The initial phase normally takes from one to two interviews although some cases may require more. It ends with setting up initial tasks, usually for the client (but sometimes for the practitioner) to do between sessions.
The middle phase starts with the next session. Changes in the problems and the outcome of the tasks are reviewed at the beginning of the interview. If tasks have been accomplished, new tasks are developed. Task development is usually preceded by an effort to pinpoint aspects of the problem (problem focusing) to which tasks will be addressed. If tasks have not been attained, an effort is made to identify obstacles to task accomplishment.
Some obstacles, such as those concerning the client's beliefs, may be resolved in the session; others may require tasks in their own right. Still others might prove insurmountable, in which case a different task strategy may be adopted.
The heart of the typical session in the middle phase is devoted to the development of external client tasks, making use of task planning procedures.
If two or more clients are present, as in conjoint family interviews, tasks in the session (session tasks) are customarily used. In these tasks clients working together with the practitioners help plan out (or lay the ground work for) their own external tasks.
Although only one session (the final one) is devoted to the termination phase, the process of terminating is actually begun in the initial phase when the duration of treatment is set. Reminders of number of sessions left as well as discussion of modifications of the original limits keep termination alive throughout the course of service. As the outline suggests, the final session is structured to accomplish specific objectives. It is designed to emphasize what clients have learned and accomplished.
These materials are from Task-Strategies (Reid, 1992). Do not cite this website, but the orginial publication!
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Task-Centered WebPages 1998, Matthias J. Naleppa