Ribbon Cut On Trauma Treatment’s New Frontier

Accompanied by two therapy dogs outside of a house in the Heights, clinicians and government workers celebrated the opening of Connecticut’s first Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) residential program — a five-bed facility where residents who struggle with complex trauma receive specialized treatments including music, art, and pet therapy.

The nonprofit social-service provider Continuum of Care has partnered with Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) to fund the initiative. 

Based in Fair Haven Heights, the residential program provides DBT support to adults ages 18 to 26. On Wednesday, Continuum of Care President and CEO Jim Farrales and DMHAS Deputy Commissioner Colleen Harrington cut the inaugural ribbon. 

Originally developed to address borderline personality disorder, clinicians today use DBT tools to help people of different mental health backgrounds manage intense emotions. DBT is usually accessed through outpatient programs. In her speech at the event on Wednesday, Harrington identified the benefits of expanding DBT services to a residential setting.

“DBT residential therapy works because it provides individuals with evidence-based treatment, coping mechanisms and skills for lifelong change in a healing supportive residential environment,” said Harrington. 

It also serves as an alternative to hospitalizations or police involvement. ​“There’s a culture of just sending people to the hospital, and that’s not always the best place for them,” said John Labieniec, vice president of Acute and Forensic Services at Continuum of Care. 

Five patients can stay at the housing facility at a time. Four of the rooms are currently occupied. In addition to providing residents with specialized treatment, staff members also hold trainings on vocational and educational skills. The length of stay differs for each case. 

“It’s very individualized,” said Labieniec. ​“I think that’s what’s always made our agency different, is really trying to tailor the treatment model and the approach to what we think is going to be most successful for that person.”

Daniel Brockett, clinical director of young adult services at the Office of the Commissioner, explained, ​“We’re less focused on, sometimes, arbitrary timelines and more on what are the behavioral and clinical markers of progress and success.” Previous clients of other Continuum of Care services have gone on to pursue careers in various fields including mental health work. 

After three years of planning, the official opening coincided with Mental Health Awareness Month. The organizers, proud pioneers, hope to inspire more services of this kind to pop up throughout Connecticut. 

“Any provider would have said we were crazy for doing as much as we did as quick as we did,” said Labieniec, referring to the amount of work it takes to create this type of program. ​“But we did it because we had a vision and we knew that there was a need.”