Working with Children and Parents from a CMT Perspective: The Plan Formulation Method Across Developmental Age

The aim of this article is to show how the Plan Formulation Method (PFM), an empirically validated and clinically useful assessment procedure, can be adapted for therapy with children. According to CMT, children – like adults – enter therapy with an unconscious plan aimed at achieving developmental goals, disconfirming pathogenic beliefs, and mastering traumas. The PFM-DA provides a structured procedure to formulate this plan through five main components: the child’s goals, the obstructions preventing their achievement, the traumas underlying these obstructions, how the child tests their therapist and parents to overcome them, and the corrective experiences necessary for change. To apply the PFM to therapy with children, as with adolescents, two additional components have been added: the vicious relational circles between the child and their significant others that maintain the child’s problems, and the experiences the child needs to improve well-being. In addition, the therapeutic setting should be organized according to the child’s developmental level, ensuring that the environment and activities are appropriate to their age and mode of expression. The application of the PFM-DA will be illustrated through a clinical case.