Mental Health & Wellness Support
Horizons for Youth’s Mental Health & Wellness Program helps the residents of our agency access high-quality mental health support. Many homeless youth have experienced trauma such as physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse and/or neglect by parents or caregivers, loss of a loved one, addictions challenges (their own or their caregiver’s) and household poverty. Additionally, many youth experiencing homelessness have been involved with Child Protective Services and have lived in places they describe as uncaring and exploitative. The trauma many homeless youth face in their young lives can cause mental health challenges. Also, sometimes the daily realities of homelessness, including persistent threats to personal safety, hunger and chronic instability, can trigger or worsen mental illness.
Horizons for Youth’s Mental Health & Wellness Program helps clients achieve wellness in four main ways.
1.Individual Counselling
The Mental Health & Wellness Counsellor builds therapeutic relationships with clients to help them reduce symptoms of mental illness and addictions and develop strategies to cope with their unique challenges. The Mental Health & Wellness Counsellor assists each resident identify personal health goals. With support from the Counsellor, residents can work towards their goals in a safe, supportive and non-judgmental environment. A client's wellness plan could include actions like meeting regularly with the Mental Health & Wellness Counsellor and/or Psychiatrist, taking prescribed medication, practicing meditation or yoga frequently and/or attending supportive services in the community. Our Counsellor uses a strengths-based approach in which they encourage the client to concentrate on their inherent strengths and use their personal strengths to aid recovery and empowerment.
2. Wellness Workshops
The Mental Health & Wellness Counsellor leads a group program every week. Group programming is designed to provide participants with the skills, tools and resources they need to decrease dangerous behaviours, improve emotional regulation, develop coping strategies and decrease symptoms of mental illness and addictions. Residents have expressed that the workshops also help destigmatize mental illness because after participation, they realize that everyone in the room is struggling with something.
3. Psychiatric Services
Our clients have the opportunity to access in-house psychiatric services every other week. Our agency’s Psychiatrist, Dr. Nicole Kozloff, specializes in providing mental health services for transition-age youth with serious mental illness. She is able to diagnose basic medical and complex psychiatric conditions, to prescribe medications and to lead talk therapy, among other things.
4. Community ReferRals
The Mental Health & Wellness Counsellor and Psychiatrist also provide referrals to supportive programs and services in the community. Clients have been referred to out-patient programs at hospitals, support groups and community health centres.