The Change Clinic Counselling Service: Blending Client-Centred and Strength-Based Practices to Improve Mental Health Services to Families
Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
25 July 2019
Abstract
Operating in a small urban Canadian location, Change Clinic is a brief counselling service intended for child and adolescent mental health issues. It blends principles from different strength-based and client-centred approaches to counselling (e.g., solution-focused, narrative, and single session therapies). Using the parent-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, changes in child and adolescent mental health difficulties were assessed. Compared to pre-test scores, significant improvements in behavioural, emotional, and hyperactivity problems were observed six months after delivery of the service. Effect size was estimated to be moderate (.62) based on the Added Value Score calculation. Almost three quarters of clients were served in one to two sessions.
Résumé
Situé dans une petite ville canadienne, Change Clinic est un service de consultation de courte durée destinée aux enfants et aux adolescents aux prises avec des problèmes de santé mentale. Le traitement s’inspire des principes constitutifs de différentes approches d’aide et de soutien fondées sur les forces et le client (ex., les thérapies axées sur la recherche de solutions, les thérapies narratives et les thérapies à séance unique). À l’aide de la version à l’usage des parents du questionnaire portant sur les points forts et les difficultés (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), une évaluation a été faite des changements relatifs aux problèmes de santé mentale des enfants et des adolescents. Six mois après la prestation des services, des améliorations importantes ont été observées en ce qui concerne les problèmes comportementaux, émotionnels et d’hyperactivité, et ce, en comparaison des résultats obtenus lors des tests préliminaires. Sur la base du calcul de la valeur ajoutée (Added Value Score), il a été déterminé que l’ampleur des changements était modérée (0,62). Près des trois quarts des clients ont pu recevoir leur traitement en une ou deux séances.
Formats available
You can view the full content in the following formats:
References
Allison S., Roeger L., Dadds V., and Martin G. 2000 Brief therapy for children’s mental health problems: Outcomes in a rural setting Australian Journal of Rural Health 8 161 -166
Barwick M., Urajnik D., Sumner L., Cohen S., Reid G., Engel K., and Moore J. E. 2013 Profiles and service utilization for children accessing a mental health walk-in clinic versus usual care Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work 10 338 -352
Cepukiene V. and Pakrosnis R. 2011 The outcome of solution-focused brief therapy among foster care adolescents: The changes of behavior and perceived somatic and cognitive difficulties Children and Youth Services Review 33 791 -797
Church, M. J., Ellenbogen, S., & Hudson, A. (2016). Falling through the cracks: An exploratory study of the perceived barriers to mental health services for rural and urban Cape Breton youth. Unpublished manuscript.
Daki J. and Savage R. 2010 Solution-focused brief therapy: Impacts on academic and emotional difficulties The Journal of Educational Research 103 309 -326
Ford T., Hutchings J., Bywater T., Goodman A., and Goodman R. 2009 Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire AVSs: Evaluating effectiveness in child mental health interventions The British Journal of Psychiatry 194 552 -558
Franklin C., Moore K., and Hopson L. 2008 Effectiveness of solution focused brief therapy in a school setting Children and Schools 30 15 -26
Georgiades S. D. 2008 A solution-focused intervention with a youth in a domestic violence situation: Longitudinal evidence Contemporary Family Therapy 30 141 -151
Goldberg D. and Campbell F. 1997 Empowerment: A three-session intervention Child Psychology & Psychiatry Review 2 34 -37
Goodman R. 2001 Psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 40 1337 -1345
Hair H. J., Shortall R., and Oldford J. 2013 Where’s help when we need it? Developing responsive and effective brief counseling services for children, adolescents, and their families Social Work in Mental Health 11 16 -33
Heywood S., Stancombe J., Street E., Mittler H., Dunn C., and Kroll L. 2003 A brief consultation and advisory approach for use in child and adolescent mental health services: A pilot study Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 8 503 -512
Kim J. S. 2008 Examining the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy: A meta-analysis Research on Social Work Practice 18 107 -116
Lethem J. 2002 Brief solution focused therapy Child and Adolescent Mental Health 7 189 -192
Miller J. K. and Slive A. 2004 Breaking down the barriers to clinical service delivery: Walk-in family therapy Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 30 95 -103
Moore, K. (2002). The effectiveness of solution-focused therapy on students with school-related behavioural problems. AustIn: The University of Texas.
O’neill I. and Rottem N. 2012 Reflections and leaming from an agency-wide implementation of single session work in family therapy The Ausrtralian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy 33 70 -83
Partridge I., Redmond C., Williams C., Black J., and Richardson G. 1999 Evaluating family therapy in a child and adolescent mental health service Psychiatric Bulletin 23 531 -533
Perkins R. 2006 The effectiveness of one session of therapy using a single-session therapy approach for children and adolescents with mental health problems Psychology & Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice 79 215 -227
Seagram, B. C. (1997). The efficacy of solution-focused therapy with young offenders. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, York University, North York, Ontario.
Stallard P. and Sayers J. 1998 An opt-in appointment system and brief therapy: Perspectives on a waiting list initiative Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 3 199 -212
Vostanis P., Anderson L., and Window S. 2006 Evaluation of a family support service: Short-term outcome Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 11 513 -528
Wheeler J. 2001 A helping hand: Solution-focused brief therapy and child and adolescent mental health Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 6 293 -306
Wilmshurst L. A. 2002 Treatment programs for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders: An outcome study of two alternate approaches Mental Health Services Research 4 85 -96
Worrall-Davies A., Cottrell D., and Benson E. 2004 Evaluation of an early intervention Tier 2 child and adolescent mental health service Health & Social Care in the Community 12 119 -125
Yarbrough J. L. and Thompson C. L. 2002 Using single-participant research to assess counseling approaches on children’s off-task behavior Professional School Counseling 5 308 -314
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 38 • Number 1 • January 2019
Pages: 1 - 8
History
Version of record online: 25 July 2019
Key Words
Mots-clés
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Other Metrics
Citations
Cite As
Stephen Ellenbogen, Heather J. Hair, June Kirkland Smith, and Peter Wilton. 2019. The Change Clinic Counselling Service: Blending Client-Centred and Strength-Based Practices to Improve Mental Health Services to Families. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.
38(1): 1-8. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2018-021
Export Citations
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
There are no citations for this item
View Options
View options
Get Access
Login options
Check if you access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Subscribe
Click on the button below to subscribe to Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
