Brief Therapy

Program Description

Brief Therapy offers timely, short-term support for children, youth, and families facing a specific, mild to moderate mental health concern that can be addressed in a limited number of sessions.

It is goal-focused, strengths-based, and evidence-informed, typically delivered over one to three sessions. The approach emphasizes rapid engagement, focused assessment, and collaborative goal setting, using models such as solution-focused and brief interventions to address concerns while building on existing strengths and resources.

The service helps clients identify a preferred future and develop practical, achievable strategies to address their concerns.

Program Goals

• To provide rapid, timely access to mental health support at the point of identified need;
• To deliver focused, evidence-informed interventions that match the nature and level of identified concerns;
• To quickly identify strengths, resources, and priorities through collaborative engagement with children, youth, and families;
• To co-develop practical strategies and next steps that support immediate progress toward identified goals; and
• To support effective service matching, including transitions to other services or community-based supports when appropriate.

Eligibility Criteria

Brief Therapy is available to infants, children and youth up to 17 years of age, who:

• Are experiencing specific emotional, social, and/or behavioural concern that is of mild to moderate intensity and limited in scope;
• Experience concerns that can be effectively addressed within a short-term, goal-focused intervention;
• Demonstrate functioning that is generally stable, with impairment that is situational or circumscribed rather than pervasive across multiple domains; and
• May benefit from targeted therapeutic support, psychoeducation, or service navigation without requiring longer-term or more intensive intervention at the time of access.

Referral and Intake Process

• Accessing our services begins at Central Intake. To facilitate the intake process, we recommend that you complete the online self-referral form, available here.
• If you prefer to complete the self-referral over the telephone, please call us at 1-877-539-0463, and our team will support you.
• Once a referral is received, our team will contact you to schedule an intake appointment, where we will get to know your strengths, needs, and concerns, and complete a standardized screening tool to better understand the level of support required; this process helps determine whether this service is the best fit or if an alternate service may better meet your or your child’s unique needs.