Psychotherapy treatment plan template (UK and Europe)

A psychotherapy treatment plan is the document that sets out, with the client, what therapy aims to change, how you will work on it, how often you will meet and how you will both know it is working. It turns the case formulation into goals, measurable objectives and interventions, and it is reviewed on dates agreed in advance.

Treatment plan, formulation, contract, session note: what each one does

The term is most common on US sites, where it is tied to insurers' requirements. In the UK and Europe it mainly serves the practitioner and the client.

• Case formulation: explains why the problem started and what keeps it going. The plan follows from it. See our 5 Ps case formulation template.
• Contract: sets the frame (fees, cancellations, confidentiality, endings). The plan sets the clinical content. See our UK counselling contract template or, for France, Belgium and Switzerland, our therapy contract template.
• Session note: describes one session. The plan gives the direction for all of them, and each note can say where things stand against it. See our CBT session note template.
• Intake: gathers the starting information. The plan is usually written after one to three sessions. See our first session intake template.
• US-style plans: fields such as insurer, medical necessity or billing codes have no purpose for a self-funding client in the UK or Ireland. You can drop them.

Is a treatment plan required?

United Kingdom

For BACP members, the Ethical Framework 2026 is mandatory from midday on 3 November 2026, according to the BACP website (the framework document itself says it takes effect from 1 November 2026). It asks members to “provide people with a record of our working agreement” (point 1.2 b) and to keep records that “are factual, adequate and relevant for the type of service offered” (point 3.2 a). It does not mention treatment plans. A short plan, shared with the client, is still a clear way to meet both points. If you work for the NHS, a service or an employer, their own documentation policy applies; check it.

France

The French code of ethics for psychologists (2021) says in article 9 that the psychologist informs clients “de façon claire et intelligible des objectifs, des modalités, du coût éventuel et des limites de son intervention” (clearly and understandably about the aims, methods, any cost and the limits of the work). Article 18 says their documents are dated and carry their name, title, registration number, contact details, signature, recipient and purpose. No text we read requires a document named treatment plan.

Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland

We did not read a text specific to these countries on this document. We recommend checking with your professional body before presenting a plan as a requirement.

What a useful plan contains

A useful plan answers five questions: what brings the client, what you want to change, how, how often, and how you will know it has changed.

• Goals: what the client wants, in their own words. Two or three are enough.
• Objectives: steps towards each goal that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound). You can set the deadline in weeks or by session number.
• Measures: how each objective is tracked (diary, a 0 to 10 rating by the client, a validated questionnaire, observation in session). Keep the same time unit from start to finish.
• Interventions: what you will do, named in the terms of your approach (graded exposure, schema work, working with the relationship, joint sessions…).
• Strengths and resources: what therapy can build on.
• Review and ending: the dates when you take stock, and what will show that therapy can end or change form.

In psychodynamic, humanistic or systemic work, you will usually write process objectives instead, as the integrative example below shows.

Full treatment plan template to copy

Copy this template into your software or word processor. Remove the sections that do not fit your practice.

1. Identification

• Client: name, date of birth (or file reference)
• Practitioner: name, title, professional body and membership or registration number, contact details
• Date of plan and version (V1, V2…)
• Format: individual, couple, family or group; in person or online

2. Presenting problem

• Client's request, in their own words, in quotation marks
• Current difficulties: frequency, duration, impact (work, relationships, sleep)
• Working hypothesis or a three to four line summary of the formulation
• Diagnosis, if one was made by a qualified professional, with its source
• Current treatment and other professionals involved (GP, psychiatrist)

3. Strengths and resources

• Personal resources, support network, activities that already help

4. Goals and objectives

• Goal 1: …
• Objective 1.1: what, how much, by when
• Measure 1.1: tool, baseline, target
• Goal 2: … (same structure)
• Goal 3: … (same structure, optional)

5. Planned interventions

• Main approach and techniques, linked to each goal
• Between-session tasks, if any
• Planned liaison with other professionals, with the client's consent

6. Frequency and length

• Session frequency and length
• Estimated number of sessions before the first review

7. Points to watch

• Risk factors identified and action taken. A safety plan, where needed, rests on clinical judgement and current official guidance

8. Review and ending

• Review dates (for example session 6 and session 12)
• Ending criteria or criteria for changing the format
• Relapse prevention: what will be prepared before the end

9. Agreement

• Plan discussed with the client on: …
• Copy given: yes / no
• Practitioner's signature; client's signature if you ask for it

Filled-in example: CBT plan for panic disorder

Fictional case. Claire, 34, an accountant, comes to therapy for panic attacks that started eight months ago. She no longer takes the Underground and has cut down on going out.

