Clinical Practice

The Institute is uniquely placed to develop, pilot and evaluate new therapies that show promise. Through engagement in several initiatives, the Institute is elevating clinical practice for traumatized children and youth in multiple programs within and outside the George Hull Centre.

All the clinical staff in both our outpatient and intensive programs (residential, day treatment and in home) have received training and ongoing consultation in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, a model of treatment for children who have experienced developmental trauma (often associated with physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect).  Staff from these programs have also received training in the assessment and treatment of other forms of trauma, as well as other evidence based models to treat these conditions (such as Watch, Wait and Wonder, Reflective Family Play, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy).  Staff receive ongoing education on the latest advances in neuroscience, the impact of adverse experiences on the brain and body, and empirically supported ways to support children and youth cope with traumatic stress.

The Institute has supported the implementation of best practices across the George Hull Centre. One such initiative has been the application of an earlier version of the Child and Adolescent Screener for Traumatic Exposure and Response (CASTER®) across all outpatient and intensive services (residential, day treatment and in-home treatment).  This tool, piloted for over a year, resulted in significantly more accurate assessments of the children and youth presenting for service and led to more focused and effective treatment of traumatic stress. The pilot phase also informed the research project on the CASTER®.

The Centre uniquely offers a multitude of options for treatment of traumatic stress provided with a range of modalities that include psychoeducational, individual, family based, and therapeutic group approaches.  The Institute specifically supports the development of innovative trauma specific programing at the Centre and evaluates the effectiveness of these programs with the continual goal of improving them. Such initiatives include:

• Nurturing Connections, a unique program for parents of children with developmental trauma to help them become better co-regulators of their children’s distress. 
• The Institute has partnered with the Toronto District Catholic School Board to develop a trauma informed Social Emotional Learning program for grade 2 and 3 students. 
• The Institute is developing new clinical practice in Neurofeedback and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). These therapies are currently not generally available in public facilities. 
• In addition, the Institute has built the first SMART rooms in Canada available in a public mental health agency and trained more than 20 staff, to begin clinical use in 2023. SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) has shown promise at reaching children and youth who were unresponsive to other treatments. SMART engages the sensory motor system to allow therapeutic release without words, and it appears able to reach deep trauma experienced by children before they can talk. The Institute is developing a research program to determine where and how SMART can be most effective.

News and updates on all treatment modalities, research updates and training opportunities will be shared on this website as well as the monthly Institute Insider newsletter.