Counselling program gets funding
HALIFAX — A program designed to prevent childhood behavioural issues from becoming adult mental health problems is expanding in Nova Scotia.
The province will spend $350,000 to make Strongest Families available across the province. The program is currently offered only through the IWK Health Centre and the Cape Breton and Cumberland health authorities.
Health and Wellness Minister Dave Wilson made the announcement Monday.
“No question, early detection, early treatment, especially in mental health is key, and by this program, we’re seeing success,” he said.
The announcement took place at the Dartmouth home of Krista Taylor, who said the 12-week program worked wonders after she and her partner broke up in 2011.
“(My son) started acting out, hitting me, yelling at me, and I didn’t know what to do.” she said. “The program really helped me learn to look through his eyes and the pain he was going through.”
Strongest Families provides telephone sessions with specially trained “coaches,” who work through a program designed to address behavioural or anxiety issues.
Strongest Families president Dr. Patricia Pottie said the phone-based counselling is cost-effective and successful.
“Our research has shown that we were effective in overcoming diagnosable behaviour disorders post-intervention with lasting effects up to a year,” she said.
Each coach can treat up to 100 clients successfully annually, and Pottie said the dropout rate is low at 10 per cent - likely because clients get help in the privacy of their own home, at times that fit their schedule.
Taylor said she’s pleased to hear that Strongest Families is expanding.
“Because of the program, I can be the best parent I can be, and (my son) knows that I’m there to help him,” she said. “He’s a happy little boy.”