| Course | PS497 Bachelor's Capstone in Addiction |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Treatment plan |
| Length | About 910 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 PS497 Unit 5
Six Months of Lighter Contact for Wes: A PS497 Unit 5 Treatment Plan
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
PS497: Bachelor's Capstone in Addiction
Unit 5 Treatment Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The writer, the program, the client and every detail are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
Purpose and Roles
This plan describes continuing care for Wes, forty-one, after his return to intensive outpatient treatment for four weeks following a relapse. It applies the smartphone-supported continuing care design from my capstone. I drafted it as case manager; his counselor leads the plan, his physician manages medication, and the clinical director approved it. Wes reviewed the plan, changed two goals into his own words and signed it.
Diagnosis and Formulation in Brief
His counselor diagnosed alcohol use disorder, severe. His drinking was maintained by unstructured evenings, a stocked garage, back pain at night, avoided feelings and relief of early withdrawal. His relapse came when the structure of intensive treatment ended, a high-risk transition in the dynamic relapse model of Witkiewitz and Marlatt (2004).
Goals in Wes's Words
1. "Keep my license and my route." Measured by no alcohol-related driving incidents and continued employment.
2. "Get through evenings without the garage beer." Measured by weekly self-reported drinking days and a monthly breath test at the clinic.
3. "Sleep without drinking to do it." Measured by weekly sleep ratings in the app.
4. "Talk to my wife when I'm low instead of going quiet." Measured by his and his wife's weekly ratings, which he agreed to share.
Interventions
Weekly app check-in: every Sunday evening, Wes rates craving, mood, sleep, back pain and drinking days, and writes one sentence about the week. A counselor replies within one business day.
Counselor text support: Wes can text the program line on weekdays from nine to seven and for set hours on weekends. During his first month, his counselor will send a short message on Thursday afternoons, the start of his hardest stretch, consistent with evidence that active outreach strengthens continuing care (McKay, 2009).
Monthly continuing care group: a ninety-minute evening group for graduates, where coping skills are reviewed and updated.
Medication: his physician prescribed naltrexone, which Kranzler and Soyka (2018) describe as reducing heavy drinking by blocking opioid receptors involved in alcohol's reward. Liver tests will be repeated at one and three months.
Relapse prevention plan: a written plan for his three highest-risk situations, the hour after his route, Thursday and Friday evenings, and nights when his back hurts, each with two coping steps and a person to text.
Pain: referral to physical therapy and a sleep routine reviewed with his physician.
Family: with consent, his wife receives his weekly ratings and attends two family sessions during the six months.
The plan meets Wes in the hour after his route, the time the old program never reached.
How Contact Steps Down
Continuing care should taper rather than stop, so the plan builds in a schedule for reducing contact as Wes stabilizes. For the first eight weeks, the counselor's Thursday message and the Sunday check-in both continue, and the counselor calls if a check-in is missed. From week nine to week sixteen, if Wes reports no more than one drinking day a month and his craving ratings stay low, the Thursday message moves to every other week. From week seventeen to the end of the six months, the weekly check-in continues but counselor replies become brief unless his ratings rise. Each step down happens only after a review with Wes, and any rise in craving, a lapse or a missed check-in moves contact back up a step. The aim is that by six months, the app is a light weekly habit, the monthly group is his main connection, and he knows how to reach the program quickly if he needs it.
What Wes Brings
The plan also rests on strengths Wes identified himself. He takes pride in his driving record and his route, and the goal of keeping his license gives him a concrete reason on hard nights. He liked the skills group and said the coping steps felt like "a checklist before a delivery," which suits his practical style. His wife cleared the garage of beer the week he returned to treatment and set up a workbench there instead. And his brother-in-law, sober for more than a decade, agreed to be one of the people Wes texts when craving hits.
Coordination
His counselor, physician and I share updates monthly through the record, with Wes's consent, so that medication, pain care and continuing care stay aligned.
Response to Lapses
If Wes drinks, he will check in or text within a day. His counselor will call him, review what happened and adjust the plan. A lapse will not end continuing care. If drinking continues for more than a week or withdrawal symptoms appear, the team will consider a return to intensive outpatient treatment.
Equity and Access
Wes has a smartphone and a data plan. If either fails, the program's loaner phones and plain text check-ins are available.
Review Dates
Wes and the team will sit down with the plan once a month for three months, then again at month six. At each review, goals and contact frequency can be stepped down if he is doing well or stepped up if risk rises.
