John Dempsey Hospital – Psychiatry Outpatient Services – Farmington, Connecticut

Family Counseling is a therapeutic approach that seeks to address and improve communication, understanding, and dynamics within a family unit. By addressing conflicts, emotional distress, and behavioral challenges, a trained therapist provides guidance and tools for family members to strengthen bonds, resolve issues, and foster a healthier family environment.

Group Therapy is a therapeutic space where individuals battling addiction come together to share experiences, gain insights, and support one another on their journey to recovery. Facilitated by trained professionals, this setting fosters communal healing and empowers participants to overcome the challenges of addiction through collective strength and understanding.

Whether a marriage or other committed relationship, an intimate partnership is one of the most important aspects of a person’s life. Drug and alcohol addiction affects both members of a couple in deep and meaningful ways, as does rehab and recovery. Couples therapy and other couples-focused treatment programs are significant parts of exploring triggers of addiction, as well as learning how to build healthy patterns to support ongoing sobriety.

Trauma therapy delves into past traumatic events that might be influencing a client’s current life experiences. Often, trauma serves as a significant precipitant or underlying cause of addiction. Such traumas can arise from childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, growing up with a mentally ill parent, early parental loss, and experiences of sexual assault in teen or adult years, among other circumstances. Trauma therapy aims to aid the individual in processing and navigating beyond these traumas, guided by the expertise and empathy of skilled mental health specialists.

In individual therapy, a person engages in a one-on-one session with a qualified therapist or counselor. This therapeutic approach is crucial in successful substance abuse treatment because it delves into the underlying causes of addiction, addressing issues the individual may encounter in their familial, social, and professional or academic environments.

Couples Therapy in rehab helps couples facing addiction recovery by providing specialized counseling to improve their relationship. Expert therapists guide them through communication, conflict resolution, and trust-building, promoting lasting recovery and a stronger partnership.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the critical role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. It aims to identify and challenge distorted or negative thought patterns and behaviors, teaching individuals to replace them with more constructive and rational beliefs. CBT is evidence-based and has been shown to be effective in treating a variety of psychological disorders, including depression, anxiety, and phobias, among others.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evolved version of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that aims to assist individuals in recognizing and influencing the interplay among their thoughts, emotions, and actions. DBT is particularly beneficial for those grappling with self-harming behaviors, including self-inflicted injuries like cutting, as well as suicidal ideations or tendencies. Clinically, it has shown effectiveness in managing intense emotions and conditions such as Borderline Personality Disorder.

Integrated Mental and Substance Use Disorder treatment is a comprehensive approach to treating individuals with both mental health and substance use disorders. It aims to address both conditions simultaneously through a coordinated and integrated approach. The goal is to improve overall well-being and reduce the risk of relapse.

Telehealth Therapy enables individuals to access mental health services remotely through digital technology. Utilizing secure video conferencing, individuals can engage with qualified therapists from the comfort of their home, overcoming geographical barriers and often reducing waiting times. This level of care offers a flexible and accessible approach to mental health support, especially beneficial for those with mobility issues, busy schedules, or residing in rural or underserved areas.

Tobacco cessation counseling is a dialogue with a counselor about your tobacco or vaping habits, examining its place in your daily life to strategize quitting. It offers interventions for individuals keen on quitting, encompassing behavioral guidance and group or one-on-one counseling. These sessions can range from short encounters (under 5 minutes) to in-depth discussions (over 10 minutes) and might require multiple meetings.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach designed primarily to treat trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It involves the patient recalling traumatic events while undergoing bilateral sensory input, typically guided eye movements. EMDR aims to facilitate processing distressing memories, reducing their long-term impact, and helping individuals develop more adaptive coping mechanisms.

The “Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale” (AIMS) is a tool rated by clinicians to gauge the occurrence and intensity of involuntary motions, typically linked to specific medications. It is widely used to assess tardive dyskinesia in patients taking antipsychotic medications.