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South
Shore Child Guidance Center Provides Outpatient Mental
Health |
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Long Island
Business News, October 14, 2005 by Ken Cerini |
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| South Shore Child Guidance
Center's sign reads: It's easier to build a child than it is
to repair an adult. |
| Upon talking to Mary Lou
Jones, executive director, you find that this sentiment is
built into every one of South Shore Centers' programs and
staff. |
| The South Shore Center
provides outpatient mental health services to children from
preschool to 18 years of age, as well as support services
for siblings and parents. We have a really strong emphasis
on family involvement. While it is a child that comes in
with a problem, it is usually the family situation which is
contributing to the child's issues, Jones said. We try to
provide a preventative program for children. Many children
come from families with alcoholics and addicts. Our goal is
to prevent the child from following down that same
destructive path. |
| What are the main issues
and services that you focus on? |
| The main issues primarily
range from children with ADHD to depression. Some children
suffer mild depression, but some are dealing with severe
cases. We see a lot of oppositional behavior in the children
we serve. Most of those cases are seen in children in their
teens. Anxiety and adjustment disorders cause this behavior,
usually stemming from a divorce or death in the family.
Approximately 60 percent of the children we deal with are
SED, which means seriously emotionally disturbed. Those
children are seen on a more consistent basis, receiving
psychological treatment. Most children receive a
psychological evaluation when they come to us and many
receive some kind of medication. We put a large emphasis on
group programs so the children can help to support each
other and see that they are not alone. We provide various
therapy sessions; individual therapy, group therapy and
family therapy, and have designed the therapy to be
increasingly educational in order to help set a positive
influence for the children and increase their self esteem,
while also improving their ability to resolve conflicts. We
also provide various emergency services, including a mobile
crisis unit that responds to children in their homes. |
| How do you teach
children to deal with their issues? |
| We help them learn that
they can overcome these issues and get back into the
mainstream. We enhance their personal strengths and help
them prepare mentally for any obstacles that may come their
way. In order for a child to understand they are not to
blame, we teach them about the 3 C's. The child didn't cause
the alcoholic or addicted family member to become that way,
they can't cure it, and they can't control it. Socialization
helps to provide support for the child so we foster that
behavior in our facility and in our programming. |
| What kinds of community
based programs do you provide? |
| Currently, we have a school
support program at Dodd Middle School which is very unique.
For the past four years, we have had a satellite at Dodd and
it helps to make a positive impact on these children.
Prevention is vital in the early years, and the intervention
with those children is incredible. It is an efficient way of
reaching the children because we can go into their
classrooms and remind them of their appointments. The
connection with the school also allows us to give
presentations on various subjects and lets us take a more
targeted approach. The school is a neutral place, so
providing counseling and programs in the school is extremely
beneficial. |
| Four years is a very
small window of time. Have you been able to observe changes
in behaviors or patterns, and how are you able to measure
that? |
| As a social worker, you
need to view the results of what you are doing. We use
certain indicators to show us the progress of the children
we work with. If a child has joined a club or group, or has
more friends, that is an indicator that one's self esteem
has improved. Every area we tested showed a level of
improvement. The number of days out of class was reduced,
better grades were earned and the amount of disciplinary
actions was also reduced. These might have only been slight
changes, but a higher grade shows improvement and promise.
These children have more potential than they think and we
try to make them believe in themselves. |
| How are you able to
interact with the parents and show them the positive effects
on their children? |
| Many parents cannot come
and meet with us, since they work two jobs, etc., so we hold
celebrations to bring the parents and children to our
programs. We have had Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas
celebrations to involve and support the families and attempt
to effectuate change. We want the families to become
involved in our programs in order to support their children
and help advance the progress of their efforts. |
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South Shore Child
Guidance Center
Address: 17 West Merrick Road, Freeport, NY, 11520
Executive Director: Dr. Mary Lou Jones
Phone: 516-868-3030
Web site:
www.southshorechildguidance.org
Founded: 1959 |
