CEI. Clinical Effectiveness
Institute
Clinical Decision LabsThe Institute
INTERACTIVE CLINICAL REASONING FOR THERAPISTS
A reader examining an index card at a library card catalogue.

Choose a case.
Think it through.

Start with any case below. Read a fictional client’s first report, choose what to ask or do next, and get feedback on what each move reveals or obscures. After ten decisions, review the path you created.

15 fictional cases · 10 decisions each · No score
COLLECTION 01 / FIVE CASES

Clinical reasoning: foundations

Formulation, regulation, and the information available in the room.

SELECT A CARD TO BEGIN01—05
01 / FORMULATION

Anxiety in context

Start case 02 / REGULATION

Can we think here?

Start case 03 / ALLIANCE

When “fine” is not enough

Start case 04 / SOMATIC INFORMATION

The pause before yes

Start case 05 / FORMULATION REVISION

When the plan misses

Start case
COLLECTION 02 / FIVE CASES

Clinical reasoning: complex trauma

Capacity, agency, shame, and carryover in CPTSD-related encounters.

SELECT A CARD TO BEGIN06—10
06 / PRESENT CAPACITY

The quiet after the trigger

Start case 07 / CONTINUITY

The hour she cannot place

Start case 08 / AGENCY

When help feels like control

Start case 09 / SHAME AND ALLIANCE

The apology before disagreement

Start case 10 / INTEGRATION

The insight that does not travel

Start case
COLLECTION 03 / FIVE CASES

Clinical reasoning: the alliance

Shared goals, useful tasks, rupture, the frame, and endings.

SELECT A CARD TO BEGIN11—15
11 / GOALS

The goal we never agreed on

Start case 12 / TASKS

The worksheet that became a test

Start case 13 / RUPTURE

The silence after my interpretation

Start case 14 / THE FRAME

The fee on the table

Start case 15 / ENDING

When she asks to stop

Start case
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

Free seminars & live trainings

Join us online to make clinical reasoning explicit.

All times are Eastern. Choose one date for each training. Reduced rates and scholarships are described on the registration pages. No continuing education credits are offered.

Clinical consultationReceive CEI email updates

These cases invite inquiry, not a diagnosis or a single correct sequence of care.

Ethical practice requires clinical effectiveness.