| Course | PS370 Health Psychology |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 10 |
| Paper type | Health psychology treatment plan |
| Length | About 960 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Psychology |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PS370 Unit 10
Between Trips: A PS370 Unit 10 Health Psychology Treatment Plan for a Scallop Captain
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
PS370: Health Psychology
Unit 10 Health Psychology Treatment Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The captain, his family, his clinicians and his scores are composite; the methods and studies cited are real.
Referral and Scope
Paul is 51 and runs a scallop boat from the Massachusetts port where he grew up. His heart attack on the boat, now more than a year past, ended with a stent. Since 2017 he has taken buprenorphine daily for opioid use disorder, without a return to illicit use. His cardiac rehabilitation team referred him to the program's health psychologist after he attended five of thirty-six rehabilitation sessions.
The plan is written for a licensed psychologist working within a cardiac rehabilitation team. It coordinates with his cardiologist, his buprenorphine prescriber and his primary care physician, and it does not change any medication. With Paul's consent, the psychologist will share goals and progress with each of them.
Problem List
Earlier assessments in this course identified six problems. First, he still lights up most nights on the boat, though he has quit on land. Second, he believes his stent cured his heart disease; his Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire showed a short expected timeline and low personal control. Third, his Pain Catastrophizing Scale score of 31 and his fear of exertion keep him from the daily walking his heart needs. Fourth, his PHQ-9 score of 11 indicates moderate depressive symptoms. Fifth, broken sleep on trips and worry about his boat loan add to his stress load. Sixth, he has withdrawn from his wife, Ana, who is in radiation treatment for breast cancer.
The six problems are linked: the belief that he is cured removes his reason to walk, quit and talk, and his mood makes every change harder.
Approach
The plan begins with motivational interviewing, a guiding style of counseling that draws out and builds the person's own case for changing instead of the clinician arguing it (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). Paul has been told to quit smoking and to attend rehabilitation by several clinicians, and telling him again is unlikely to help. What he wants, in his words, is ten more years at the wheel and a seat at his daughter's nursing pinning ceremony. The first sessions will connect each problem to that goal in his words.
Later sessions use cognitive behavioral methods, which have modest but consistent support for chronic pain and distress (Williams et al., 2020), along with brief illness perception work modeled on a hospital intervention that changed patients' beliefs and sped their return to work after a heart attack (Petrie et al., 2002).
Session Plan
The twelve sessions are scheduled around his trips: two in person while he is ashore, then one by video each time the boat is in port, usually every two to three weeks, over about six months.
Sessions one and two use motivational interviewing to explore his goals and his ambivalence about each problem, and agree on a priority order. Sessions three and four address his illness perceptions. Using his own metaphor of a clogged pipe that was fixed, the psychologist will help him build a more accurate picture of a chronic process, with a written plan that links each habit to his goal.
Sessions five through seven address pain and exercise. Paul will learn how attention and mood change pain, identify catastrophizing thoughts during his late-night hours and begin graded walking in supervised rehabilitation sessions, where his heart rate is monitored to test his fear of exertion with evidence.
Sessions eight and nine address smoking at sea, building on the skills that kept him off opioids. With his cardiologist's approval of combination nicotine replacement, Paul will make a trip plan for his night watches, set a smoke-free wheelhouse rule and track cigarettes per trip.
Sessions ten and eleven address mood, stress and family. Behavioral activation will bring back the time with his brother he has let slip since the heart attack. A joint session with Ana will address the silence she finds hardest, and the psychologist will offer her a referral to a group stress management program at her cancer center. Session twelve reviews progress and sets a maintenance plan.
Goals and Measures
Each goal has a measure and a target for six months. His PHQ-9 score will fall below 5. His Brief IPQ timeline rating will rise to 7 or above and personal control to 7 or above. His Pain Catastrophizing Scale score will fall below 20. He will walk at least thirty minutes on five days each week while ashore, recorded on his phone. Cigarettes per trip will fall to zero, confirmed by exhaled carbon monoxide testing at each in-person visit. He will complete at least twenty of the remaining rehabilitation sessions, including home-based ones.
Risks and Coordination
Three risks need attention. First, raising his awareness that his heart disease is chronic may increase anxiety, so mood will be checked at every session. Second, stress or a quit attempt could raise his risk of opioid relapse, so the psychologist will share the plan with his buprenorphine prescriber and recovery counselor. Third, depression after a heart attack is linked to poorer outcomes (Lichtman et al., 2014), so if his PHQ-9 score does not improve by session six, the psychologist will recommend that his physician consider medication.
