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If there is a life-threatening safety concern, please call 9-1-1 or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital.
Suicide prevention hotline: 1-800-784-2433
BC Crisis Line: 604-310-6789
Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868
Indigenous Crisis and Support Line - KUU-US Crisis Support Line: 1-800-588-8717
Harm reduction: Toward the Heart
The Youth Day Treatment Program is an outpatient substance use treatment program for youth aged 16 to 24 in the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region looking to change their substance use.
Services offered include
- case management,
- weekly 1-1 sessions with a concurrent clinician,
- access to primary care,
- lunch and snacks,
- cultural and spiritual support,
- outreach in the community,
- help connecting with services, including longer term community supports,
- referrals to community services and inpatient treatment, and
- harm reduction supplies and education.
What to expect
The VCH Youth Day Treatment Program offers group therapy four times a week, and individual therapy as needed by clients. Staff includes an Intake Clinician, Concurrent Disorder Clinician, and Social Worker.
All admissions to the Day Treatment Program are voluntary and we strive to provide low barrier, accessible programing. The program is structured so that youth can continue to attend school, employment or other programing while also working on their substance use goals.
Youth are asked to have some goals around their substance use, which can be flexible. The program works with youth identifying harm reduction goals, abstinence goals, and everything in between. The program works to include multi-barrier youth, including those experiencing homelessness, mental health concerns, and trauma.
Both group work and individual work are offered, with a focus on topics such as healthy relationships, relapse prevention, and building healthy community.
Clinicians in the program are skilled in a variety of treatment modalities, and work from a trauma-informed lens. The Day Treatment Program is committed to providing accessible and relevant programing around substance use, and its impact on participants. Based on a holistic and trauma informed and harm reduction model, youth will engage in a variety of content providing therapeutic connections and support through individualized treatment plans and goal setting.
Program structure
Through psychoeducational groups, one-to-one sessions and community outings, youth are given the opportunity to learn together and work on their own set of structured goals Our programming is run from a trauma-informed lens and includes both therapeutic and skill-building work.
The Day Treatment Program runs from Wednesday to Friday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for 15 weeks. The program is broken up into five modules, each three weeks long. Each group runs for approximately two hours and includes time for breaks, snacks, drinks and smoking.
Group topics include:
- managing guilt and shame
- mindfulness
- relapse prevention
- trauma integration
- healthy relationships
- self-care
- working through triggers
- building coping skills
How to access this service
Referrals are required and are completed by a community counsellor or health-care professional in collaboration with the client. Once a referral is received, it is reviewed by the Central Addiction Intake Team (CAIT) Concurrent Disorder Counselors for completeness and to ensure clients are matched to the facility best suited to their needs.
Access this program through the Central Addiction Intake Team (CAIT).