Mental Health Services
At Village Family Health Team we have staff social workers, who work in consultation with your family physician and our team psychiatrists to provide a range of mental health services. In addition to time-limited individual psychotherapy, our social workers offer group programming designed to help you develop skills to manage mental health concerns, as well as brief case management services and access to community resources.
See below for a description of programs and services currently available. If interested, please speak with your primary care provider.
All services are covered by OHIP and you must meet the eligibility criteria.
Facing Your Feelings: a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills group
Facing Your Feelings is a psycho-educational group therapy program based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training. The group is designed for individuals who want to learn to identify and cope better with difficult emotions, reduce unwanted emotions, manage stressful situations, and improve relationships. This group runs continuously and is divided into three, four-week modules. Patients can join a group at the start of each new module. Mindfulness is a core skill that is taught through-out. An intake with a social worker is required before joining.
Groups run virtually through ZOOM, Tuesdays 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Schedule:
Distress Tolerance
September 5th , 2023
Emotion Regulation
October 3rd , 2023
Interpersonal Effectiveness
October 31st , 2023
*Please note this group is not a comprehensive DBT-program. Participants will not have the opportunity to meet with the VFHT Social Worker while concurrently attending the group. Therefore, this group would not be suitable for patients in active, life-threatening crisis.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD
Cognitive Processing Therapy is for individuals who are struggling with intrusive and distressing memories or flashbacks of a specific traumatic event, emotional arousal such as overwhelming panic, anger, sadness, guilt, and shame and who meet criteria for PTSD. CPT consists of 12 therapy sessions that will focus on thoughts and feelings to relieve symptoms. Patients are required to complete practice exercises between sessions.
You can visit the following website to learn more about CPT and talk to your care provider if you would like a referral.
https://cptforptsd.com/about-cpt/
CBTi for the Treatment of Insomnia
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for chronic Insomnia is a short-term treatment consisting of 4-5 one-hour sessions with a social worker over two months. Patients will learn about the causes of chronic insomnia and will engage in behavioral changes during treatment to allow the body’s sleep regulatory system to reset. The role of medication(s) and insomnia-reinforcing beliefs on your sleep may also be addressed.
Short-Term Psychotherapy
Patients may be eligible to receive up to 10-sessions of individual therapy with the social worker. Sessions are goal-oriented. Some reasons for referrals to individual support include: depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, grief and loss, harsh inner critics, excessive guilt and shame, overwhelming emotions, interpersonal stressors and life transitions that are causing significant distress.
Short-term Case Management
A social worker can help you with navigating government assistance programs (EI, ODSP), and with advocacy and referrals related to medical care and assistance, housing, financial security, and employment.
Additional Resources
For a free, guided self-help program for those with mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety: https://bouncebackontario.ca/
For free, confidential help navigating mental health and addiction resources and support in Ontario: https://www.connexontario.ca/