Treatment Plan Group Presentation
BMFT 602: Internship I
TASK: Groups of three students will develop a treatment plan that is based on characters
from a novel selected by the group from a list provided by the professor. Each group
member should read the selected book from the perspective of a therapist who will have
the characters as clients. (Note: Many of the books also have movie adaptations. Do not
watch the movie in place of reading the book; it will not have nearly enough information
for you to complete the assignment.) After reading the book, group members should work
together to develop a theory-based treatment plan that will integrate general therapeutic
goals and outcomes as well as goals that are theory-specific. If the novel has multiple
story lines, the group may choose which character to treat as the identified patient.
However, the treatment plan must include marital/family therapy.
This assignment is not a book report. As a result, do not feel the need to share every
detail of the story during the presentation. Present enough material about the family and
their presenting problem to adequately explain the treatment plan. References for this
assignment must be included in the outline that is handed in to the professor. Groups
must use a total of five references in the creation of the treatment plan. Theories that may
be used to develop the treatment plan include structural, strategic, multigenerational,
solution-focused, narrative, IFS, emotionally focused, or cognitive-behavioral
marital/family therapy.
AUDIENCE: Your audience for this task consists of your peers/colleagues.
FORMAT: Each group will make a 40-45 minute presentation to share their treatment
plan with the class. The presentation may include movie clips, short role plays, or other
creative methods in presenting the treatment plan. The presentation should
include/address the following:
 Description of the characters and the problems with which they are dealing
 Identification of the group’s chosen theory
 Genogram of the characters’ family (regardless of chosen theory)
 Goals/interventions in each of the three phases of therapy – do not simply list
interventions but specify how each intervention will be used with the client
system and how it will help to address their presenting problem
The group will also turn in a 3-5 page outline of the treatment plan and any supporting
materials to the professor. This handout must include the references used in the creation
of the treatment plan.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION: This assignment is worth a total of 15 points,
distributed as follows:
 Overall quality of presentation – 1 point
 Description of characters & presenting problems – 1.5 points
 Genogram of characters’ family – 2 points
 Theory-specific goals/interventions in each phase of therapy
o Phase I – 2 points
o Phase II – 3 points
o Phase III – 2 points
 Outline and references– 1.5 points
 Individual contribution as evaluated by other group members – 2 points
DUE DATES: April 13 and April 20
NOVEL SELECTIONS
My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
The Amateur Marriage – Anne Tyler
The Kite Runner; A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards
House of Sand and Fog – Andre Dubus III
Black and Blue – Anna Quindlen
I Know This Much Is True – Wally Lamb
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Drowning Ruth – Christina Schwarz
The Deep End of the Ocean – Jacquelyn Mitchard
The Good Mother – Sue Miller
The Rapture of Canaan – Sheri Reynolds
White Oleander – Janet Fitch
Family Pictures – Sue Miller
What Hearts - Bruce Brooks
Beloved – Toni Morrison
Mansfield Park; Wuthering Heights; Sense and Sensibility; Pride and Prejudice – Jane
Austen
The Liar’s Club – Mary Karr
Franny & Zooey – J.D. Salinger
As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner
Life in the Iron Mills – Rebecca Harding Davis
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller
Suddenly Last Summer – Tennessee Williams
An Affair to Remember – Grahm Greene
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
The Mermaid Chair – Sue Monk Kidd
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte