Assess Treatment Alternatives
Assessment & Treatment Alternatives (ATA) is a non-profit, Forensic Mental Health Clinic.
ATA specializes in the assessment and treatment formulation for children, adolescents and adults with severe emotional and behavioral problems who are involved in the legal system.
We provide a range of forensic mental health services in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.
Our staff include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and case managers.
Intensive and ongoing education, training and supervision for our staff, insure clients have access to the most experienced clinicians.ATA provides several services torents and children involved in the legal system.
These services are available to families who are coping with issues such as:
•Contested custody matters
•Custody questions where there are allegations of sexual abuse
•The children have, or, are about to be removed from the home
•The children experiened physical and/or sexual abuse
•Problems with a child or adolescent engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior
•Parents and children attempting to reunite after a child or children has been removed from the home.
Trauma Focused TreatmentATA staff are trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
This empirically validated treatment modality is a structured treatment that takes place over as short a period as twelve weeks.
A child and (whenever possible) the child’srent or supportive caregiverrticipate.
The treatment begins with education. The therapist shares information with the child and caregiver about common reactions and symptoms that may result from sexual abuse.
This helps children understand that their reactions and feelings are normal and that treatment can help them.
It helps non-abusingrents to accept that the abuse wasn’t their fault or the child’s fault.
It’s common forrents to react to their child’s abuse by becoming either too permissive or too protective.
The therapist helps them maintain normal routines, household rules, and expectations.
If the perpetrator has been one of therents, the whole structure of the family may have changed, and the remainingrent needs support to be consistent and keep family life as secure as possible.
Another step in the treatment, called affect regulation and relaxation, helps the child to identify his or her negative feelings such as anxiety, jumpiness, and sadness that can occur after a trauma.ATA’s Foster Care Program attempts to match a child or youth with arent orrents who can provide the structure, consistency, supervision and nurturance needed to implement an effective treatment plan. Every referred child receives a complete psychological and psychiatric workup prior to admission to the Foster Care program. These evaluations are necessary to assess course of treatment for the individual client, while in the program. The program staff will then meet to review prospective fosterrent placements that would be suitable to therticular youth. A meeting is then arranged between the selected fosterrent(s), the youth and the treatment team to facilitate and plan placement. Assessment and Treatment Alternative's (ATA) Foster Family Care program is designed to provide a familial environment for children and youth who are unable to remain with their natural family. ATA's Foster Care Program is committed to providing a safe, structured, and supportive environment for those children and youth whose problems are so severe that more restrictive placement is the only other alternative.