We explore some aspects together
Read all the testimonials from people who have trained with us in the SST Workshop section.
With today’s article we focus on how to get the most out of Single Session Therapy . As we know, the client has the possibility of obtaining many benefits from the first (and sometimes only) therapy session, however to obtain this result, the therapist and client will have to prepare as best they can to get the most out of their meeting.
With today’s article we once again open our gaze to the world to learn about the different systems for providing mental health services .
The global crisis due to the health emergency we are experiencing has highlighted important gaps compared to the health service delivery models implemented so far. This situation has put us in a position to begin to reflect and imagine effective solutions for the future capable of healing or strengthening some health sectors, in particular that of mental health which today appears to be particularly difficult.
So what is the objective we aim to achieve with today’s article?
Starting from this premise and from sharing what recently happened in the New Brunswick region in Canada, where a young girl committed suicide due to a failure to respond to her request for help in an emergency room at Fredericton’s Chalmers Hospital, Let’s look at the plan to strengthen mental health services proposed by the New Brunswick Ministry of Health led by Dorothy Shephard.
What were the proposals?
In March 2021 Dorothy Shephard ordered a review of the mental health system, announcing 21 recommendations from the Department of Health and regional health authorities. For 2021-2025 the recommendations have been grouped into four main areas: education , emergency departments , community addiction and mental health services.
Let’s see them in detail!
Clinical Case Study: Single Session Therapy for the treatment of anxiety related to Covid-19 in a pediatric emergency department
The spread of Single Session Therapy throughout the world is now a certain fact, as evidence of this phenomenon are the multiple applications of the method in the various areas of mental health .
Through the exposition of a clinical case in which the three phases of a Single Session Cognitive Behavioral Therapy intervention in a pediatric setting are described for the treatment of anxiety related to the spread of Covid-19 (P Lee & Simpson, 2020), we really want to highlight the different ways in which the single session mindset is expressed, proving to be a fundamental resource for improving the quality of services and making them accessible to a larger population.
How can the Single Session mindset represent a resource in pediatric mental health?
Even before the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic , visits to pediatric emergency departments had increased (Sheridan et al. 2015). Over half a million children (a significant portion of whom come from families in conditions of socio-economic disadvantage) were taken to psychiatric emergency rooms every year for mental health problems, of which almost half with symptoms attributable to an anxiety disorder . With the pandemic, this phenomenon has increased (Jiao et al . 2020) (e.g., children experience anxiety connected to the epidemic and the health of relatives, poor sleep, physical discomfort, agitation and separation anxiety) and with it the need to provide a more effective response in order to reduce further psychiatric emergency admissions in general (P Lee & Simpson, 2020).
Clinical case.
A 10-year-old American Indian girl arrives at the pediatric emergency room accompanied by her mother, presenting with chest pain, abdominal pain, nausea and decreased appetite for a few weeks. She had no significant medical or psychiatric history. Her vital signs and laboratory tests were reassuring. At the time of the initial evaluation, the child’s mother expressed concern about her daughter’s anxiety and discomfort related to the Covid-19 epidemic.
The team offers the family a visit with the service’s specialized behavioral health counselor. The mother reports to the counselor that the Covid-19 pandemic had been difficult. The child felt “down” and she experienced increased irritability, loss of pleasure (anhedonia), tearfulness, racing thoughts, and worry. The child reported struggling with social isolation and not being able to see her friends, who she previously saw at school. Additionally, the little girl was worried that her family members might contract the coronavirus; two of her brothers had poor health. She also feared that her abdominal pain was an indication of a serious health problem. The little patient had not reported suicidal thoughts or substance use.
The behavioral health counselor began a brief three-phase cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
