Therapy & Counseling

A therapeutic intervention or counseling service shown to be successful with identified populations, diagnoses and service needs, provided in a group format by a qualified clinician or practitioner. Services are directed toward achievement of specific goals defined by the individual and specified in the Individualized Recovery Plan. Services may address goals/issues such as promoting recovery, and the restoration, development, enhancement or maintenance of:

• Cognitive processing skills
• Healthy coping mechanisms
• Adaptive behaviors and skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Identifying and resolving personal, social, intrapersonal and interpersonal concerns.

A therapeutic intervention or counseling service shown to be successful with identified populations, diagnoses and service needs, provided by a qualified clinician. Techniques employed involve the principles, methods and procedures of counseling that assist the person in identifying and resolving personal, social, vocational, intrapersonal and interpersonal concerns. Individual counseling may include face-to-face in or out-of-clinic time with family members as long as the individual is present for part of the session and the focus is on the individual. Services are directed toward achievement of specific goals defined by the individual and specified in the Individualized Recovery Plan.

These services address goals/issues such as promoting recovery, and the restoration, development, enhancement or maintenance of:

• Illness and medication self-management knowledge and skills (e.g., symptom management, behavioral management, relapse prevention skills, knowledge of medications and side effects, and motivational/skill development in taking medication as prescribed)
•  Problem solving and cognitive skills
• Healthy coping mechanisms
• Adaptive behaviors and skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Knowledge regarding mental illness, substance related disorders and other relevant topics that assist in meeting the individual’s or the support system’s needs.

Best/evidence-based practice modalities may include (as clinically appropriate): Motivational Interviewing/Enhancement, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Behavioral Modification, Behavioral Management, Rational Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and others as appropriate to the individual and clinical issues to be addressed.

Crisis Intervention supports the individual who is experiencing an abrupt and substantial change in behavior which is usually associated with a precipitating situation and which is in the direction of severe impairment of functioning or a marked increase in distress. Interventions are designed to prevent out of community placement or hospitalization. Often, a crisis exists at such time as an individual and his/her identified natural resources decide to seek help and/or the individual, identified natural resources, or practitioner identifies the situation as a crisis.

Crisis services are time-limited and present-focused to address the immediate crisis and develop appropriate links to alternate services. The individual’s current behavioral health care advanced directive, if existing, will be utilized to manage the crisis. Interventions provided will honor and respect the individual’s wishes/choices by following the plan/advanced directive as closely as possible in line with clinical judgment. Plans/advanced directives developed during the Behavioral Health Assessment/IRP process will be reviewed and updated (or developed if the individual is a new consumer) as part of those services to help prevent or manage future crisis situations.

Some examples of interventions that may be used to de-escalate a crisis situation could include: a situational assessment; active listening and empathic responses to help relieve emotional distress; effective verbal and behavioral responses to warning signs of crisis related behavior; assistance to, and involvement/participation of the individual (to the extent he or she is capable) in active problem solving planning and interventions; facilitation of access to a myriad of crisis stabilization and other services deemed necessary to effectively manage the crisis; mobilization of natural support systems; and other crisis interventions as appropriate to the individual and issues to be addressed.

The provision of specialized medical and/or psychiatric services that include, but are not limited to:

• Psychotherapeutic services with medical evaluation and management including evaluation and assessment of physiological phenomena (including comorbidity between behavioral and physical health care issues
• Assessment and monitoring of an individual's status in relation to treatment with medication
• Assessment of the appropriateness of initiating or continuing services.

Psychosocial Rehabilitation-Individual (PSR-I) services consist of rehabilitative skills building, the personal development of environmental and recovery supports considered essential in improving a person’s functioning, learning skills to promote the person’s self-access to necessary services and in creating environments that promote recovery and support the emotional and functional improvement of the individual. The service activities of Psychosocial Rehabilitation-Individual include: 

• Providing skills support in the person’s self-articulation of personal goals and objectives 

• Assisting the person in the development of skills to self-manage or prevent crisis situations  

• Individualized interventions in living, learning, working, other social environments, which shall have as objectives: 

• Identification, with the person, of strengths which may aid him/her in achieving recovery, as well as barriers that impede the development of skills necessary for functioning in work, with peers, and with family/friends 

• Supporting skills development to build natural supports (including support/assistance with defining what wellness means to the person in order to assist them with recovery-based goal setting and attainment 

• Assistance in the development of interpersonal, community coping and functional skills (which may include adaptation to home, adaptation to work, adaptation to healthy social environments, learning/practicing skills such as personal financial management, medication self-monitoring, symptom self-monitoring, etc