Passing your National Licensing Exam
Getting licensed can open up incredible opportunities, but the exam can seem daunting. Our podcasts make passing more achievable and even fun. Dr Hutchinson and Stacy’s energy and passion for this content will get you motivated and confident.
We break things down in understandable ways - no stuffiness or complexity and focus on the critical parts you need so your valuable study time counts. You’ll come away feeling like, “I can do this!” Whether it’s nailing down diagnoses, theoretical approaches, or applying ethics in challenging situations, we help you get into a licensed mindset. Knowledge domains we cover in these podcasts include:
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Passing your National Licensing Exam
Short-Term and Long-Term Goals, Part 2
Ever wondered how to navigate the complex landscape of treatment goals in therapy? Discover the art of distinguishing between short-term and long-term goals, essential for anyone involved in clinical settings. This episode unpacks strategies for identifying these goals through insightful analysis of keywords and time frames. Words like "reduce" and "improve" often point to short-term objectives, achievable within days to months, while "eliminate" and "master" suggest longer-term commitments. We promise you'll leave with a clear understanding of how to set realistic timelines and break down complex goals into manageable steps, ensuring progress feels both achievable and rewarding.
Join us as we explore the nuanced approach needed for managing personality disorders, transforming overwhelming treatment processes into tangible, bite-sized objectives. We discuss how therapists and clients can focus on what can be achieved today, this week, or this month, nurturing real progress without the daunting feeling of a never-ending journey. Supported by research, these incremental steps highlight that meaningful change is within reach, one goal at a time. Whether tackling panic attacks or maintaining healthy coping mechanisms, this episode provides practical examples and scenarios to guide you through the complexities of effective treatment planning.
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okay, let's see if we can summarize this with a more clinical example. If a client's long-term goal is to improve overall physical health over the next year, long term some short-term goals might include exercise for 30 minutes three times a week for the next month. Or reduce daily intake of soda by half for the next two weeks. Or don't eat so much sushi made by amateurs.
Linton:Uh-huh, and the treatment objective to support these short-term goals could be join a local gym and attend an introductory fitness class by the end of this week and keep a daily food diary to track sugar consumption, starting tomorrow.
Eric:So, yes, now we've talked about some of the keywords that can help you distinguish between the short-term and the long-term goal. Another strategy you can use is to look for time frames. If questions specifies a period within a few days, or say six weeks, it's likely addressing a short-term goal. If it mentions several months or even years, then of course you're looking at a long-term goal.
Linton:All right, let's reinforce this with a quick exercise. Let's reinforce this with a quick exercise. I'll give you a few scenarios and you try to identify the treatment goal and see if it's short-term or long-term. You ready, Got it ready? Okay? Scenario one A client wants to learn techniques to decrease the frequency of panic attacks from 12 per week to no more than one per week.
Eric:Well, start off with a tricky one there, linton. All right, learning the techniques would be a short-term goal and specific and doable in the immediate, near-time future. Okay, if the question was just about reducing panic attacks from 12 to no more than one a week, that would be a long-term goal, because achieving that goal would probably take several months.
Linton:Correct, you got that one, so scenario two, a client aims to develop and maintain healthy coping mechanisms for stress.
Eric:Okay, another tricky one Got it. Okay, I picked up on two keywords there develop and maintain. There, develop and maintain. Develop sounds short-term to me, but maintain sounds like we're dealing with a long-term goal because you maintain something for the long haul. So if you read the entirety of that sentence, you will see that the goal is broad, focusing on maintaining a sustained change over time.
Linton:I can't fool you, Eric. Client is working on eliminating instance of drinking and driving behavior. How about that one?
Eric:Ha Okay, I'm not going to fall for that trap. Eliminate is usually a word that's associated with long-term goals, like we said, but, just like I mentioned, it's addressing an immediate and dangerous behavior, and that makes it fall under the short term, even though it used the word eliminate, which sounds long.
Linton:Nice sketch. Here's the last one. A client wants to achieve stable employment and improve interpersonal relationships.
Eric:Okay, that's definitely a long-term goal. It's focused on broader life changes and would take more than just a few weeks to accomplish.
Linton:Okay, time for a recap. To accomplish. Okay, time for a recap. Here are some key points to remember when distinguishing between short-term and long-term goals, and the reason we're spending so much time on this is you may run into questions that deal specifically with these two concepts on your licensing exam.
Eric:Exactly. And of course the reason it's there is because you, as a clinician, will have to distinguish those as you're doing your work. So they don't just put them on for fun. They do it because it reflects real life.
Linton:Right, okay. Short-term goals Focus on immediate needs or concerns. Short-term goals are achievable within a few days to a few months. Keywords to look for include reduce, identify, improve, explore, educate, immediate, initial, stabilize and within the next few weeks. Long-term goals aim at a broader, more enduring changes. Usually takes several months to years to achieve. Keywords to look for include eliminate, resolve, ultimate master over the next 12 months and eventually.
Eric:And remember the caveat to words like eliminate and master being exclusive to long-term goals is just like we saw when the client's behavior is dangerous or illegal. You can and should choose to try to eliminate those behaviors in the short term, like eliminate suicidal ideation, eliminate instances of drinking and driving idle ideation, eliminate instances of drinking and driving. And you can choose to master basic skills or master a specific number of skills, as in baby steps, as a short-term goal. For example, master two mindfulness exercises or master basic breathing techniques breathing techniques and treatment objectives.
Eric:support goals by breaking them down into smaller, achievable steps. So when you're faced with multiple choice question about treatment goals, here's the process you can use to narrow down your answer choices. Look for time-related keywords or phrases like reduce, resolve, eliminate, improve and within the next X number of months. Those keywords can be big clues as to whether you're dealing with a short-term versus a long-term goal. Next, determine how long the goal will take to achieve. Is it something that can realistically be accomplished in a few months or less? If so, think short-term goal. Is it something that can realistically be accomplished in a few months or less? If so, think short-term goal. Or will it take several months to a year or even longer? If so, think long-term goal. Also, consider the complexity of the goal and whether it's a stepping stone to a larger change. Short-term goals are generally simpler, involving fewer variables. Long-term goals are more complex and are broken down into short-term goals, which can be further broken down into those little bite-sized treatment objectives.
Linton:Something just crossed my mind, eric. I think it might be something that individuals taking the exam might fall prey to If they have a diagnosis, let's say personality disorder. Most of those take a really, really long time to deal with.
Eric:A lifetime yes, yeah.
Linton:Would that mean that you wouldn't have any short-term goals dealing with that particular diagnosis?
Eric:Well, you know, that's kind of the thing that gives it the hopeless feeling, isn't it? That when you look at a personality disorder that everybody will take years and years to fix, it makes it look like such a big chunk. But it's like the joke about eating the elephant how do you eat one, one bite at a time? Okay, the fact is that when you look at the big thing, the whole idea of breaking it down into the objectives is that a lot of work, research-wise, has gone into figuring out how to make those manageable objectives down into the bite-sized treatment goals or treatment objectives, so that you can say instead of, well, you know, lay down on the couch for the next 12 years and we'll see what we can do, as opposed to what is something you can do today, this week, this month, both as a realistic goal to put down in your own notes, but also to not make it such a hopeless thing for the client themselves right.
Linton:Okay, got it. Well, that's the long and short of it. So until our next podcast, remember, it's in there. It's in there, absolutely. Thanks, Linton, thanks Az.
