Psychological Therapy
What is psychological therapy?
Therapy involves a clinician working together with the child and their family to bring about positive change in the child’s thinking, feeling, behaviour, and social functioning. This work may be in an individual or a group setting. The therapy typically takes place within our clinic but may also involve working in the child’s environments such as at home, school, or online. Therapy may be helpful for children and youth with a range of social-emotional issues. We work with the child and their family to develop strategies to increase adaptive behaviours through skill development.
How can therapy help?
At Launch Behavioural Health, our team has extensive training and experience providing evidence-based psychological treatment to children and youth with and without neurodevelopmental disabilities. Psychological therapy involves a strength-based approach that includes teaching, practicing, and mastering adaptive and coping skills. This allows children, youth, and their families to develop strategies to deal with real-life stressors and challenging situations.
Individuals with ASD and other neurodevelopmental disabilities are at increased risk for mood and anxiety disorders. It is important to account for the strengths and needs that are common among individuals with ASD, which may include social and adaptive skill deficits that could pose as barriers in therapy.
Sessions are individualized and the schedule and number of sessions depend on the client’s needs and presenting concerns. In general, verbal children as young as 8 years old may benefit from psychological therapy at Launch Behavioural Health. Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) strategies are incorporated into goal setting and treatment planning to support individuals with a variety of skills areas including regulation (both self- and co-regulation), life skills, social skills, self-management and organization (executive functioning), and theory of mind. In addition, treatment may be focused on addressing difficulties including anxiety, impulsivity, as well as disruptive and or/challenging behaviours.