SERVICES & TREATMENT

  
Bridging The Chasm provides the following types of services:

Therapeutic Intervention  
Individualized Education Plan (IEP)  
Case & Phone Consultation  
Seminars  
Public Speaking  
  

CLIENTELE  
  
The focus of Bridging The Chasm services is on children (from about age 6-8), adolescents (teenagers) and young adults (through college age) within a family context. For children under the age of six, early intervention programs that focus on a variety of evaluations and services, are recommended.      
  
THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION  
  
Extended (2 hour minimum) therapeutic sessions, rather than a traditional “50 Minute Hour” in an office setting, are afforded the client. Home visits are combined with community outings that enable the client to interact more easily, therapeutically. The casual, informal nature of the sessions promotes a genuine, positive relationship between therapist and client. Additionally, planned family sessions allow all family members to receive necessary and valuable support.
  
A major difficulty facing treatment today is the absence of case collaboration with other entities such as schools and medical personnel. It is imperative for successful outcomes that those involved with a particular client be part of a coordinated treatment team. Bridging the Chasm services provide the necessary case coordination.
  
Consultation with medical and psychiatric personnel helps to insure medication compliance and adds psycho-therapeutic insight to assist in determining that specific medications and dosages are appropriate. Within school systems, Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) consultation and intervention often proves beneficial as may regular discussions with special education and regular classroom personnel.
  
This approach may seem ambitious and it is. It is, however, one that works.      
  
INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN (IEP)  
  
IEP’s are specifically designed for those who meet the criteria to be classified as a “special needs” student. These plans lay out the educational goals and the means of accomplishing them for those with physical or mental disabilities as well as for those of a gifted nature. BTC services focus on those with neurological/mental health disabilities. It is not unusual for students with such a disability to also have learning difficulties, issues that can be addressed with an IEP. Often times parents and school personnel are at a loss as to what to reasonably expect educationally of the child as well as to how best to provide an appropriate educational experience for them. BTC interventions and consultations are intended to assist “the team” to take the child’s disability into account while designing a realistic IEP with meaningful and achievable goals. It’s crucial that these kids do not have an overly frustrating and negative school experience.      
  
CASE & PHONE CONSULTATION  
  
Case consultations are available to mental health or medical professionals, educators and parents. Consultations are offered either as a component of a workshop or by phone. Phone consultations require an appointment.      
  
SEMINARS  
  
In addition to the Child & Adolescent Mental Health For Educators training options, clinical seminars and conference keynote address presentations are available for a variety of other groups including mental health and medical professionals, school nurses, family associations, advocacy groups such as those involved with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Tourette Syndrome, PTA’s and Special Education Advisory Councils. While there are “set presentations,” all seminars are sufficiently flexible to allow for attention to the particular needs of the participants. Specific programming can be developed upon request.
  
Seminars and presentations center on the basic assumption that it is important to openly identify and discuss mental health conditions and their accompanying issues. Bringing the conditions and issues “out of the closet” is accomplished by addressing them under the notion of diversity, in this instance, “different kinds of minds” and in educating those in attendance that some people are “wired differently.” This perspective also encompasses a biological (brain-based), clinical and practical grounding geared toward a realistic approach to intervention and treatment which centers on the relationship between helper and client. A major emphasis is to provide useful information to those either challenged by their condition or to those making efforts to help them. Psycho education is a crucial component in attending to and taking care of these conditions.
  
Presentations focus on addressing the emotional and psychological state of the many co-morbid conditions (referred to as “first cousins”) that afflict children, adolescents and young adults rather than a strict reliance on the traditional behavioral perspective. Bridging The Chasm offers a framework within which one can comprehend the nature and manifestations of neurobiological/developmental conditions. The goal is to develop not only an understanding and appreciation of the experience of those challenged by them, but also intervention strategies designed to assist in lessening the inner turmoil and the accompanying behavioral and socialization difficulties. Participants will acquire a greater understanding of these conditions, develop an increased empathy for those challenged by them and acquire meaningful treatment strategies to lessen their impact.      
  
PUBLIC SPEAKING  
  
Public speaking engagements are considered on an as available basis. Such engagements usually involve being the speaker at a luncheon or a dinner for a service or non-profit organization. Examples of available topics are, The State of Children’s Mental Health, The Need for Early Intervention, Developing Effective Resources and Treatments for Children and Adolescents and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Made Easy. Speaking fees can be discussed at the time of inquiry.