ABSTRACT
Th e use of clinical case conceptualizations in mental health practice has become increasingly popular over the last decade (Sperry 2005a), and its growing popularity is due to a wide variety of factors ranging in scope from economic (e.g., managed care’s demand of accountability) to clinical (e.g., to determine the most appropriate/eff ective treatment[s]) (Haynes & O’Brien 2000; Scamardo, Bobele, & Biever 2004; Sperry 2005b). Clinical case conceptualizations are a way to organize information about a client’s presenting problems, identify treatment targets, and specify intervention strategies. One of the biggest advantages of using the clinical case conceptualization in practice is to keep the therapy process on track and to prepare for one of the perhaps most imprecise aspects of the therapy process-termination. Th ere is little to no empirical research supporting strategies for preparing the therapy for termination; thus it is the focus of this chapter to present and discuss the concept of the clinical case conceptualization and to integrate its use into preparing for the termination of psycho therapy. In doing so, this chapter will (a) defi ne the clinical case conceptualization, (b) discuss some of the factors leading to its recent popularity, (c) present and discuss the general components and types of clinical conceptualizations, followed by a more detailed discussion of (d) specifi c models and components of clinical case conceptualizations
from diff erent theoretical perspectives (e.g., cognitive-behavior therapy, problem-solving approaches). Th is chapter concludes with specifi c recommendations for using a clinical case conceptualization to prepare for termination of psychotherapy.