Conclusion
The plan treats Paul as one person rather than six problems. It starts with his own goals, changes the belief at the center of his choices, tests his fears with supervised evidence and builds on the recovery he has already achieved. By the six-month review, its measures will show whether health psychology has helped him keep the stent that saved his life.
References
Lichtman, J. H., Froelicher, E. S., Blumenthal, J. A., Carney, R. M., Doering, L. V., Frasure-Smith, N., Freedland, K. E., Jaffe, A. S., Leifheit-Limson, E. C., Sheps, D. S., Vaccarino, V., & Wulsin, L. (2014). Depression as a risk factor for poor prognosis among patients with acute coronary syndrome: Systematic review and recommendations: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 129(12), 1350-1369. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000019
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Petrie, K. J., Cameron, L. D., Ellis, C. J., Buick, D., & Weinman, J. (2002). Changing illness perceptions after myocardial infarction: An early intervention randomized controlled trial. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64(4), 580-586. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-200207000-00007
Williams, A. C. de C., Fisher, E., Hearn, L., & Eccleston, C. (2020). Psychological therapies for the management of chronic pain (excluding headache) in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2020(8), Article CD007407. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007407.pub4
Reading the PS 370 Unit 10 instructions
The final PS370 assessment asks you to explain how health psychology principles apply in therapy by writing a treatment plan for one person. State the referral and the limits of the role, including coordination with medical providers. Summarize the problems identified, connecting them where they are linked. Choose an approach with research support and explain why it fits the person. Lay out sessions in order, with a rationale for the sequence. Set measurable goals with instruments and targets, and identify risks with a plan for each. Draw on earlier units so the plan integrates the course. Use APA style with scholarly sources; six to eight pages is common.
Inside the PS370 Unit 10 example
The plan opens with the referral after five of thirty-six rehabilitation sessions and limits the psychologist's role to coordination, not medication. A problem list connects six issues, under a highlighted line that the belief he is cured removes his reasons to walk, quit and talk. An approach section explains motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral methods and illness perception work. A session plan schedules twelve meetings around his trips, ordering belief work before graded walking and smoking after pain. A goals section sets six-month targets for each measure. A risks section covers anxiety, opioid relapse and depression that does not improve, and the conclusion treats him as one person rather than six problems.
Where the points sit in the PS370 Unit 10 rubric
Instructors grading the final plan look for integration: problems from earlier units connected rather than listed. The approach should be supported by research and fitted to the person's history and circumstances. The session sequence earns credit when it has a rationale, such as changing beliefs before asking for behavior change. Goals must be measurable with named instruments and targets. A risk section and coordination with medical and addiction providers show awareness of scope. Clear statements of what the plan does not do, such as change medication, are usually expected. APA citations for each method, and the earlier units' measures, complete the plan. Strong plans also explain how the person's own goals guide each step.
Common PS370 Unit 10 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Final plans often treat each problem in a separate section, so the person disappears. Another weakness uses therapy names without explaining why they fit. Goals such as improving mood or being healthier cannot be measured. Sessions are sometimes listed without any order or schedule. Plans frequently overstep the role, recommending medication changes. Before submitting, check that the problem list shows links between problems, that each session targets a named problem, that each goal has an instrument and a number, and that the plan names the providers it coordinates with. A closing paragraph on how progress will be judged ties the plan together. The person should be visible in every section.
Get a PS370 Unit 10 example written to your instructions
Share the case, earlier work and the instructions with the rubric. A custom plan applies health psychology research to treatment goals. The first is free, delivered within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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PS370 Unit 10 questions, answered
What is motivational interviewing?
A collaborative counseling style that strengthens a person's own reasons for change.
Who delivers a health psychology treatment plan?
A licensed clinician; students write plans as learning exercises.
Should the plan include medical treatment?
It should coordinate with medical care and stay within the psychology role.
Where can I find a free PS370 Unit 10 sample paper?
This page holds the complete PS370 Unit 10 health psychology treatment plan for a composite captain after a heart attack, with twelve sessions and measured goals.
What comes first in the PS370 Unit 10 sample plan?
Motivational interviewing, followed by illness perception work, so that he sees his heart disease as chronic before graded walking and smoking change begin.