Role of Client, Family, Therapist, Other Professionals, and Collateral Parties
PACC model is a clinical care assessment model that focuses on the problem description, development of the treatment plan, and conduction of a progress review. The main clients in this assessment plan are diagnosed patients and those with personal problems requiring medical interventions. The same is true in the client map criteria. The clients in the Client Map criteria are the patients and psychologically affected individuals in need of medical interventions (Corcoran, & Walsh, 2008). The person-centered assessment and treatment model considers psychologically and physiologically affected persons as its clients.
The main difference between the three models is that while the PACC model is broader in its treatment process, the person-centered approach seeks to generate solutions from within the problems faced by patients (Seligman, 2004). The client map model is similar to the PACC, but rather than focusing on the problem identification, treatment plan, and recovery, it deals more with how the client’s past and present situation can be modified to make the future better.
Assessment Methods
In the PACC model, the practitioner encourages the client to be part of the treatment plan and this ensures that the recovery process is properly monitored. In the client model, the treatment process is dependent on the assessment procedure. All three models use both qualitative and quantitative methods to derive their assessment information. This revolves around conducting interviews that are meant to generate as much information about the clients as well as making quantitative analyses from past data (Cowger, 1994). In the PACC and person-centered models, qualitative assessment methods are more widely used than in the Client-Map, which is dominated by quantitative methods. The PACC model follows a theoretical approach that looks at the problems and seeks ways of dealing with the problem on both a short-term and long-term basis. The Client Map model looks at the patient’s profile and develops a relationship between the past and the present (Corcoran, & Walsh, 2008). The activities and problems being experienced by the client are used to develop counterstrategies.
Nature and Uses of Assessment Information
The assessment information in all models is used in developing the appropriate treatment plan. In all three models, the assessment information is used as the fundamental element in the treatment plan. In the PACC, however, the information derived from the assessment is independent of the treatment approach (Woody, Detweiler-Bedell, Teachman, & O’Hearn, 2003). This is unlike the Client Map model that integrates both treatment and assessment information in developing the best solution to a problem (Corcoran, & Walsh, 2008). In the person-centered assessment and treatment model, the information collected is used to determine how treatment options would best solve the problems.
Assessment Process
The person-centered assessment and treatment model seeks to develop a problem identification strategy based on the client’s needs and expectations (Cowger, 1994). These models possess similarities in the way in which they first develop the cause of a problem before embarking on treatment plans. The models are very efficient in the assessment of not only the diagnosed individuals but also those having different physiological and psychological problems. The problem identification process makes the practitioners have a broad idea of the issues causing the client’s problems (Seligman, 2004). Problem identification, development of a treatment plan, and resolving the problems are the main concepts behind the assessment processes illustrated by all the processes.
Advantages and Disadvantages for Specific Populations and Counseling Settings
The PACC method is one of the best methods as it derives the treatment plans after determining the problems. However, since the treatment plan is independent of the assessment there is less harmonization (Cowger, 1994). In the Client Map process, the treatment plan is dependent on the assessment and hence very effective. However, it fails to consider some other possibilities that may be developed from qualitative analysis. The person-centered plan is also very effective as it develops the solutions from the patient’s needs (Seligman, 2004). It however focuses more on qualitative methods rather than balancing them with the quantitative method.
In conclusion, the assessment models are very effective in the development of a treatment plan that best suits the client. Despite the differences in implementation, all the models first identify the problem and then develop a treatment plan that would be appropriate for the clients.
References
Corcoran, J., & Walsh, J. (2008). Mental health in social work: a casebook on diagnosis and strengths-based assessment. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Cowger, C. D. (1994). Assessing client strengths: Clinical assessment for client empowerment. Journal of Social Work, 39(3), 262-268.
Seligman, L. (2004). Diagnosis and treatment planning in counseling. New York, NY: Springer.
Woody, S. R., Detweiler-Bedell, J., Teachman, B. A., & O’Hearn, T. (2003). Treatment planning in psychotherapy: Taking the guesswork out of clinical care. New York, NY: Guilford Press.