Date of Award
Summer 8-22-2015
Document Type
Doctoral Research Paper
Degree Name
Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology
Organizational Unit
Graduate School of Professional Psychology
First Advisor
Lynett Henderson Metzger
Second Advisor
Jennifer Cornish
Third Advisor
Patrick Fox
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords
Termination of psychological treatment, Team-based inpatient care, Healthcare team, Decision making
Abstract
Termination of psychological treatment is a necessary part of the therapeutic process, but it can pose complex clinical, ethical, legal, logistical, and social challenges. This complexity becomes even more evident in the current era of treatment delivered by a team of healthcare professionals. Appropriate termination will usually involve a team decision and synthesis of the various team members’ recommendations for appropriate follow-up, medications, or transfer of care into an integrated formal document to be communicated to the patient. The healthcare team may also face other considerations such as record keeping and communication responsibilities when the patient (or the patient’s insurer) terminates prematurely and unilaterally. There is limited empirical data on the frequency and effects of adequate and appropriate termination of treatment versus termination done sub-optimally, particularly when a healthcare team is involved. Practical guidelines and a standardized team-based approach are needed to provide a framework for dealing with this issue, which eventually arises in every patient’s evaluation and treatment. This paper explores the multiple aspects of treatment termination in the context of team-based inpatient care, utilizes a clinical vignette to provide an illustrative example of the complexities, and then provides a best practice approach to psychological treatment termination in the Appendix.
Copyright Date
6-30-2015
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Leslie Minna
Provenance
Received from Author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
44 pgs
File Size
349 KB
Recommended Citation
Minna, Leslie, "Best Practices in Team-based Treatment Termination" (2015). Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects. 16.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/capstone_masters/16
Included in
Clinical Psychology Commons, Other Psychiatry and Psychology Commons, Other Psychology Commons