Treatments We Use

Therapies and medication

Our experienced team members choose treatments that are proven effective for the concerns of patients, and we use a combination of treatments when appropriate. Among the therapies we use:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

This therapy focuses on changing thoughts and emotions that can negatively affect a child’s behavior. The therapist helps the child become aware of their thoughts and feelings, and to understand the difference between a feeling and a fact. Changing unhelpful or negative thoughts can change the emotional reactions and behaviors that come with them. CBT can be effective in treating a variety of conditions, including depression and anxiety. Specialized forms of CBT can help children cope with traumatic experiences.
Therapists using CBT often work directly with the child but can also include the parents.

Interpersonal therapy

This treatment focuses on helping the child understand how their relationships with family, friends, and others positively and negatively affect mood and behavior. It can help them learn healthy ways to express emotions, improve communication, resolve conflicts, and connect and cooperate with others. It is often used to treat depression but can be helpful with a wide-range of issues. Interpersonal therapy is usually short-term.

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)

This is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that can help a child learn to regulate emotions more effectively. It teaches skills to learn to take personal responsibility, to change unhealthy behavior, and deal with conflicts and negative emotions. It is often used for people with chronic suicidal feelings or thoughts or for those who engage in self-harm. Therapy may be provided individually and in a group.

Group psychotherapy

In group therapy multiple patients take part in sessions led by one or more therapists. Group dynamics and peer interactions can increase understanding of mental illness and improve social skills. It can also be a safe space for young people to interact and engage with others facing similar issues. Groups usually focus on specific issues, such as anxiety, depression, trauma, or substance abuse.

Family therapy

This therapy focuses on helping a family function in more positive, effective, and constructive ways. It can help family members learn to communicate better and work through conflicts. It can include the child, parents, siblings, grandparents, or other significant family members in the child’s life.

Treatments supporting parenting

Working with and supporting parents is an important part of our approach at Ohana. As a parent, you play a key role in helping your child develop the skills and abilities they’ll need to thrive. At the same time, you need support for the issues you, your child, and your family are facing. We have a range of treatments supporting parenting, including:

• SPACE — Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) is a parent-based treatment program for children and adolescents with general and social anxiety, phobias, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and related problems. Parents learn to respond more supportively to their child while reducing the changes they have been making to accommodate their child’s symptoms.
• Incredible Years — This parent education series is a comprehensive program to strengthen parent-child interactions, reduce harsh discipline, and promote children’s social, emotional, and language development.
• Parent management training (PMT) — PMT involves changing parents’ behavior to change children’s behavior. Parents learn to use positive reinforcement, such as praise and rewards, for appropriate behavior, and to set limits, such as removing privileges, for inappropriate behaviors, applied calmly, consistently, and immediately.
• Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems (MATCH-ADTC) — Unlike most treatment approaches that focus on single disorders, MATCH treats four common behavioral health concerns among children: anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and behavior problems. MATCH has 33 modules that can be organized and tailored to each child’s needs.
• Collaborative Problem Solving — Through Collaborative Problem Solving, parents learn to help children build skills like flexibility, problem solving, and managing frustration. The focus is on working together to help a child learn to solve problems, rather than imposing solutions on them. The approach is centered on the belief that children do well if they can.

Occupational therapy

This therapy is used to help children, teens, and young adults with daily living skills. It can be used with children who have sensory processing disorders — trouble processing information they get through their senses — like extreme sensitivity to sounds, lights, or the way things feel to the touch. For teens and young adults, occupational therapy usually focuses on skills to manage everyday tasks, such as organization and self-care routines.

Applied therapies

Music, art, dance, and other creative outlets can be effective ways for children and young people to express themselves and their feelings. Ohana uses these therapies in addition to more traditional therapies, especially in our partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs, and, when it opens, our residential program. These therapies can help reduce stress and anxiety, improve self-esteem, control negative behaviors, and increase social skills.

Medication

Some mental health issues respond well to medication, combined with other therapy, to achieve the most progress. After careful evaluation, a doctor or nurse practitioner prescribes medication that will help reduce the child’s symptoms. Parents, the child, therapist, and doctor or nurse practitioner will monitor how the medication works and adjust the type and/or dose as needed. Finding the right medication and dose is critical, can take time, and often changes over time. There are different types of medication for mental health issues, including to treat anxiety, depression, or other disorders. If a child has more than one issue, more than one medication might be recommended.