The Importance of a Vocational Treatment Plan in Rehabilitation Counseling

My twenty one years working as a nationally certified and licensed Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor in a large New York City hospital outpatient department taught me the value and importance of developing effective vocational treatment plans with my patients. From counseling patients with psychiatric impairments to counseling patients in recovery from substance abuse to working with non disabled clients, the vocational treatment plan identifies goals, both long term and short term and maps out a route to reach these goals. Just as the physician reviews his initial assessment of the patient to formulate a treatment plan, so too the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor develops a vocational plan after completing the vocational assessment. Once the vocational assessment is complete, the information is used to formulate a written treatment plan completed with the patient.

Definition of a Vocational Treatment Plan
A Vocational Treatment Plan is a written document that outlines the stated goals that your client wants to attain. It contains recommendations, goals and time frames to help ensure that the plan is viable and realistic. The Vocational Treatment Plan is an effective tool to measure the progress or lack of progress that is being made to attain the stated goals.

Collaborative Effort
As a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, the treatment plan is developed with the input of your patient. It is a collaborative effort that specifically outlines stated goals and plan of action agreed upon by both the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and patient. When the client is included in the process, success is more likely because agreement has been reached on what goals are desirable, motivating the patient to stay on track because the Vocational Plan reflects his stated interests. The client feels that he has a stake in his future rather than quietly acquiescing to goals established by others.

Incremental Steps
The Vocational Treatment Plan develops realistic short and long term goals that are set in small manageable steps. In preparation for entering competitive employment, the counselor and client may determine that he first needs to complete his high school education interrupted years earlier because of illness by obtaining his General Equivalency Diploma (GED). The short term goal is this case might be to enroll in a local school offering GED classes. The long term goal could be to complete the GED course within twelve months and successfully pass the GED exam. Perhaps the client needs to conduct a job search but does not know what skills and abilities would be suitable for his career interest. The short term goal could be to attend a six week career exploration group to undergo career testing and to further explore his career interests and the skills needed to pursue his career of interest. Once the career exploration group is
completed, he will then investigate what schools offer the desired training and establish the time frame to complete that goal. It is essential that the goals are kept measurable and manageable in order that the client does not become overwhelmed or drop out because he feels the goals are too broad or unrealistic to achieve. Another important consideration is to share the Vocational Treatment Plan with the entire interdisciplinary team that may include social workers, physicians, psychiatrists, occupational or physical therapists and other allied medical personnel to facilitate overall treatment success. Keeping the goals realistic and achievable and sharing the short and long term goals with the treatment team fosters continuity of services.

Initiating the Plan of Action
You can have a beautifully written Vocational Plan signed off by the supervisor but it is of no value if a plan of action is not developed. Otherwise, the progress will be slow if not non existent. Therefore, when setting goals and time frames, a definite plan of action needs to be discussed and agreed upon by both vocational rehabilitation counselor and client. Questions such as when do I want to complete this goal? Where do I go to obtain information about employment training opportunities, How do I prepare for job interviews? Such questions demand a planned course of action be initiated. For the client conducting a job search, a resume must be prepared, interviewing skills must be honed, and knowing how to successfully complete job responsibilities require action in order to successfully meet the goal of obtaining employment. The plan of action will assist the client in following a prescribed course of action in order to attain the stated goals of the Vocational Treatment Plan.

Review and Modification
The Vocational Treatment Plan is reviewed regularly, i.e. every 3 months, 6 months, to honestly evaluate and review the progress made toward achieving the desired goals. As with patients who have psychiatric impairments or those individuals recovering from substance abuse who may have suffered a relapse or setback, a new treatment plan may need to be formulated to modify and alter the previously set goals. Revising or modifying a Vocational Treatment Plan should not be viewed as a failure, but as a means to stay on track to encourage the patient to again commit to his future goals by establishing modified or revised goals that remain measurable and attainable. It is important to remember that the Vocational Plan is not static and rigid but pliable and open to allow for changes and modifications in goal setting.

Summary
The Vocational Treatment Plan is an effective tool that is based upon the assessment of the client's vocational needs. Using the assessment information obtained from record gathering and interviews with your client, realistic short and long term goals that are measurable and manageable can be formulated. A written individualized plan of action can be outlined and agreed upon by both Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and client to ensure that the patient will be invested in and committed to attaining the goals. The Vocational Plan should be reviewed at scheduled intervals to review, revise or modify previously set goals. The Vocational Treatment Plan serves as a road map, pointing the way to achieving the goals and recommendations established as a collaborative effort between Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and client.