
Agencies Involved and Plans for Care Coordination
Based on the information provided, it would be appropriate to refer Jane for a psychiatric assessment. This can help determine if medications can help improve her ability to manage her symptoms.
Example for Jane:
Care Coordination: Refer to Dr. Smith for psychiatric assessment (123)456-7890
Clinical Diagnoses
With the information provided, Jane’s symptoms align with an adjustment disorder with depressed mood. Jane’s symptoms appear to be an emotional and behavioral response to the ending of a long-term relationship. This breakup led to persistent sadness, irritability, sleep disturbances, and decreased appetite.
Example for Jane:
Clinical Diagnosis: Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood 309.0 (F43.21)
Current Medications and Responses
Jane denied currently taking medications for her mental health symptoms. This section of your treatment plan can be modified if she begins taking medications after meeting with a psychiatrist.
Example for Jane:
Current Medications: None at this time
Presenting Problem and Related Symptoms
This is where you can include your case conceptualization. The information you include should support the goals and objectives later provided in your experiential therapy treatment plan.
Example for Jane:
Jane is a 32-year-old woman seeking therapy after the end of a long-term romantic relationship. She endorsed feelings of loneliness and irritability, along with social withdrawal and trust concerns. She has been experiencing sleep disturbances, decreased appetite, and lowered motivation.
Jane explained that her main difficulty is feeling “stuck” since her relationship ended. She has been unable to move on and has struggled to find closure. Her ability to connect and establish new relationships has diminished due to recent concerns about trusting others. Jane’s symptoms appear to be connected to a significant relationship change, and do not meet criteria for major depressive disorder.
The end of her relationship has shaken her sense of identity, her plans for the future, and her emotional security. Her trust likely stems from a fear of vulnerability and the risk of feeling betrayed and abandoned. Given her brief counseling history, the focus should be on developing the therapeutic relationship and on active, engaging sessions.
Goals and Objectives
The goals and objectives section of your treatment plan should be a natural continuation of your case conceptualization in the previous section. This should focus on evidence-based treatments that support your clients’ presenting concerns and goals. As you progress in treatment, this section can be updated during treatment plan reviews.
Example for Jane:
GOAL 1: Increase emotional awareness and emotional expression
Objective 1: Identify a minimum of three emotions twice per week using an emotion color wheel. Make a note of these emotions in a journal to review during the session.
Objective 2: Use mindfulness-based practices three times per week outside of the session.
Objective 3: Utilize somatic interventions, such as body scans or emotion-in-the-body mapping, twice a month during therapy sessions to enhance the ability to sit with challenging emotions.
GOAL 2: Improve self-worth and identity
Objective 1: Use an expressive arts activity, like a vision board, to clarify values and essential parts of her identity. Focus on strengths, interests, and aspirations.
Objective 2: Use writing exercises, like a letter to self, to promote self-compassion and kindness once per week.
Objective 3: Engage in one new experiential activity per month, such as a new hobby or a creative workshop.
GOAL 3: Improve her ability to trust others within relationships
Objective 1: Use role-playing exercises to bring awareness to common patterns within relationships
Objective 2: Use mindfulness skills in social settings to cope with discomfort that comes with vulnerability biweekly
Objective 3: Engage in one social activity per week
Specific Interventions to Be Used
This section provides a quick reference of interventions that you can use in session to help Jane accomplish her goals. Similar to other sections of your treatment plan, you can update this during treatment plan reviews to reflect what has been used.
Example for Jane:
Intervention: Emotion color wheel exercise
Responsible Person: Counselor and Jane
Intervention: Mindfulness exercises
Responsible Person: Jane
Intervention: Expressive writing (Life chapters or a letter to future self)
Responsible Person: Jane
Intervention: Behavioral activation
Responsible Person: Jane
Intervention: Role-playing
Responsible Person: Counselor and Jane
Family Involvement
With the information provided, it does not appear that involving her family in therapy would enhance her sessions. Should this change, you can modify the treatment plan at a later date.
Example for Jane:
Family Involvement: None at this time
Additional Services and Interventions
This is where you will note other professionals or agencies that are working with your client. This may include group therapists, holistic treatment providers, and psychiatric service providers. For this case, you could recommend that she participate in a support group for those struggling with depression. This can decrease isolation and increase her support network.
Example for Jane:
Care Coordination: Refer to a local support group for depression
Estimation for Completion
The duration of treatment is influenced by several factors, including your client’s symptoms, level of functioning, engagement in sessions, and frequency of sessions. Experiential therapy may be used in weekly or biweekly sessions in some cases. For Jane’s case, we can estimate a three to four-month treatment duration to ensure that she has enough time for consistent engagement and sufficient time for emotional processing.
Example for Jane:
Estimation for Completion: 3 to 4 months of weekly individual therapy sessions
Aftercare Plans
You can write your aftercare plans as if your client were to end treatment today. This can occur for several reasons, some of which are unexpected. Having your recommendations ready beforehand can ensure that you provide personalized support for continued mental health treatment. You can refer patients to specific mental health providers and their primary care physicians, depending on their needs.
Example for Jane:
Aftercare Plans: Referral to Primary Care Physician. Continue working with Dr. Smith for psychiatric services if necessary
Final Thoughts On Creating an Experiential Therapy Treatment Plan
Using experiential therapy in sessions can engage your clients more deeply, encouraging them to explore their emotions and gain valuable insights. For many, this can help them feel and process their feelings rather than thinking about them. There are a variety of active experiences available, which allow you to personalize care based on your clients’ symptoms, level of functioning, and developmental needs. An additional benefit is that this approach can enhance work with evidence-based therapies, such as CBT, DBT, and IFS.
You can learn more about experiential therapy interventions and practices through continuing education and other training experiences. Supervision is a valuable resource as you begin applying your new skill set to your clinical work.
TherapyByPro is a trusted resource for mental health professionals worldwide. Our therapy tools are designed with one mission in mind: to save you time and help you focus on what truly matters-your clients. Every worksheet, counseling script, and therapy poster in our shop is professionally crafted to simplify your workflow, enhance your sessions, reduce stress, and most of all, help your clients.
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