Monitoring the progress of patients’ symptoms serves several purposes to increase the effectiveness of therapy. As seen in the case of Janice, monitoring progress can serve to highlight patterns in regression and improvement, which ultimately decrease (Persons, 2012). For George, monitoring the progress of treatment served to signal when his treatment plan needed to be revised, and thus showed instant improvement. Furthermore, monitoring shows therapists what works for the specific patients. For Marie, monitoring progress allowed her to see the improvement of her symptoms when she began taking psychopharmaceuticals. For Jackie, monitoring progress showed her the effectiveness of a treatment that she was opposed to. Considering each case, the patient was better off after monitoring their progress for one reason or another. Research shows that better treatment outcomes are produced when therapists are informed that a treatment is not effective, than when therapists are not informed of the treatment’s ineffectiveness.
Monitoring can …show more content…
For those with performance deficits, problem solving can be inhibited by stress or depressed mood. Those with skill deficits may struggle with coming up with solutions to solve their problems. Certain factors or symptoms can greatly impair problem solving ability, such as cognitive impairment, emotional overload, cognitive distortions, avoidance, and social factors. Patients may struggle with one or a number of the factors that prevent them from adequately solving their problems. With that being said, there can be ways to correct for the causes of impairments in therapy. For example, individuals who struggle from cognitive impairment may benefit from working in a quiet environment; people who are emotionally loaded may benefit from a relaxing activity; or, those with cognitive distortions may benefit from recognizing their cognitive