Montreal Children's Hospital launches teen mental health crisis clinic

The Montreal Children's Hospital is opening a new centre Monday, to offer specialized care to teenagers who've contemplated or attempted suicide.

The clinic, Le SPOT Montreal, will help teens 12 to 18 years old who are in suicidal crisis, offering them and their families up to 12 weeks of intensive individualized therapy.

"These are teenagers who would have come to our emergency department, [who] perhaps don't need to be admitted, but do need someone to quickly give them some therapeutic services," said Maia Aziz, head of Allied Health Services for the Montreal Children's Hospital.

The specialized facility, which will be one of the largest of its kind in Canada, will be able to treat 500 patients in the first year, and 1000 patients a year after that.

Staffed with 10 full-time clinicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers and occupational therapists, the clinic will aim to see patients within 72 hours of them being referred by emergency room physicians.

The idea, Aziz said, is to provide teens with the help they need "in the moment that they are in crisis and not have them wait in distress along with their families."

In addition to individual therapy, the clinic will also provide family and group therapy, as well as help with life skills, such as conflict resolution, emotional regulation, and healthy use of social media. Because it's an outpatient service, teens will also be able to continue going to school while pursuing the therapy program.

With the help of a psycho-educator, teens will also have access to "less traditional" therapeutic activities, such as nature walks and sports, said Dr.Martin Gignac, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Montreal Children's Hospital.

At the end of 12 weeks, the clinic will ensure continuity for patients by connecting them with community mental health services. Outside of this program, the current average wait time for those services is six months.

That transition and stability is key, according to Simone Aslan, a 20-year-old arts student who was admitted to the Montreal Children's Hospital when they were 15.

"A huge part of why I'm here in the way that I am is that I had access, and continue to have access, to consistent therapy and consistent psychiatric care," Aslan said. "That is not something that everyone has access to."

Aslan said the process of getting a family doctor and a referral to a psychologist can be an added barrier, on top of the difficulty teens face in simply expressing that they need help.

"My parents, they knew that I wasn't doing great, but I remember it was very daunting to tell a loved one that," they said.

Aslan said finally being taken in at the hospital was a turning point.