SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health (CCMH), formerly The Hincks-Dellcrest Treatment Centre builds on the collective history of two extraordinary children's mental health centres - the C.M. Hincks Treatment Centre, whose origins date back to the early 1950's and the Dellcrest Children's Centre, which opened in 1960. In 1998, the two centres amalgamated to form The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre (HDC), a leading edge, non-profit children's mental health centre offering a comprehensive range of innovative mental health services for infants, children, youth and their families.
Services Offered
Outpatient Services * Family therapy - Most families who contact CCMH for Outpatient services begin with family therapy services. Here, the family will meet with one of our therapists who will work with your child and family to understand the challenges that have brought you to our centre. Collaboratively, the therapist will help the family develop goals for treatment that meet the individualized needs of the child. The structure and frequency of the sessions will depend on the treatment goals. Typically, families attend sessions weekly or bi-weekly and various members of the family attend, depending on the needs.
* Individual therapy - Individual therapy is an integral part of the treatment services we offer at CCMH. Most children and youth will be able to access this service once a thorough assessment has been completed, either through the family therapy service or one of our specialized assessment services. We offer a variety of treatment approaches to match the needs of the child or youth's presenting issues.
* Parent groups - CCMH offers a variety of parent groups that focus on education for parents on various challenges their children may be facing. As well, these groups serve as an opportunity for parents to meet other parents whose children are facing similar challenges and offer support to one another. CCMH provides groups for parents of children and youth who have challenges with regulating their emotions and difficulty socializing. The groups are led by one of the mental health practitioners in the centre.
* Children's groups - CCMH offers a variety of children and youth groups that focus on addressing their challenges within a group setting. The groups focus on helping children and youth develop skills in socializing, learning how to manage their emotions more effectively and develop relationships with other children and youth who may be facing similar challenges.
* French language services - Espace Jeunesse - In partnership with the Centre Francophone (CF), CCMH provides mental health services for francophone children and youth between the ages of 0 and 18 years, and their families.
French-speaking social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists from CCMH work with CF staff to help children and youth experiencing intimidation, conflicts with friends and family, sadness, anxiety, isolation, anger, self-esteem issues, substance abuse, and preoccupation with body image.
Intensive In-home Treatment Program The Intensive In-home Treatment program provides in-home mental health services for children aged 6-12 and their families/caregivers living within the City of Toronto. The program is designed to assist children who are at risk of out-of-home placement (hospital/residential) due to significant emotional, behavioural or psychiatric challenges; feel a barrier to accessing services at an outpatient mental health setting; have had challenges meeting their treatment needs using a less intensive clinical service model; and do not require specialized cognitive, developmental, and/or behavioural services.
Day Treatment Services CCMH offers Day Treatment programs for children and youth who are experiencing significant and chronic social, emotional or behavioural challenges that prevent them from being successful within a community school setting.
These programs strive to meet the needs of each client through an individualized therapeutic plan. Within a therapeutic classroom environment, clients may have access to the following services: specialized psychiatric or psychological assessments if required during service; case coordination/management; family therapy; parent skill building; parent/child groups; individual therapy for the child (if needed); and specialized academic programing, including but not limited to an Individualized Education Plan.
Residential Treatment Services CCMH offers two co-educational residential treatment programs for youth with complex mental health needs. We have our City Residential program, offered in downtown Toronto and our Farm Residential program, offered in Collingwood, Ontario on a 100-acre property.
Clients served in residential treatment may have multiple mental health diagnoses resulting in significant challenges with social, emotional and behavioural issues. Our Residential Treatment services are appropriate for adolescents who have persistent mood and/or anxiety disorders, including bi-polar disorders, depression and treatment-resistant depression, social and/or performance anxiety, emotional dysregulation, phobias, somatoform disorders/conversion disorder.
Fees and Payment
Services and programs are free.
This is a registered charity.
Services Offered To: Adults Teens Children
Special Groups: Bilingual
Payment: Sliding Scale Pro-bono
Online Counseling: During COVID-19
Could You Make an Appointment?
One quick last question. Who was seeking counseling today?
Do you know the reason they are not accepting clients?
A community counseling agency is a group therapy practice that offers affordable mental health services. Most are independent non-profit agencies, state agencies, or publicly-funded agencies. A few may restrict who is eligible for services, so it is a good idea to check when you call.
Community counseling agencies are generally more affordable than other therapy providers, but how much more affordable they are will depend on whether you qualify for a discount or sliding scale fee (or if they accept your insurance). Many, but not all, have a policy that they won't turn away anyone due to inability to pay. You should ask about their fees when you first call.
Expect to talk to kind people who want to help you find the care you need. Most community agencies strive to connect you with a live person within 24 hours, if not immediately. If you're asked to hold or leave a message, don't give up; just leave a message and wait. You should hear back pretty quickly.
Most agencies try to set up an initial assessment appointment within a week (some do within 24 hours), though the waitlist to start therapy is usually longer—about a few weeks on average. If you're not eligible or if the agency is not right for you, it's usually still worth it to call or drop in, because staff are knowledgeable about local options and can often refer you to one.
