CURRENT STATUS OF THE SITE

Can It Be Done?

A first goal has already been met: it is possible to create maps of treatment process that

• adequately reflect important aspects of the therapeutic process
• provide a guide for treating any patient within their range
• permit choices, offering different treatments for different patients
• can be modified, changed, and expanded

Overall Plan for the Site

The choice of topics so far has been a bit haphazard, having to do more with the availability of people with special interests [alcohol treatment, eating disorders, depression and grief] for the author to work with. Also, choices have been made on broad applicability, rather than to begin by focusing on currently hot topics.

Part of the rationale has been to encourage input from therapists with a wide range of experiences and knowledge.

A number of other topics will be added in the near future, depending on interest and the ability of the author to write the material. There needs to be a better plan for expanding the knowledge base than the current one – here suggestions would be welcome.

The plan is for this process to continue, adding new areas as people with special interests and skills make contributions to the site.

Eventually we should expect to show connections among the various treatment areas addressed. This has been started in the New Patient map. Very early on in dealing with a new person, you see a need to move in a direction determined by his/her symptoms, complaints, strengths, etc., and your own skills and interests. One such point has been integrated into the map for New Patient.

Current Status of Various Maps [January, 2013]

The alcohol treatment map is in the best shape of any of the maps, although lacking in recent comment and suggestions from specialists in the field.

The treatment map for anxiety and panic is in good startup form. Much needs to be decided about how to add new information.

The new patient map is brief. In all the maps, there has to be a balance between providing enough information to be helpful and not providing so much that it gets unwieldy. This is especially a problem with the new patient map, which has to be broad enough to cover all patients – they haven’t yet been classified by major issue – and what may be helpful for one therapist can easily be a distraction to another.

Other maps should appear soon – especially one on depression and grief, and one on eating disorders. After that, plans are relatively open.

Expanding the Maps

The plan for now is to rely on bulletin boards as a primary way of communicating. All editing and writing is currently done by the site administrator.