MENTAL HEALTH
Penfield Children’s Center Behavior Clinic
The Behavior Clinic is an outpatient mental health clinic that provides services to children six years old and younger and their caregiver. Our therapists support behavioral and emotional concerns along with providing therapy for children who have experienced a traumatic or stressful event. The in-home therapy program services children living in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.
Therapy and Support
Trauma symptoms including:
- Sleep problems
- Isolation / avoidance
- Play reenactment
- Separation anxiety
- Blank stares
- Emotions regulation
- Hyperactivity / impulsivity
- Behavior challenges
- Sexualized behaviors
What Parents and Caregivers Can Gain
Parents and caregivers work with Behavior Clinic to learn new responses to their child’s challenging behaviors or emotional concerns, improve communication with their child, gain an understanding of why concerns may be happening, and to increase their patience in responding to their child.
Benefits of Working with Behavior Clinic
The treatment model used at Behavior Clinic, Early Pathways, has been created through research in partnership with Marquette University since 2003 in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. We continue to do research on our program to make sure we are providing effective services to families.
Effective Treatment
The research we do at our clinic has shown that our program is effective at improving behavioral and emotional concerns. One of the biggest predictors of improvement is the parent or caregiver’s consistent participation in the program and using the strategies outside of the appointments.
How the Program Works
Location
Behavior Clinic provides in-home or telehealth options for both Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties in Wisconsin. In-home means a therapist would come to your home and work with your child in their natural environment. Telehealth can be conducted through video call on an electronic device using a secure platform. We are unable to provide services in the childcare or school settings.
Frequency & Length
Appointments are scheduled to happen weekly for 1 hour each time and the program lasts on average 8-15 weeks. Available appointment start times are between 7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Participation
Our program is most effective when we have both the child and a parent or caregiver participating in every appointment, so we require both to attend each week. You are the person responding to your child’s behaviors the majority of the time, so our program centers around giving you effective response strategies to lead to improvement. Your child will need to be present, which may mean pulling them out of childcare or school for the appointment time.
Treatment Appointments
The first appointment will be an evaluation, where the therapist will have you sign paperwork, ask you detailed questions about your child and their concerns, and will have you respond to surveys to determine severity of concerns. Immediately after the evaluation, you will begin meeting for weekly treatment appointments. During these appointments, you and your child will meet with a therapist and work on response strategies to target your concerns. The therapist will interact with both you and your child, and create a plan that fits into your family’s life and environment. You will be given strategies to work on between appointments.
This training is designed for mental health practitioners in the Early Pathways treatment model. At the end of the program, participants will have a thorough knowledge of the treatment components, assessments, and skills within the model. Participants will then participate in a consultation as they implement the Early Pathways Program with clients. By the end of the consultation process, participants will be eligible for certification as an Early Pathways practitioner.
