Programs and Services

Individual Psychotherapy

CAMP psychiatrists and psychologists rely heavily on empirically-supported treatments. We specialize in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Behavioral Activation (BA) for depression and anxiety, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for emotion dysregulation and self-harm. We often ask parents to meet with the clinician along with their child for the initial session, during which the clinician gathers information about the child and family to acquire a better understanding of the presenting problems, to establish treatment goals, and to orient the family to therapy. Commitment to therapy is essential to successful treatment. Research studies tell us that patients who regularly keep their appointments and complete therapy homework outside of sessions make the most progress in achieving their treatment goals.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Our board-certified child psychiatrists conduct thorough and thoughtful evaluations that incorporate information provided by families, schools, and other health care providers to determine if medication is necessary in treating your child's presenting problems. Our psychiatrists make treatment decisions based on the child's diagnostic picture, current functioning, and family history. All treatment providers at CAMP use an interdisciplinary approach, and our staff meets weekly to discuss cases and ensure that everyone treating the child (e.g., psychologists, psychiatrists) follows the established treatment plan effectively. Our psychiatrists focus on evidence-based treatments involving psychosocial interventions along with medication management. CAMP psychiatrists are skilled in the management of common childhood psychiatric illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorders. CAMP psychiatrists monitor medication through regular appointments, the frequency of which is determined based on the symptoms and medication profile. Medical and laboratory work-ups also may be indicated depending on the type of medications prescribed.

Parent Skills Training

Our clinicians provide parent skills training, which is conducted with parents only. These sessions are designed to help parents with behavioral strategies such as limit setting, contingency management, and improved communication skills. Most often, parents seek treatment in the midst of experiencing one or more crises, and they often report feeling "stuck in a rut." Developmental milestones, such as having a child start high school, often trigger parent-child difficulties. Many parents also have difficulties around times of divorce, separation, or blending of new family members such as stepchildren. We also offer parent skills training in group format as part of our DBT program. For more information, see below.

Group Therapy

Interpersonal Skills Group for Adolescents

NOT CURRENTLY ENROLLING

CAMP offers an Interpersonal Skills Group for Adolescents. This 8-week skills group is designed for teens ages 13-17 who are experiencing difficulties in their peer and/or family relationships. The focus of the group is on teaching teens communication and interpersonal problem-solving skills to help improve their relationships and mood. Teens in the program will learn skills that will help them:

reduce negative interactions with peers/parents
develop more effective communication skills
increase interpersonal problem-solving skills
manage conflict, disagreements, and bullying
improve empathy and perspective-taking abilities
cultivate more positive and satisfying relationships

We are currently enrolling for January 2018. For additional information, please click here or contact Dr. Allison LoPilato at anmacdo@emory.edu.

Anxiety Disorders Treatment Program

CAMP offers a Skills Training Group for Children with Anxiety Disorders. The skills group, which uses a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approach, is designed primarily for children ages 8 to 11 with symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, and/or Separation Anxiety Disorder. Children in the program learn skills that help them:

identify different feelings/emotions
recognize signs and symptoms of anxiety
improve their ability to cope with stressful situations
challenge irrational and worry thoughts
solve problems and deal with teasing
increase assertiveness

The program also encourages parental involvement through psychoeducational parent group sessions and individual parent consultations. For additional information, please click here.

DBT Program (currently not accepting new patients into this program)

CAMP offers a comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program for adolescents and young adults. DBT was designed for individuals who have difficulty regulating their emotions and who turn to extreme coping mechanisms such as self-harm (e.g., cutting, burning), extreme anger outbursts, or disordered eating to manage their emotions. These individuals also may struggle with suicidal thinking and may have made suicide attempts in the past. DBT helps patients learn more effective ways to cope with intense negative emotions. DBT at CAMP includes individual therapy and group therapy (skills training). All patients in the DBT program must participate in individual therapy, and patients in the DBT Adolescent program are required to attend individual therapy with a DBT therapist at CAMP. Consistent with the DBT model of treatment, all DBT therapists at CAMP attend a weekly Consultation Team meeting. All patients are asked to commit to six months of therapy. Potential participants must first attend a pre-treatment orientation and commitment session with a DBT therapist to determine goodness of fit for the program.

Participants attend individual (50 minutes) and group therapy (90 minutes) once weekly. DBT groups are like classes, and participants are expected to listen, take notes, and participate in exercises and discussions. Group sessions are designed to teach patients the skills they need, and individual therapy sessions are designed to help patients apply these skills in their day-to-day lives. Patients are also allowed to make "coaching calls" to their therapists in between sessions to get help with skills while they are at home or school.

We require six months of treatment to allow sufficient time for us to teach the following sets of skills:

Core Mindfulness skills, which help individuals control and regulate their attention and learn to be more "present" in their daily life.
Interpersonal Effectiveness skills, which help individuals to negotiate relationships with others by asking for what they want and need or by saying no to requests in an effective manner.
Emotion Regulation skills, which help individuals to recognize and validate their own emotions as well as teach them to have less extreme mood swings.
Distress Tolerance skills, which help individuals tolerate stressful situations and make healthier choices when under duress.
Middle Path skills (adolescent and parent groups only), which help individuals to see both sides of a situation, think in less extreme ways, and validate themselves and others.

We currently offer groups for preteens (ages 11-13), adolescents (ages 13-18), and young adults (ages 19-25). Parents or patients who are interested in these groups should complete a new patient phone intake by calling 404-727-3973.

Parent DBT Skills Training (currently not accepting new patients into this program)

CAMP offers DBT skills training for parents of preteens and teens in the DBT program. This training involves either a multi-family format with parents and kids together, or a parallel format where teen and parent groups meet separately and at the same time. Parents will learn the same skills as their adolescents, including core mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and middle path skills. The benefit of having parents participate in skills training is that it allows them to learn skills simultaneously with the adolescent. In this way, parents acquire skills that will help them interact more effectively with their adolescent. Parents learn how to validate one another and their teen, communicate more effectively by applying interpersonal effectiveness skills, and resolve common parent-adolescent dilemmas using the "walking the middle path" skills.

Healthy Eating and Weight Services

Healthy Eating and Weight Services (HEWS) at Emory provides specialist services for eating and weight concerns. Treatment is informed by CBT and DBT as well as AAT (Appetite Awareness Training).

The following services are available for individuals ages 7-25 (and Emory students of any age):

Outpatient Individual Therapy for excessive restriction, compensatory behavior, binge-and overeating, and overconcern with weight/shape
Weight Management
Family-Based Therapy
Meal Support
Group Therapy (group specification and recruitment will begin Fall 2014)

Services are provided by Dr. Erin Jones, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist at CAMP.

Assessment

CAMP offers comprehensive, multidisciplinary clinical evaluations for children and adolescents ages 6 - 18, including:

Diagnostic Evaluations: depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, adjustment difficulties, etc.
Intelligence Testing: intellectual ability, cognitive strengths and weaknesses
Learning/Academic Assessment: learning disorders, academic strengths and weaknesses, academic planning
Integrated Written Report: comprehensive written evaluation of functioning and related recommendations for your records or to share with school personnel, therapist, pediatrician, etc.

Psychological testing with reliable and valid instruments can provide a "snap shot" of your child's functioning across multiple domains of their life (i.e., social, emotional, academic). Our goal is to provide a personalized profile of your child's strengths and weaknesses and individually tailored recommendations for intervention, if necessary. We would be happy to sit down with you and answer your questions about psychological testing and suggest the most appropriate evaluation for your individual needs.