Clinical Services

TRAUMA-FOCUSED COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for individuals impacted by trauma and their parents or caregivers. Research shows that TF-CBT successfully resolves a broad array of emotional and behavioral difficulties associated with single, multiple and complex trauma experiences. TF-CBT is designed to reduce negative emotional and behavioral responses following trauma, including child sexual abuse and other maltreatment, domestic violence, traumatic loss, mass disasters, multiple traumas, and other traumatic events. The treatment addresses distorted or upsetting beliefs and attributions related to the traumas and provides a supportive environment in which children are encouraged to talk about their traumatic experiences and learn skills to help them cope with ordinary life stressors. TF-CBT also helps parents who were not abusive to cope effectively with their own emotional distress and develop skills that support their children.

DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOR THERAPY

In recent years, efforts have been focused on the development of a treatment protocol based on the Dialectical Behavior Therapy approach, a research-based and tested treatment method designed specifically for patients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.  This approach has proven to yield striking reductions in self-harming behaviors among the adolescent and pre-adolescent residents at Saint Joseph's Children's Home who are identified as appropriate candidates for the protocol.  Responses to date have been very encouraging.

FAMILY THERAPY

An essential component in the child or adolescent's course of residential treatment is family therapy.  While varied issues have typically contributed to the child's need for this intensive level of care, the family has always experienced impact associated with the child or adolescent's difficulties.  Understanding and resolution of this impact must be part of the resident's and the family's healing process.  Tailoring the pace and manner in which this portion of treatment occurs will be important for the therapist, family and team members to determine.  Based on the family's distance from the facility, family therapy may be conducted on site, by telephone or by video-conferencing.  In some instances, a local therapist working with a family member in the home community may participate in family therapy sessions with the resident's Saint Joseph's therapist to provide better linkage with the family and to enhance the resident's transition to aftercare following discharge.

PSYCHIATRIC THERAPY

Saint Joseph's Children's Home is a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF).  Treatment services for youth and children at Saint Joseph's are under the care and supervision of our psychiatrist.  In some instances, psychotropic medication is indicated as a portion of the recommended course of treatment.  As part of the initial evaluation process, newly admitted residents are seen weekly, by the psychiatrist, during the first month.  Frequent adjustments and medication changes can be made easily in the event a residents' difficulties pose a greater complication.

ART THERAPY

Art Therapy provides the client with varied media, such as paint, clay, markers, etc., to utilize in the process of freeing themselves of their anguish, anxiety, depression, and other intense feelings.  In doing so, they are better able to find a resolution for the associated concerns with which they are struggling.

PLAY THERAPY

Play therapy is helpful with children or adolescents who may have less well developed verbal skills upon which conventional psychotherapy more heavily relies.  A well-equipped play therapy room provides a wide variety of choices for clients to draw from as a means to express the emotional turmoil they may be experiencing.  Utilizing this type of therapy, clients often find meaningful ways to express their turmoil or past trauma through their play, working gradually toward resolution of these issues.

CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY

The Chemical Dependency (CD) Specialty Track is a critical addition to the treatment of many residents with substance-related issues.  This treatment track has been in place at St. Joseph's Children' Home for approximately fifteen years, undergoing continual expansion and refinement during that time.  The full track includes the resident's involvement in CD Education, Step Groups, Spirituality Groups, Personal Development Groups, NA, AA and Alateen groups, and Continuing Care Groups. 

CORRECTIVE THINKING

Saint Joseph's Children's Home also utilizes the TruThought^TM curriculum (Corrective Thinking) to provide residents with this additional coping strategy.  Therapists trained in this curriculum provide the training through a didactic-type group format on a rotating basis to varied age levels, when indicated by history, diagnosis and developmental readiness.  The aim of this treatment strategy is to help clients better identify errors in their thinking and to stop themselves from acting on these errors, which might otherwise result in harm to others or further conflicts with the law.

 

EYE-MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION & REPROCESSING

Eye-Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR^TM) is a specific therapeutic skill developed to assist traumatized individuals in relieving themselves of their PTSD symptoms.  Saint Joseph's Children's Home therapists with Level II training in EMDR provide this technique as a meaningful adjunct to individual therapy sessions with many residents whose referring issues include past trauma.  In this fashion, EMDR has been utilized with carefully selected residents of all ages and both sexes over the past twelve years.

EQUINE-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy provides an effective therapeutic intervention through working with horses, engaging the child in an experiential learning process instead of less active therapy with heavy emphasis on verbal processing.  Through this process, especially challenged emotionally disturbed children are able to develop relationships with horses, care for horses, and receive horsemanship instruction.  In turn, the clients experience the instinctive response and sensitivity of horses, helping the client to gain confidence and overcome a variety of fears.

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy is a seasonal program.

GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY

Group psychotherapy is provided for all residents of Saint Joseph's Children's Home.  Group assignments are based on the resident's age, developmental level and readiness for group therapy.  At all age levels, residents typically begin in a more structured group format, learning to listen to others, take turns in sharing their feelings, offer feedback and responses to others, and begin to process their feelings and reactions to feedback provided by peers and therapists.  By starting this process in a more structured format, safety can better be assured for all participants.  As treatment progresses, residents typically demonstrate readiness to progress to increasingly advanced and less structured groups where they begin to take greater responsibility for maintaining a safe climate for sharing.
 

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY

Saint Joseph's Children's Home residents are routinely assigned an individual therapist at the time of admission.  Individual therapy sessions are held with the child or adolescent one to two times per week.  The frequency of sessions is often increased during times of crisis and, more routinely, with younger residents and developmentally delayed or highly distractible residents.  A Cognitive-Behavioral approach is most frequently utilized in the context of individual therapy, geared to the ability and developmental level of the resident.