Many parents wish children came with instructions. You’re not alone. We have a program for you!
The Circle of Security Program can help you strengthen your parent-child relationship and gain confidence to better understand and support your child, especially during times of upset or distress.
This FREE 8-week virtual group will enhance your ability to support your child to achieve increased calmness, cooperation, and effective communication. You will gain knowledge and a deeper understanding of how behaviour and connection can impact your relationship with your child. As a caregiver, you will understand the importance of building a secure relationship with your child and help them to know that they can turn to you for support when confronted with difficulties or challenges.
The Circle of Security Parenting program is intended to support parents:
- To better understand their child especially during times of upset and distress
- To enhance parent’s ability to support their child to achieve increased calmness, cooperation, and effective communication
- To enjoy increased confidence, happiness, and delight in interactions with your child
- To gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the interaction between behavior, connection, and relationships with their child
If you think that this group is what you have been looking for, CALL us at 416-438-3697 x19055 for more information, and to be placed on the waitlist.
Attendance for every session is imperative to gain the full benefits from the program as each week builds on the topics presented from the previous week. If a group member misses 2 or more sessions, they maybe be asked to withdraw from the group and register for the next group session.
2024 Fall Groups
OPEN FOR REGISTRATION
Program focus: Mental Health
What is One Stop Talk/Parlons maintenant?
One Stop Talk/Parlons maintenant (OST/PM) offers free virtual counselling services and seamless entry into child and youth mental health services across Ontario. The program serves as a single access point to mental health services for children and youth aged 0-17, connecting them with registered and experienced therapists across the province. Our agency’s therapists and an integrated network of province-wide infant, child, and youth mental health agencies support this program.
Service Details
- Counselling by registered therapists spanning Ontario, including our agency’s therapists
- Immediate access to free therapy; no prior booking or appointment required
- Focuses on addressing one issue at a time and provides the freedom to access the service as many times as needed
- OST/PM is not anonymous – the program requires children and youth to provide information about themselves, including their name, date of birth, and postal code, to receive service
- Start with a conversation, leave with a plan. No matter why you connect, children and youth co-create a personalized plan with their therapist, which is shared with them
- Navigation services are available if additional assistance beyond the session is needed. OST/PM directly refers clients to additional services as close to them as possible in the child and youth mental health sector
- OST/PM has dedicated Francophone therapists and interpretation services to over 200+ languages, including ASL
Who can contact One Stop Talk/Parlons maintenant?
- Children and youth (aged 0-17 years) located in Ontario
- Parents and caregivers located in Ontario are recommended to access the service with their child(ren)
When is the service available?
- Monday to Friday, 12 PM to 8 PM EST
- Saturday 12 PM to 4 PM EST
Entry to the service closes 45 minutes before posted closure time to allow all clients to be served by end of service
What can we help with?
No issue is too big or small. If it’s important to you, it’s important to us.
To connect with a therapist, visit onestoptalk.ca or call us at 1 855 416 8255.
Program focus: Abuse, Autism, Behaviour Difficulty, Developmental Disability, LGBT, Mental Health, School, Sex Work, Skill Development, Trauma more…
Help Ahead: Access for Infants, Children, Youth & Families
Help Ahead is a free referral phone service to help connect infants, children, youth up to 18 years old and their families to mental health and addiction services in their community. Our goal is to help those in need find and get mental health help as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Anyone under the age of 18 experiencing a mental health issue or anyone who wants to support someone under the age of 18 and wants access to mental health services can call.
If you are a young person, you might call if you:
- Feel anxious or worried
- Feel depressed, sad or angry
- Are being bullied
- Don’t feel yourself…
- Want more information about mental health and addiction services in your community.
If you are a parent/caregiver of an infant or child, you might call if:
- Your infant/child is crying inconsolably; having tantrums; irregular sleep or eating patterns;
- You are worried about your infant/child’s development; feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by parenting; or asking, “is this just a phase?”
- You want more information about mental health and addiction services in your community.
Service providers, doctors, teachers, school social workers, child protection services and any other support service can call Help Ahead too for more information, but we will need the expressed consent of the person or parent to refer to a service.