Confidentiality
Check-ins and texts are part of his treatment record and protected accordingly. No information goes to his employer.
References
Kranzler, H. R., & Soyka, M. (2018). Diagnosis and pharmacotherapy of alcohol use disorder: A review. JAMA, 320(8), 815-824. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.11406
McKay, J. R. (2009). Continuing care research: What we have learned and where we are going. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 36(2), 131-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2008.10.004
Witkiewitz, K., & Marlatt, G. A. (2004). Relapse prevention for alcohol and drug problems: That was Zen, this is Tao. American Psychologist, 59(4), 224-235. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.4.224
PS497 Unit 5 instructions, in plain terms
Unit 5 in PS497 asks you to apply your capstone to one client through a written treatment plan. State roles and who approved the plan. Summarize the diagnosis and formulation briefly. Phrase every goal the way the client would say it, and attach a measure to each. List interventions with the research behind them, showing how each targets a maintaining factor. Describe how contact steps down over time and steps back up when risk rises. Include the response to lapses, coordination among providers, access and confidentiality. Set review dates. Four APA pages or so is enough. The client stays composite, and any figure is labeled illustrative. Show the client reviewed and changed the plan before signing it.
How this PS497 Unit 5 example is built
The plan opens with purpose, roles and the client's signature. A brief section restates the diagnosis and the relapse model. A section lists four goals in Wes's words with measures. A section lists interventions, weekly check-ins, Thursday outreach citing McKay, a monthly group, naltrexone citing Kranzler and Soyka, a relapse prevention plan, pain care and family involvement, under a highlighted line about the hour after his route. Sections describe how contact steps down over six months, what Wes brings, and coordination among his counselor, physician and case manager. Sections on lapses, access, review dates and confidentiality close the plan. Each goal is measured. The client's own edits to two goals are noted in the purpose section.
PS497 Unit 5 rubric: what earns full points
Instructors grading this plan look for goals in the client's language, each tied to a measure. Interventions should target specific maintaining factors from the formulation and rest on cited research. A clear schedule for stepping contact down and back up shows understanding of continuing care. The response to lapses should keep the client in care. Coordination among providers, access and confidentiality show completeness. The client's strengths should be visible. Review dates make the plan a working document. Continuing care, relapse and medication sources need APA citations. A one-page table of goals, interventions and measures helps. Showing that the client changed the wording of goals demonstrates real collaboration.
PS497 Unit 5 help from the desk
Treatment plans often list services without linking them to goals or maintaining factors. Others phrase goals in jargon no client would say. Students frequently describe continuing care as a fixed schedule that simply ends. Lapse responses are sometimes punitive, such as discharge. Strengths and family roles often go unmentioned. Before submitting, match every intervention to the goal or maintaining factor it serves. Put each goal into language the client actually uses. Add a step-down schedule with conditions for stepping back up. State what happens after a lapse. Name each provider's role. Keep the client composite and the plan readable. Finally, have the client read the goals aloud and say whether they sound like him.
Get a PS497 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Send the case and the instructions with the rubric. A custom treatment plan applies the capstone to one client. Turnaround is 24-48h, free for a first request. 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.
More PS497 papers and BS in Psychology samples
- PS497 Unit 1: Addictions Capstone Focus Post
- PS497 Unit 2: Case Formulation Paper
- PS497 Unit 3: Digital Recovery Ethics Paper
- PS497 Unit 4: Digital Continuing Care Review
- PS497 Unit 6: Program Design Paper
- PS497 Unit 7: Discussion Board Post
- PS497 Unit 8: Evaluation Plan
- PS497 Unit 9: Capstone Presentation
- PS497 Unit 10: Capstone Reflection
- PS498 Unit 5: Pre-Training Assessment Paper
- PS452 Unit 5: Nicotine and Sedatives Paper
- PS499 Unit 5: Career Plan
- PS450 Unit 5: Special Needs Case Management Paper
PS497 Unit 5 questions, answered
What makes a continuing care plan different?
It covers months after intensive treatment, with lower-intensity contact.
How does an app fit a treatment plan?
As one intervention with goals, measures and a review date.
Who sets the goals?
The client, with the clinical team.
Where can I find a free PS497 Unit 5 sample paper?
This page holds the complete PS497 Unit 5 continuing care treatment plan for a composite client after intensive treatment.
How does contact change over time in the PS497 Unit 5 sample?
It steps down over six months as the client stabilizes and steps back up after rising craving, a lapse or a missed check-in.