• Date and version: 12 November 2026, V1, written after two sessions
• Request: “I want to get to work without being scared of collapsing.”
• Current difficulties: on average three panic attacks a week over two weeks of diary; avoids the Underground and queues; drives 50 minutes to work instead of a 20 minute Tube journey
• Working hypothesis: heart sensations are read as a sign of a serious medical event; avoidance and safety behaviours (water bottle, staying near the exit) stop her learning that the attack passes on its own
• Diagnosis: panic disorder, made by her psychiatrist (letter of 2 October 2026)
• Strengths: highly motivated, supportive partner, used to run
• Goal 1: fewer panic attacks
• Objective 1.1: from three attacks a week to one or fewer a week, by session 12
• Measure 1.1: weekly panic diary; baseline 3 a week; target 1 a week or fewer, for four weeks in a row
• Objective 1.2: explain the panic cycle in her own words on her own diagram, by session 4
• Measure 1.2: diagram completed by Claire in session
• Goal 2: use the Underground again
• Objective 2.1: travel to work alone by Tube at least three days a week, by session 14
• Measure 2.1: exposure hierarchy of ten situations; distress rated 0 to 10 before and after each exercise; number of journeys per week
• Interventions: psychoeducation on panic (sessions 1 to 3); restructuring catastrophic interpretations; interoceptive exposure (overbreathing, running on the spot); graded in vivo exposure; gradual dropping of safety behaviours; relapse prevention plan (last two sessions)
• Between-session tasks: panic diary; one exposure exercise a day from session 5
• Frequency: one 45 minute session a week; 14 sessions estimated
• Review: session 6 (go through the measures, adjust the hierarchy) and session 12
• Ending criteria: objectives 1.1 and 2.1 met for four weeks; written relapse prevention plan given to Claire
• Agreement: plan discussed on 12 November 2026, copy given to Claire

Note that every frequency is stated per week, from the problem to the objective. Some online examples mix units, with three attacks “a month” at baseline and a target “a week” at the end.

Variant: integrative or psychodynamic plan

Fictional case. Mark, 47, comes a year after his divorce with a sense of emptiness and withdrawal. The work is psychodynamic, with elements of person-centred therapy.

• Request: “I do everything as before, but I don't feel anything any more.”
• Working hypothesis: the separation revives an old way of protecting himself by shutting feelings off, already present when his father died; withdrawal protects him from new losses but isolates him
• Strengths: reflective, reliable attendance, two close friends
• Goal 1: get back in touch with what he feels
• Process objective 1.1: be able to talk about the separation in session without changing the subject or joking, in most sessions, by the three-month review
• Measure 1.1: 0 to 10 rating completed together at review (“How well can you stay with this subject?”), plus the practitioner's observations in session notes
• Goal 2: come out of withdrawal
• Objective 2.1: take up at least one social activity a week (dinner, sport, a club), within three months
• Measure 2.1: number of activities per week, reported by Mark at the start of sessions
• Interventions: work on repetitions between past and present losses; attention to what happens in the therapeutic relationship; reflecting and validating feelings
• Frequency: weekly, open-ended, reviewed every three months
• Ending criteria: agreed with Mark at a review, when he feels the emptiness no longer runs his life

Reviewing the plan

No UK or European text we read sets a review interval. The 30 to 90 day or three-month intervals quoted on US sites are tied, according to those sites, to insurers' requirements. We recommend setting the first review at the start, by session number, then adjusting. At review, go through each measure with the client, note what has changed, keep the old version and create a dated V2. A plan edited without a trace of the earlier version no longer shows progress.

Checklist before filing the plan

• The request is written in the client's own words
• Each objective has a deadline and a measure with a baseline
• Time units are the same from problem to objective
• Each intervention is linked to at least one goal
• The client's strengths are in the plan
• The first review date is set
• Ending criteria are written, even if provisional
• The document is dated and signed; the client has a copy if they want one
• Any diagnosis states who made it

Common mistakes

• Objectives that are activities: “attend sessions” or “practise relaxation” describe a means, not a change.
• Objectives only the practitioner understands: “reduce cognitive distortions” means little to the client. Write what they will notice in their life.
• Too many objectives: we recommend two or three goals; beyond that, the plan becomes hard to review.
• Questionnaire cut-offs copied wrongly: if you use a validated questionnaire, take the cut-offs from the tool's manual, not from a blog.
• Plan written then forgotten: without a review date, it is used once.
• Copying US formats: insurer or medical necessity sections serve no purpose for a self-funding client in the UK or Ireland.

Why Delta for following a treatment plan

A plan is only worth something if it is reread. Delta makes that easy. Delta is the clinical assistant for mental health practitioners. It keeps the memory of each client: after every session, transcribed live or dictated by you, it writes the session report with your approach in mind (CBT, EMDR, psychodynamic, systemic…) and updates the patient record, with a summary of the work and the goals being tracked. On review day, the whole course of therapy and how it has changed are in one place. Data stays in Europe, in France, on infrastructure certified for health data; the client's name is pseudonymised before the AI and no audio file is kept.

For other templates, see our clinical document templates by profession.

Sources

• BACP, Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions 2026, points 1.2 b and 3.2 a, and the BACP Ethical Framework page (date it becomes mandatory), accessed 31 October 2026
• Code de déontologie des psychologues, 2021 version (PDF, French), articles 9 and 18, accessed 31 October 2026
• HAS (French National Authority for Health), tool 1 “Projet thérapeutique individualisé”, September 2016