Services: Adolescent & Family Programs

DBT is emerging as a promising treatment for adolescents struggling with a variety of problems related to difficulties with emotional regulation including suicidal and self-harming behaviours, recurrent inpatient hospitalization, and behavioural outbursts. Our adolescent program is based on the latest information and is designed to assist both adolescents and their families. Our adolescent program includes the following treatment modalities.

Individual Therapy

Adolescents participating in the Adolescent Program receive weekly individual therapy from a clinician trained in applying DBT for adolescents. Specific issues addressed include stopping suicidal and self-harming behaviours, reducing therapy interfering behaviour, and solving problems that interfere with family relations and leading a happy, productive life.

Family Skills Training

In addition to individual therapy, clients and parents receive group skills training once a week for 6 months to 1 year. The skills training group, designed much like a class, is in place to help clients learn skills that are important for managing your attention (mindfulness skills), managing and coping with your emotions (emotion regulation skills), dealing effectively with interpersonal situations (interpersonal effectiveness skills), and tolerating emotional distress (distress tolerance skills). In addition, there is a focus on building and fostering better family relations.

Telephone Consultation

Individual DBT therapists are available to clients in-between sessions for telephone calls. These calls are designed to help clients bring what is happening in therapy into their daily lives, to help manage crises and provide help to clients when they desperately need it.

Therapist Consultation

DBT therapists meet weekly to discuss cases, and to provide the supervision, training, and support required to be effective therapists. This “Consultation Team” is like therapy for the therapists and is there to help clinicians monitor the quality of services provided and be the best therapists they can be.

Ancillary Treatments

In addition to providing the above services, we also work with clients and area providers to help ensure that clients have access to any additional treatments that they might need, such as psychiatric or case management services.