Mental Health

Our mental health services focus on feelings and behaviors that are currently causing distress, rather than continued focus on the details of the trauma.
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Normal Reactions of Children/Teens that have Experienced a Traumatic Incident

When a traumatic event happens, many children/teens feel a complete loss of control.  Some responses can be easily observed through their behavior and emotions.  Others are less noticeable.  Typical reactions to the sense of chaos they may be feeling include:

  • Bad dreams, nightmares or difficulty falling asleep
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Avoidance from people/situations that remind the child of what happened
  • Withdrawal from family or friends
  • Less interest in participating in usual activities
  • Increased sensitivity, irritability or depression
  • Increased tantrums, meltdowns, or aggression
  • Feeling “on edge” or high alert
  • Increased anxiety/fears
  • Stress-related stomach-aches, headaches, or other physical symptoms
  • Flashbacks/feeling like the traumatic experience is happening again

What will help my child if they’re having some of these reactions?

Traumatic experiences have the power to disrupt the way a person’s body, mind and emotions work.  Many of the behavioral changes that appear to be “bad behavior”, may actually be symptoms related to Post-Traumatic Stress.  Trauma-focused mental health services can help your child/teen regain a sense of control over his/her emotions, behaviors and body reactions so that their daily functioning is more stabilized.  Specialized mental health services that focus on helping children/teens learn skills to manage stress reactions, and increase communication between the child and the non-offending parent, can help a family better understand and develop strategies to begin the healing process.

What therapy services are offered at the Child Protection Center?

Child Protection Center offers a range of evidence-based, trauma-focused treatment services for children/teens that have completed a Forensic Interview, and for their caregivers. Our mental health services focus on the child’s feelings and behaviors that are currently causing distress, rather than continued focus on the details of the trauma.  These include:

  • Child & Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI)
  • Trauma Focused – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
  • Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)
  • Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Integrative Treatment for Complex Trauma (ITCT)

Child Protection Center provides all mental health services free of charge. Learn more aout each of the trauma-focus treatments, below.

Child & Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) is an early-intervention, brief therapy to reduce traumatic stress reactions in children 7-18 years.  Over the course of 5-8 sessions, the therapist meets with the child/teen and their non-offending caregiver to increase communication about and teach skills to manage a child’s traumatic stress reactions.

Trauma Focused – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a components-based approach to working with children or teens using trauma-sensitive treatment methods to learn how to recognize and cope with a range of emotions, develop a way to understand and manage memories connected with overwhelming life events, and regain a sense of stability following traumatic experiences.

Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) is an evidence-based treatment that is jointly provided to children 3-5 years old and their primary caregiver to work on supporting and strengthening their relationship and attachment following traumatic events, in order to restore the child’s daily behavioral, emotional and cognitive functioning.

Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a treatment method which helps the child/teen use their mind’s natural ability to heal and diminish the impact of past traumas,  through the use of bi-lateral stimulation.

Integrative Treatment for Complex Trauma (ITCT) is a treatment model designed for children and teens that have a history of multiple traumas resulting in emotional and behavioral difficulties.  ITCT addresses trauma-related symptoms and attachment issues by helping children increase their ability to regulate emotions, increase distress tolerance, improve skills regarding impulse control, social interactions and healthy connections with supportive adults, and increasing self-esteem.

Problematic Sexual Behavior - Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (PSB-CBT) is a comprehensive family-based clinical treatment intervention for children and adolescents with problematic and inappropriate sexual behaviors.

  1. PSB-CBT treats youth ages 7-12 years old.
  2. The PSB-CBT model is grounded in a cognitive-behavioral and social ecological approach.
  3. PSB-CBT provides short-term, community-based outpatient program for youth and their caregivers.
  4. Treatment can be provided in either a family or group modality.
  5. PSB-CBT sessions require active involvement of parents or other caregivers.
  6. Treatment referrals may come from varied community partners (e.g., child protective services, juvenile justice, schools, other mental health providers, and direct from families).
  7. 10-year follow-up studies of youth who completed PSB-CBT treatment found very low rates of future problematic sexual behavior (2%) in both school-age youth (Carpentier, Silovsky, Chaffin, 2006) and adolescents (Chaffin & Bonner, 2015).  
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I appreciate the staff and the wealth of resources available. Counseling at no cost is also a huge benefit.