Psycho-Social Skills Training Program

Contact Dr. Debra Resnick for more information.

Learn to live life to its fullest.

Group Meeting Times:

Adults - Mondays 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (Fort Washington)

Thursdays 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm (Fort Washington)

Thursdays 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm (Swarthmore)

Teens - Tuesday 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (Fort Washington)

*New* Family Education Group meeting times at Fort Washington to be announced!

Psychosocial Skills Training: For The Client In Need Of More Than Psychotherapy

• Enhance your sense of self
  
• Improve your communications skills
  
• Increase your personal awareness
  
• Stabilize your relationships
  
• Manage your anger
  
• Regulate your mood
  
• Increase your tolerance of distress

The PSHDC Psychosocial Skills Training Program addresses several personality traits:

• Identity confusion
  
• Vulnerability to feelings of abandonment
  
• Inappropriate or uncontrollable anger
  
• Unstable or chaotic interpersonal relationships
  
• Chronic feelings of emptiness
  
• Impulsivity
  
• A tendency toward self-destructive behavior

The effectiveness of Psychosocial Skills Training is part of a comprehensive program that includes medication management and individual as well as group therapy.

Primary/Secondary Therapist: Each client has a primary, and, when needed, secondary therapist. They meet once or twice weekly until stabilized.

Psychoeducational Groups: Each client is assigned to a weekly skill-building group.

Psychotropic Medication: When appropriate, clients needing medication are evaluated and monitored as often as necessary by a psychiatrist until stabilized.

Crisis Stabilization: As an integral part of the Psychosocial Skills Training program, crisis stabilization averts unnecessary hospitalization.

Family Support: Families receive a clear understanding of the dynamics involved in the aspects of treatment and skills training.

Therapist Consultations: All therapists involved with Psychosocial Skills Training meet weekly to assess progress and monitor treatment results.

Inpatient Liaison: The staff of PSHDC is affiliated with inpatient, partial hospital and drug/alcohol treatment facilities. We are able to offer continuity of care when necessary.

Psychosocial Skills Training Involves 4 Basic Modules

Psychiatric medication management and individual therapy are coordinated with these modules where appropriate.

Module 1: Develop "Core Mindfulness" Skills

This module improves a person's capacity to focus; the observation of one's self and others; participation with greater awareness; and a person's adoption of a nonjudgmental stance. The improvement of these behaviors decreases identity confusion, diminishes feelings of emptiness and alleviates the sense of being mentally overwhelmed.

Module 2: Build "Distress Tolerance" Skills

The client learns how to temporarily relieve the overwhelming thoughts/feelings that may accompany distressing events. These effective coping strategies assist the client to reduce impulsive and self-destructive behaviors.

Module 3: Strengthen "The Regulation of Emotions" Skills

This module teaches the client how to observe and describe their emotions. This strengthens one's ability to cope and modulate intense emotions. It also teaches how to process and release painful feelings. The acquisition of these skills promotes a reduction in mood swings and excessive or inappropriate anger.

Module 4: Promote "Interpersonal Effectiveness" