Certified Out-Patient Mental Health Clinic

CCS, Inc. operates a child, adult & family outpatient mental health clinic, certified by the New York State Office of Mental Health.  Professionally trained staff provide confidential psychotherapy services to individuals, families, couples and groups.  Therapy approaches used include traditional psychotherapy, marital therapy, medication therapy, and child-centered play therapy for children.   Also offered are evidence based practices such as: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Attachment Disorder Therapy and Functional Family Therapy (FFT). Additional services include:

• Multi Disciplinary Diagnostic Evaluation Team: assessment team to evaluate and make recommendations of youth with juvenile justice involvement

• Article 31 clinic services are available to children and adults with intellectual disabilities and co-occuring disorders when appropriate

• Clinic Plus: screening and comprehensive assessment for early identification of child   mental health issues established in Cayuga County Elementary Schools

• Conflict Resolution: an 8 week educational counseling program for those struggling with anger management and communication skills

• Specialized Parenting Support and Psycho-educational Groups

• Other specialized child, adolescent and adult therapy and psycho-educational groups dependent upon the needs of the clients

• RESPECT: a 26 week educational counseling program for domestic violence offenders

• Internships for undergraduate, MSW and MFT students

Most health insurance, Medicare & Medicaid are accepted.  A pay for service fee is established on a sliding scale.

RESPECT

The RESPECT Program, founded in 1995, is a counseling/educational program for domestic offenders offered by Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc. Participants are individuals who are court-mandated following a domestic offense, or who voluntarily identify themselves as having a problem with being physically, verbally, or emotionally abusive to their domestic partner.

Goals:

• To end abusive relationship patterns.
• To handle feelings in a constructive manner.
• To promote safety, equality and cooperation in relationships.

Approach:

Education and group discussion is utilized to assist the individual in changing attitudes and beliefs that contribute to the problem. Participants will learn and practice respectful, non-violent ways to communicate needs and resolve conflict.

Program Requirements:

1. Willingness to accept responsibility for your actions.
2. Desire to practice non-violence in your relationship(s).
3. Complete an assessment with one of the group facilitators.
4. Make a commitment to stop any form of violence or abuse.
5. Obey existing court orders.
6. Complete 26 group sessions at Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc.

Fee: There is a $60 fee for the initial assessment. If admitted to the program, you will be charged a weekly fee of $25. Payment is expected each week. Note: Insurance and Medicaid are not accepted for RESPECT, as it is primarily an education program.

Program Procedures:

Admission to the program is on a continuous basis. Each group will be 1 1/2 hours in length. Regular attendance is required. Period reports and notification of completion will be made to the referral source. Contact CCS to make an appointment for an initial assessment.

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Employee Assistance Programs

The Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc. Employee Assistance Program is a negotiated Mental Health service between this agency and individual businesses which can provide any and all of the following services:

Employees, who are referred to the Employee Assistance Program as a condition of employment, will be referred in writing, including a request for confirmation of attendance and a signed release from the employee.

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Head Start

The Head Start Satellite Office will provide an extension of the Mental Health services provided in the existing Outpatient Clinic located at 17 East Genesee Street.  The Head Start Satellite Office will allow for a greater integration of mental health services by providing on-site assessment and treatment planning, health screening and referral, assessment and discharge planning, verbal therapy, medication therapy, medication education, symptom management, and clinical support to children and families who may otherwise not access the services.

The Head Start Satellite Office will provide mental health services for an individual and their families. Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc. has served the Head Start population through referrals from the Head Start Consultant. This service has been expanded to Monday through Friday during the school year. 

Additional training has been provided upon request to Head Start staff on such topics as: Attention Deficit Disorder, assessing behavior & behavioral interventions with this age group, when psychological testing is indicated and what it can and cannot tell us, and how to access emergency mental health services.  In 2007, 275 Children were observed, 6 were seen for individual therapy.

Crisis Service Coverage Procedures for After Hours and Weekends

1. When a Cayuga Counseling Services’ client calls after hours or on weekends, they are first to be referred to the therapist on call.
2. If the on-call therapist is not immediately available and the person cannot wait for a return call, the call will be given to the appropriate Clinical Program Coordinator.
3. If the Clinical Program Coordinator is not available, then anyone on the on-call list may be contacted.
4. If the person calling in is not a CCS client, they should be immediately referred to the on-call person and the successive steps outlined should be followed if the on-call person is not available.

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Multi Disciplinary Diagnostic/Evaluation Team

Cayuga Counseling Services Diagnostic team utilizes a mobile multi-disciplinary evaluation team that provides home and school based clinical evaluations/assessments and treatment planning.  The team is able to make community based linkages such as Functional Family Therapy, crisis and planned respite and an intensive community based supervision component.  The team can make recommendations regarding appropriate level of care.

Goals

• Conduct mental health evaluations to youth ages 7—15 from Cayuga County who have juvenile justice involvement or truancy behavior
• Reduce the incidence of detention placement or out of home placements
• Provide multidisciplinary evaluations, appropriate treatment plans and clear, concise intervention recommendations
• Making linkages to the evidence based Functional Family Therapy program, SPOA, Respite, CCSI, Community Mental Health Clinic or other Community Based Programs as appropriate
• Evaluation of youth aged 7—15 re-entering the community through aftercare programming
• Maintaining youth in the community if possible by reducing the reliance on detention or hospitalizations as a means to acquire comprehensive evaluations

Eligibility

Youth ages 7—15 who have penetrated the juvenile justice system and have a history of truancy and/or high rates of suspensions.  The youth cannot be determined to be at risk of harm to self or others at the time of referral.

