During their second counseling session, the therapist gives the client a treatment plan that he put together after the first meeting and tells the client he needs to sign it to indicate he participated in developing it. This is:

• A. Appropriate collaborative planning
• B. Unacceptable as it is a violation of the administrative rules for treatment planning
• C. Authorized with consent
• D. Ethically permissible if therapist approves

Answer: (B)

Authentic client participation in treatment planning and accurate documentation are being tested here. Treatment planning should be a collaborative process where the client contributes to goals, strategies, and expected outcomes. Requiring the client to sign a plan after the clinician already prepared it, just to indicate the client helped develop it, misrepresents the client’s involvement. That kind of sign-off can be seen as deceitful and violates rules that the treatment plan and its authorization reflect actual participation and informed consent. If the client truly contributed and agrees, their signature would reflect real involvement; as described, the action is ethically and administratively problematic.