Program focus: Abuse, Behaviour Difficulty, LGBT, Mental Health, Nutrition, School, Sex Work, Trauma more…
The What’s Up Walk-In® Clinic is Toronto’s only free, six day a week mental health counselling walk-in service for children, youth, young adults, and families. The clinic helps with issues such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal ideation, sexual identity matters, bullying, behavioural concerns, addictions, and anything else that might be on one’s mind. All the information you provide is confidential.
Therapists offer single sessions up to an hour long. We don’t judge. We will support you in your concerns and work collaboratively with you. The focus is on abilities, resources, and skills that you have, or you want to develop. Together we will target a priority concern and develop a plan with you that you feel comfortable with. If you feel you need more help, you can come back to the What’s Up Walk-In. All our therapists are clinically trained.
The clinic is barrier free, and accessible. No health card or appointment is necessary and it’s completely free! The What’s Up Walk-In network is a collection of 6 agencies operating at 8 sites across the City of Toronto.
Hours of service
Virtual Sessions
Friday, 2 PM – 8 PM Last registration: 6:30 PM
To be connected to a counsellor for a telephone or video session, call us at 416-438-3697 press 1 and then enter ext. 12230 for reception.
In-person Sessions at Strides Toronto (as of March 1, 2024)
Monday – Thursday, 12 PM – 8 PM Last registration: 6:30 PM
Friday, 12 PM – 5 PM Last registration: 3:30 PM
Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM Last registration: 2:30 PM
Location: 1200 Markham Road, Suite 200, Scarborough
- Call to schedule sessions in Tagalog, Mandarin, Cantonese. Interpretation in other languages can be planned in advance.
- No appointment is necessary; first come, first served.
- Registration closed 1h 30 mins prior to the end of in-person service hours.
- Capacity at times reached before last registration.
- Services closed on statutory holidays.
- Face masks are available for in-person sessions.
Supported by RBC:
In partnership with:
Program focus: ADHD, Autism, Behaviour Difficulty, Child Development, Communication Skills, Developmental Disability, LGBT, Mental Health, Parenting, School, Skill Development, Socializing, Trauma more…
Children, youth up to age 18, their mental health professional and families can access psychiatric consultation via virtual platform. Youth and family must be connected to a service provider to support the referral process.
This service requires a referral by a mental health professional who has worked with the child/youth and family and is knowledgeable of their situation. The mental health professional will be involved in the entire process following the psychiatric consultation and will follow up with the client on any recommendations.
All referral forms must be faxed to 647-689-2788. If you have any questions, please email the Urban Tele-Mental Health Service Coordinator at urbantelementalhealth@stridestoronto.ca or call us at 416-438-3697 ext. 14292.
Program focus: Behaviour Difficulty
The Priority Access for Students (PAS) Program provides individual and family focused counselling services as well as case management for Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board students and their families.
Students who need support and help are identified and referred by their school social workers to this program. Counselling can be provided in home or in office and includes collaboration with the schools to support students and their families around their identified mental health needs.
The goal of PAS is to prepare youth to function independently and effectively within the school environment, the greater community and in the home. We also work to prevent youth from needing more intensive services like a Residential Treatment program in the future. Trained clinicians provide Individual and Family Therapy once a week or up to two times a week if needed. Sometimes workers will meet clients in their community, at their school, or in their home, but we encourage in-office sessions at flexible times during the day or evening.
We will also connect youth to community resources that might be difficult to access.
Program focus: Behaviour Difficulty, Child Welfare, Communication Skills, Mental Health, Socializing
Our Intensive Child and Family Service is offered to children and their caregivers who are experiencing social, emotional, and/or behavioural challenges that interfere with their daily lives and may lead to family breakdown in either their home, school and/or community. Often families eligible for this service are living with complex needs that may be impacting multiple domains of their lives.
Services are provided in-home, in-community, in-office or other settings which would be most helpful to supporting change. These services are provided by a Child and Family Therapist who will meet as frequently as required to help make a difference, offering service in a flexible manner that may include individual treatment, family and/or group therapy.
