The Care Journey - KIDTHINK

There is Hope

The initial steps in getting help for your child's mental health can be overwhelming and confusing. We understand the struggle that families often face when it comes to seeking professional help. Below are some answers to common questions we receive from families regarding the care journey here at KIDTHINK.

How do I know if my kid needs help?

Every child is different. The spectrum of what is healthy is vast. However, when your child's actions and/or thoughts are negatively impacting their functioning and this is persisting or getting worse, they may need our help.

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Request an Appointment

You can contact us by email or by phone. A referral is not needed.

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Intake Process

What to expect from your first phone call.

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Preparing for Your First Appointment

Meet your clinician and discuss needs and goals.

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Program Delivery

A customized, evidence-based clinical pathway.

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The Role of the Child's Community

We ensure that those surrounding the child are best equipped to support them.

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There is Hope

How do I know if my kid needs help?

Every child is different. The spectrum of what is healthy is vast. However, when your child's actions and/or thoughts are negativity impacting their functioning and this is persisting or getting worse, they may need our help.

Request An Appointment

If you are interested in receiving services by a clinician at KIDTHINK, your first step is to contact info@kidthink.ca or call KIDTHINK’s main line at 431.388.5373 and request an appointment.

Intake Process

An intake coordinator will review a referral form with you. The intake coordinator will then complete, or schedule a second call to complete, a screening interview. This should take about 15-20 minutes to finish. After your information has been reviewed, you will be assigned a clinician who will contact you to schedule your initial appointment.

Preparing for your first Appointment

Following the screening interview, our intake coordinator will send you documents to complete via our patient portal. To ensure that you are fully prepared for your first appointment, we ask that you review and return the following documents three days prior to your visit:

The History and Information Questionnaire
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Day of Appointment
We want your appointment day to be as stress-free and convenient as possible. The following information will assist you in finding our building and checking with our staff.

Arrival
Please plan to arrive 5 minutes prior to your first appointment.
We are located on the 2nd Floor- 407 Graham Ave. Winnipeg, MB
If you cannot use the stairs, please let us know before you arrive so we can meet you at another entrance.
Our facility is peanut and nut-free, therefore we ask that families not bring snacks that contain these ingredients.
Scents can be perceived as pleasant, mildly irritating, or debilitating to children and adults and can trigger reactions such as respiratory distress and headaches. To contribute to a respectful environment of scent sensitivities we ask that visitors not use perfumes.
Children should always be accompanied. If your session includes time set aside for parents only, please plan to bring someone to supervise your child or an activity to keep them occupied during the session.

For tips on taking your child to therapy, consider checking out this blog post.

Program Delivery

KIDTHINK’s multidisciplinary team of mental health clinicians offers evidence-based therapeutic and counseling services to children, caregivers, and their families who are struggling with a wide variety of mild-to-moderate developmental, emotional, academic, and mental health challenges. Throughout treatment, clinicians work to create a safe and caring atmosphere. We aim to be transparent, providing information at each step along the way that supports families in making informed decisions about their care. Clinicians aim to empower children, equip parents and strengthen families by providing services that recognize unique strengths and diverse needs.

Treatment may include psychoeducation, consultation, and brief, group, and/or long-term intensive therapy with the individual child, caregivers, or family. Collaboration with other service providers, such as the school team, to ensure coordination of treatment interventions across the home and school environment may be recommended. Treatment is offered in-office, virtually, or in the community to support our mission to increase the accessibility of mental health care to children and families across the province.

Psychoeducation
What does psychoeducation mean? Simply put, it refers to the manner in which mental health professionals teach others about mental health conditions and disorders. Anyone who receives a diagnosis of any kind wishes to learn more about it; mental disorders are no exception.

Having a child diagnosed with a mental health illness can be difficult due to the strong emotions that can arise. Most parents want to understand what their child's diagnosis means and how it will affect them. Psychoeducation can provide answers to these as well as numerous other questions.

If you engage in psychoeducation as a learner, you can expect KIDTHINK to provide you information about mental health conditions, symptoms, treatments, and strategies to support your and your child’s overall mental well-being.

Consultative Service

Consultation refers to our clinicians and child psychologists using their specialized knowledge and experience to provide an expert opinion, advice, and/or assist parents in problem-solving or setting up services.

Group Therapy
Group therapy is an affordable and effective form of treatment in which a small group of participants and one or more facilitators meet to interact and discuss a variety of different topics. Groups generally consist of 5 to 10 participants and meet on a consistent schedule.

The purpose of group therapy is to:

Alleviate distress through discussion and expression of feelings
Assist in changing unhelpful attitudes, behaviors, and habits
Promote more constructive and adaptive coping mechanisms

Brief Intervention
Brief therapy is a solution-focused and future-oriented approach to therapy that is brief and effective. Some families find that they need short-term support or are not able to make the financial commitment to long-term psychotherapy. Brief therapy typically lasts up to 10 sessions.

With brief therapy, clients can expect their therapist to help them:

Develop skills to change unhelpful ways of thinking
Recognize unhelpful coping strategies and develop skills to adapt unhealthy behaviour to healthy behaviour
Identify ways to work toward goals
Regularly review progress through discussion and the use of questionnaires

Psychological Assessments
KIDTHINK offers psychological and learning assessments that are tailored to each child and provide insight into unique strengths and vulnerabilities. The team works closely with the child and family as well as anyone else invested in the child’s success (e.g., teacher) to conduct a thorough examination of a child’s developmental, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social, and academic functioning through interviews, questionnaires, and standardized tests. Once extensive testing is complete and all information is interpreted, we meet with caregivers to review a detailed report that includes findings, diagnoses (if any), and meaningful recommendations for school and home.

The Role of the Child’s Community

KIDTHINK provides mental health outreach services for children ages 12 and under and their families with a primary focus on working with parents, educators, pediatricians, coaches, and the community surrounding the child. This approached ensures that the child’s support structures are best equipped to identify and support children going through mental health challenges or with mental illnesses.

Hope restored