The School Based Therapy Program, established in 1996 serves as a model for linking public school systems with community mental health services. This unique collaboration between the school and the mental health center forms the foundation for providing a range of services to children and families who are seeking assistance with difficulties in their lives.

The Families We Serve

We work with elementary, middle, and high school-aged children whose struggles with life's challenges impair their relationships, schoolwork, self-esteem, and general well being. These life challenges might include:

Divorce
Loss of Loved One
Mental Illness
Neglect
Familial Mental Illness
Familial Substance Abuse
Domestic Violence
Abuse
Learning Disabilities
Peer Relationships

Problems Noted in the Past

*  School personnel have felt frustrated with the lack of or limited contact between outpatient therapists and the schools.

*   Many school counselors have not been able to go to the homes and families of children who are in need of services.

*   The mental health system and the schools are two distinct systems with different ways of thinking.  Understanding one another can be difficult without dialogue between them.  Historically this dialogue has been limited.

*   Families have felt alienated, for various reasons from the school system.

*   Managed care constraints have made it difficult for outpatient therapists to have the time necessary to do the collateral work that is important in working with children.   This work includes consulting with school personnel, psychiatrists, primary care physicians, Department of Social Services, courts, etc.

Why a School Based Therapy Program?

  *  Increased communication between schools, families and the community.

*  Creates cost savings to schools and mental health clinic.

*   Function as an adjunct to the school counseling staff.

*  Provides links to additional mental health resources.

*  Provides links to community resources.

*  Enhances total quality of care.

*  Clinicians are able to spend more time with families than possible in most mental health programs.

*  Clinicians foster a cooperative team approach, which supports children's growth and development.

Our Services

*  Massachusetts licensed Masters' level clinicians

*  Our clinicians specialize in working with children and their families.

*  Clinicians who are based in the schools.

*  Outreach to families.  We go to the family's home.

*  Access to community mental health center, including psychiatric services.

*  Adjunct service to already existing counseling services in the school.

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