Clinical psychology
1. General remarks
We treat pre-school children accompanied by one parent as well as school children and adolescents. The clinic considers itself as a rebilitation clinic qualified in the fields of psychotherapy and behavioral health, It offers behavioral therapy in the form of individual counseling or group sessions. Besides this it also offers art therapy, therapeutic pedagogy and early advancement programs. Due to the large number of applications, and since planning is needed to meet the requirements of each in dividual patient, a preliminary enquiry should be made by telephone. At this time the next steps for registration will be clarified.
2. Grounds for an in-patient psychotherapy
The following indications may help you to decide whether an in-patient psychotherapy for you and/or your child would be advisable:
- when lengthy out-patient sessions of treatment do not suffice or do not work, although there are no recognizable deficits in the procedure
- when a child is enmeshed in a set of problems (for instance bullying at school) to such a degree that the social environment has to be changed in order to achieve at least some reduction of stress
- when parents have the feeling that in spite of their efforts they can no longer influence or direct their child
- when patients suffer from a psychological strain, caused, for instance, by the fact that they are no longer able to find friends and, therefore, withdraw more and more into themselves
- when patients can no longer cope with everyday life (for instance repeated absences from school because of stomach aches)
- when children do not manage to perform everyday tasks (like sleeping alone at the age of 12), which others in their age group have long been capable of
- when emergency-like psychological measures become necessary in an acute crisis situation (for instance after losing a person one was closely attached to)
- when parents have the feeling that their child, in comparison with other children, exhibits a normal reaction - for instance anxiety - too often and too intensively
- when no out-patient psychotherapy treatment is available in the social environment of the child or adolescent within a reasonable distance.
Disease patterns:
we specialize in the treatment of the following disease patterns: anxiety disorders typical for children, such as disorder with separation anxiety, disorder with avoidance of contacts, disorder with over-anxiety.
anxiety disorders which apply to children and adolescents, for instance panic disorders, phobic disorders and generalized anxiety disorders
depressive diseases, but not in cases where the criteria of major depression or cyclothymic disorder are present. In the case of an acute suicidal crisis the patient should be referred to a psychiatric clinic.
chronic diseases: asthma and neurodermititis, especially in cases where the patient (for instance during the phase of rebellious adolescence) does not adhere to the treatment regime prescribed by the doctor, which could lead to long-lasting serious physical damage.
mental disorders with physical pathology / diseases affecting bodily organs: bronchial asthma, colitis ulcerosa, neurodermititis, ulcer, somatoform disorders, stomach ache, eating disorders, bulimia nervosa, adiposity, anorexia nervosa, infantile eating disorders, enuresis, encopresis.
3. Concept of treatment
The concept of treatment is based on cognitive behavioral therapy. Behavior therapy is well proven and disposes of a far-reaching spectrum of effective treatment options. It tries to influence not only the observable behavior of the patient but also the act of internalized speaking,to enable the patient to control himself better in everyday life by appropriate self-instruction.
The treatment focusses on helping the patient to cope with a current problem directly. In order to achieve a stabilization of the patient, we take care that the predetermined goals of the treatment are supported by the entire team (psychologists, pedagogical therapists, teaching staff, sport therapists physicians). With the help of the teachers working in the group, we attach great importance to giving the patient additional support, so that he may be better prepared for the time after the treatment to carry over the behavior learned during the treatment into real-life situations. We also include in vivo therapy. This means that we take the patient to the location where the real-life problem occurs, for instance in the case of social phobia a visit to the children’s disco or in the case of agoraphobia a visit to a department store.
4. Successful treatment and aftercare
The concept of the treatment is to build up protective factors and minimize risk factors for the patient, taking into consideration the social system he lives in. At the same time we organize support facilities for the patient, and also for his parents directly within their local community.
5. Length of in-patient treatment
The estimated length of stay at the clinic should be not less than 6 weeks. In each individual case a decision is reached only after deliberations among the parents, the medical dierector and the psychological department.