Time Frame

• The team aims to complete an evaluation in 30 days or less

Referrals

• Probation Department
• County Attorney’s Office
• Family Court
• Local Department of Health and Human Services
• School Districts

 

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Functional Family Therapy

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is an empirically grounded, well-documented and highly successful family intervention for at-risk and juvenile justice involved youth. Those who benefit from FFT are youth ages 11-18, and their families, whose problems range from acting out, to conduct disorder, to truancy and other school related problems. Often these families tend to have limited resources, histories of failure, a range of diagnoses and exposure to multiple systems. FFT can be provided in a variety of contexts, including schools, child welfare, probation, parole/aftercare, mental health and as an alternative to incarceration or out-of-home placement.

What population does FFT serve?

Functional Family Therapy is an effective treatment for a wide range of serious clinical problems falling under the label of Externalizing Adolescent Behavior Disorders including:

• Conduct Disorder
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• At-risk behaviors that are precursors of more serious problems, including: runaway behaviors, drug & alcohol abuse, etc.

Functional Family Therapy is also a systematic treatment for a range of other behavior problems including:

• Violence
• School Problems (academic and/or school behavior problems, truancy)
• Parent-child or family conflict issues

FFT has demonstrated positive program outcomes across a wide range of youth and communities:

• Significant and long-term reductions in youths re-offending and violent behavior.
• Significant effectiveness in reducing sibling entry into high-risk behaviors.
• Very low drop-out and high completion rates.
• Positive impacts of family conflict, family communication, parenting and youth problem behavior.

Treatment Timeline:

After a family has been assigned to a therapist, an intake appointment is scheduled which will include completion of initial programmatic paperwork by the therapist and the family. After the intake appointment, sessions are normally scheduled on a weekly basis, but may be scheduled according to the family's needs.

How do families get enrolled in Functional Family Therapy Services?

Families may be self-referred or referred by other service providers (therapists, school personnel, physicians, caseworkers, the court system, etc.) and will become clients of Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc. out-patient mental health clinic. FFT services are funded through private insurance reimbursement (including Medicaid), as well as self-payment by clients. A sliding fee scale assures that no one will be refused service for financial reasons.

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Child & Family Clinic Plus

In 2003, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health released its report entitled Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. The document calls for better access to the current mental health system and the tools and interventions they need to succeed in life. This call to action involves:

1. Developing a systematic process for the early detection of emotional distress in children.
2. Evidence-based assessments that comprehensively evaluate the needs of the child and family.
3. Evidence-based and traditional individual and family therapy.
4. Supports for the family

As a response to this call for action, Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc., with the help of the New York State Office of Mental Health, has developed a program: Child & Family Clinic Plus.

• Provides community wide educational awareness programs about emotional health
• Provides early screening assessments for children to identify if they are at risk for developing problems
• Provides comprehensive assessments to identify the needs of children and their families
• Provides evidence-based treatment for children and their families who are experiencing emotional health issues

Emotional Health:

• Is how people think, feel, and act as they face life's situations.
• It affects how people handle stress, relate to one another, and make decisions.
• Emotional health influences how individuals look at themselves, their lives, and others in their lives.
• Like physical health, emotional health is extremely important at every stage of life.
• Emotional health can affect how well a child performs in school, family relationships, and the ability to make friends.

Emotional Health in Children is Important

• 1 in 5 children experience the signs and symptoms of an emotional disorder each year.
• 5% of all children experience extreme functional impairment.
• 70% of children and adolescents who are in need of help DO NOT receive it.

The Importance of Early Recognition:

• By screening for and identifying emotional health issues early, this program can help you and your child get the support you need.
• Acting quickly can keep problems from affecting school performance and personal relationships.
• For clients of all ages, early detection, assessment, and linkage with treatment and supports can prevent emotional health problems from becoming serious and poor life outcomes from accumulating.

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Mental Health Consultation

With a wealth of highly trained professionals, Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc. is in the position to offer specialized consultation services based on the needs of various organizations. Examples of these services include:

• Critical Incident De-briefing – generally employed after a traumatic event which may affect the employees.
• Clinical Externship – consultation and education of clinical staff by an experienced practitioner in such disciplines as EMDR, DBT, Couples Therapy, Family Therapy, Imago Couples Therapy, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Functional Family Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.
• Speakers Bureau – educational seminars and trainings on topics of interest in mental health areas such as depression, staff wellness/personal care, psychotropic medication, intellectual disabilities and effective supervision.
• Community mental health screenings including depression in the teen and older adult population.
• Representation at community informational events including Health  Fairs, schools and other community organizations.

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Conflict Resolution

The Conflict Resolution Group is a Counseling\Educational program for individuals who need help managing their anger constructively and handling conflict constructively.

Goals:

• Improve frustration tolerance
• Handle anger constructively
• Improve listening, assertiveness and negotiation skills

Requirements

1. Regular attendance
2. Active participation including completion of homework
3. Commitment to work on group goals

Referrals:

• Voluntary or court-mandated
• Not appropriate for domestic violence offenders

Completion

•  All sessions must be attended and all fees paid.

Format

• 8 weekly sessions
• Psycho-educational co-ed group
• For Adults 18 years and older

Fees

• $60 Screening Fee
• $25 Per group session
• Insurance/Medicaid not accepted as this is an education program

Missed Appointments

•  Missed more than 1 week, must make up sessions to qualify for completion