The Mental Health Day Treatment Program is an intensive, six-week, group therapy program for adults with mental health problems.

We provide rehabilitation to people with a variety of acute and chronic psychiatric diagnoses.

Treatment includes a variety of group therapies such as stress and anger management, assertiveness training, goal setting, feelings, skills for change, recreation/physical activity , relaxation and leisure lifestyles.

The overall objectives of treatment are to reduce overt symptoms, develop coping strategies, improve communication skills, enable individuals to better handle interpersonal relationships, to change dysfunctional thinking and improve overall functioning.

Participants are assigned to a case-coordinator whom, in addition to facilitating groups, provides assessment, individual therapy and counseling, case-management and family/employer/community consultation as necessary.

It should be noted that the Mental Health Day Treatment Program, as part of the Capital District Mental Health Services, is a teaching facility. Participants are therefore exposed to students from all disciplines (social work, occupational therapy, nursing, medicine, psychology recreation and spiritual care).

Other Program Components

• Home Visits
  Occasionally, you and your case-coordinator will decide together that a home visit may be beneficial. The purposes of home visits are many and varied from meeting with family members to helping you organize your environment.
• Employer Consultation
  An employer consultation meeting may be determined by you and your case-coordinator, to be beneficial to your treatment. This may occur when work has been considered to be a major source of stress for you or a contributing factor to your illness. Click here to read more about the Employer Consultation protocol.
• Spiritual Counseling
  Spiritual counseling is available should you request it. This may be helpful if you are struggling with issues of grief, shame and guilt about a loss or abuse situation or have any questions about your spiritual life, regardless of religion.
• Psychology
  Consultation with a psychologist, for testing or individual counseling, may be available to you as deemed necessary by both you and your case-coordinator.
• Medication
  If you need medication for your mental health it will be managed for you by the psychiatrist in the program. If you are not on a drug plan, the medication will be free of charge while you are attending the program.
• Videotaping
  As part of your treatment you will be given the opportunity to have your assessment interview(s) or any other individual sessions videotaped. The videotaping will help you and your case-coordinator accurately track your progress. Seeing how you progress may help make your therapy more meaningful and rewarding. No one else will view the tape without your permission and it will be erased after your discharge from the program. From time to time the group sessions will be videotaped with the participants consent and knowledge.

Over the years that the Mental Health Day Treatment Program has existed, we have come to recognize a ‘lifecycle’ that occurs over the course of the six weeks.

Last Updated: 6/29/2007 1:09:16 PM