People Incorporated Mental Health Services, the state’s largest nonprofit working exclusively in the adult mental health field, is expanding its care to children. The organization announced that it has acquired an array of programs supporting children’s mental health from St. Paul-based Children’s Home Society & Family Services (Children’s Home). The programs, which will continue without disruption, branch throughout a six-county metro area and currently serve about 1,000 clients.

The programs began operating as the new People Incorporated Children’s Services division on January 1. Services include individual and family counseling, early childhood mental health, school-linked counseling, day treatment for children, domestic abuse prevention, anger management, and parent support services.

For more information about the merger, please visit www.PeopleIncorporated.org.

By Brett Dumke

A recent pilot study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), shows a promising new intervention for depressed teens that have previously attempted suicide. Along with medication, this intervention uses a psychotherapy called cognitive behavioral therapy for suicide prevention (CBT-SP).  CBT-SP was developed to prevent or reduce the risk of suicide reattempts.  The study found that the rate of recurrence of either suicidal thoughts or attempts were lower than previous comparable studies, which suggests that this type of intervention might be an effective new approach in helping to reduce suicide among this most susceptible group of teens.

For more information, go to the NIMH study. Also, check out our youth education section on our website for information and resources pertaining to depression and suicide prevention.