Information needed to submit a request
- Medical referral
- Professional assessments
- Summary of prior interventions
- Most recent report card
- Consent to share information with the school system and partner clinics
Parents/guardians should discuss their interest in the Lyall Day Hospital with their school service centre, as their collaboration will be needed if the child is admitted.
Which children is the program intended for?
The program is intended for children who are:
- In elementary school and aged 6 to 12 years old;
- Presenting with severe externalized behavioural issues (such as aggressive behaviour, opposition, emotional outbursts);
- Experiencing mental health challenges and other issues.
The most commonly admitted diagnoses to the Lyall Day Hospital are:
- ADD/ADHD
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
- Unspecified Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorder
- Intermittent Explosive Disorder
- Anxiety disorders;
- Specific Learning Disorder;
- Reactive Attachment Disorder.
What aspects does the program focus on?
| Life project | Developing emotional regulation skills, problem resolution, and a positive identity, so that the child can maintain or re-establish their successful integration in a regular or adapted school setting within the community. |
| Priorities | |
| Safety | A protective environment: Stable, clear, and consistent |
| Stability | Predictable, consistent, and containing intervention |
| Relationship | Empathetic therapeutic alliance |
| Identity | Understanding of their individual and family identity (making sense of their life experiences and background) and integrating life experiences |
| Hope | Maintaining hope |
| Self-Development |
|
Reference Motive
- Severe behavioural disorders with comorbidities (mental health)
AND - No longer responding to first-line mental health services
AND - Failing to function at school
- Must be able to interact and work in a small group program
- Voluntary context
What are the preferred clinical approaches?
Psychoeducational model: The goal is to put in place a specialized intervention plan to meet the child’s specific adjustment difficulties by using the characteristics of the environment.
Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Framework: The goal is to support resilience by developing attachment, self-regulation and competencies. This trauma-informed approach is based on a developmental and system understanding of the child and their family.
OMEGA Method (pacification): The goal is to develop intervention skills and methods to ensure one’s safety and the safety of others in aggressive situations.
Other therapeutic approaches such as Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports (PBIS), group intervention techniques, and cognitive-behavioural approach.