Referral details
Contact Strides Toronto Intake at 416-438-3697 ext. 19055 to initiate a referral.
Intake will help determine if Intensive Services is the most appropriate service for you or if there is an alternate service that may better meet your needs.
Program focus: Behaviour Difficulty, Communication Skills, Mental Health, Parenting
Family Counselling is intended to help caregivers explore their concerns about their child with a trained therapist. The goals of counselling services are to help your family get an understanding of your concerns and to enhance problem solving skills; as well, to give your family an opportunity to learn effective ways to cope with any different challenges.
Benefits of Family Counselling may include:
- Receiving help to define family goals
- Finding ways of achieving the goals and improving communication in your relationships
- Learning new information about your child’s personality or development
- Connecting or coordinating services with other community groups and activities
- Communicating with your child’s school or day care
- Learning more effective or useful parenting strategies
- Receiving an assessment to help with treatment planning (e.g., psychological assessment)
- Experiencing a safe place to talk about painful events that have affected your child
Access to this group is through Intake.
Program focus: Behaviour Difficulty, Life Skills, Mental Health, School, Trauma
Day Treatment is an intensive therapeutic classroom setting for children, aged 4-12, experiencing social, emotional or behavioural issues and who have had difficulty being successful in their current school environment. These children and their caregivers may also be at risk for breakdown in their home and/or community.
The program is based on a multidisciplinary milieu treatment model that provides in-class care, family treatment and group therapy. Members of the milieu team include: Child Therapists who work in the classroom, providing evidence based group intervention with the children and individual support to the children as needed; Child and Family Therapists who work with the children providing individual treatment, family treatment and group therapy; Teachers who work in the classroom teaching the academic work; a Consulting Psychologist who conducts assessments, provides clinical consultation; and Supervisors-Day Treatment/Family Treatment Services who provide clinical supervision. Service duration is determined in collaboration between the caregiver and the multidisciplinary milieu team. One year of treatment is the recommended length of service.
There are six classrooms of approximately six students each in three separate schools. Two of the schools are in the Toronto District School Board and one is in the Toronto Catholic District School Board. The Strides Toronto Day Treatment program serves East Toronto (Scarborough) and East York region of Toronto.
Caregiver Readiness
Caregivers are in a state of readiness to make use of the intensive program including weekly participation. Group attendance is mandatory and occurs weekly between September and December. Caregivers participate in weekly family sessions for the remainder of the academic year.
Eligibility details
- Children aged 4 – 12 years
- Children are not managing in their current academic environment due to social, emotional and/or behavioural challenges.
- Children do not require 1:1 staffing support to manage.
Referral details
All referrals are made through Help Ahead, Central Point of Intake, 1-866-585-6486. Referrals can be made by the family or other professionals working with the family. Once the referral is received, a Help Ahead staff will reach out to the family to discuss options.
Locations
Highland Heights Junior Public School
35 Glendower Circuit
Scarborough, ON
Vradenburg Junior Public School
50 Vradenburg Drive
Scarborough, ON
Holy Name Catholic School
690 Carlaw Avenue
Toronto, ON
Strides Toronto
Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 8PM
325 Milner Avenue
Scarborough, ON
Program focus: ADHD
ADHD Seminars are a psychoeducation-based group for parents and caregivers of children ages 4 to 12 years old who may be struggling with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The seminars are identified by topics and provide an opportunity for parents and caregivers to learn more about ADHD, the symptoms, the research, and its impact on children at home, school and in the community.
The seminars are offered September – May and each seminar is approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. Seminars are offered on a monthly basis; families can choose which seminars they would like to attend. Parents and caregivers learn to understand the disorder and the impact it has on children’s learning and their behaviour. This is a psychoeducational group intended to provide information to parents and caregivers so that they can better understand their children’s needs and support them in a neurodiversity-affirming way.
To find out more information or to join our participant list, please contact: Salmina at salmina.sabah@stridestoronto.ca or Shelby at shelby.eisner@stridestoronto.ca
