Purpose

Describe what a session plan is and why it is worth drawing them up.

Why plan sessions?

This is part of the Active Planning that is one of the Core Features of AMBIT. It is important to plan Sessions/Appointments ahead of time - even if only briefly; research into effective interventions suggests strongly that work that is carried out according to a plan, and within a clear structure tends to produce better outcomes for the young people. Active Planning incorporates the fact that at times our "best laid plans" are inappropriate to a mentalized assessment of the young person or family's needs - but it is still helpful to know if I am "on-plan" or "off-plan".

Session plans are important for the KeyWorker, who may struggle to maintain a sense of momentum without clear Active Planning - both to structure the long term trajectory of care, but also the individual steps taken in a single session.

A session plan may be no more than

"Check family share same understanding of the Crisis Contingency Plans we drew up last week..."

...or it may be much more detailed.

What to include?

• What is the focus to be?  
• How does this fit with the priorities identified in your RiskAssessment and Multi-Domain Assessment?
• What techniques or Specific interventions do you plan to use?
• How will you measure the success of the session (Outcomes)?

If you are using the ICR function in the manual

SessionPlans are not denoted as part of the ClientNotes but are rather an "aide memoire" for practitioners, marking their thoughts about the "direction of travel" sought for the next session.

If you are using the ICR function, SessionPlans will be listed as sub-topics in the Show references and info panel, above left).