Stages+-+Implementation

Nicole Humphrey, Courtney Lilliston, Christy Mendoza, Amanda Shenk (Adapted and summarized from Dougherty, 2009). The third stage of consultation is Implementation, this is referenced as the action stage of the consultation process, it is broken down into four phases. These four phases include: 1. choosing an intervention, 2. formulating a plan, 3. implementing a plan, 4. evaluating the plan.

The author believes this is critical in consultation process, and our group agrees.

The first phase is choosing an intervention, here there is responsibility on the part of the consultant to discern the nature of the problem and begin to provide options for working through this problem through an intervention. When a consultee comes to a consultant the consultant will begin with questions for the consultee. 1. What have alternate interventions have been used? 2. What do you hope to gain from this? What are the risks and benefits of possible intervention? 3. What interventions have you researched? 4. What are possible problems for implementation? Having the consultee think about these questions will involve them in the development process and lead to a greater chance of implementation. Consultants need to offer research based interventions.

In phase 2 of this four phase process, Formulating a Plan is necessary. This requires an investment on the part of the consultant and consultee, "formulating a plan refers to joining the pieces of the interventions into a sequene and generating appropriate time lines". As the consultant and consultee create a plan it is important to consider the what (objectives), the where (locale of the implementation), the when (time frame), the how (methods, procedures, sequence), and the who (who is responsible for which elements). This allows no room for skirting responsibility, it presents clear boundaries and is beneficial for all involved.

Throughout the process of formulating the plan, the consultant and consultee will want to ensure that plans should adhere to established goal, are regularly evaluated for effectiveness, efficiency and the ability to meet human needs. It is best when plans are given reasonable time frames, and examined in terms of feasibility. Finally it may prove beneficial before implementing the plan to walk through the process to see who is affected and in what ways by the plan.

Implementing a plan can be a very complex process including several aspects. First, the consultant and consultee recognize their importance in each other's role and specifically the consultant will make the consultee aware that as life-demands happen, the plan may be altered. The consultant will also provide logistical and tactical assistance while guiding and monitoring the consultee to ensure they are equipped with necessary skills and reflective implementation. Essentially, it is a combination of both the consultee and the consultant to ensure implementation of the plan happens and because they work so closely together, each of their strengths should assist each other for the implementation. A second aspect, is the integrity of the plan. It is likely that the plan may need to be refined and examined with pros and cons. This can be examined by the social validity, treatment acceptability and social importance.

The Implementation Stage: Phase 4 Question: To what degree were our goals met? Phase four of the Implementation Stage is pertaining to the focus of Evaluating the Plan. It is at this point that the stages of Consultation and Collaboration are reviewed. If the process is successful then we will move to the stage of Disengagement; however, if the process is found to be unsuccessful we will revert back to the previous stages. Also during this time the counselor will evaluate the plan’s effectiveness through three mediums: Individualized Goal Attainment, Standardized Outcome Assessment Devices, and Consumer Satisfaction Surveys . After these mediums are evaluated a decision is made on the effectiveness of the plan.

Dougherty, A.M. (2009) //Psychological consultation and collaboration for school and community settings, 5th e////d////.// Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.

Example p. 103 in textbook Mary (consultant) Louise (consultee) 3rd grade teacher working w/ a 3rd grade student- self-talk- behavioral approach to reduce stress during exam, the teacher implements the training, a student uses the technique during a test, only he uses audible speech instead of silent, Mary helps the teacher adapt the skill for the child and Louise (teacher) implements it on her own to ensure dependency does not occur.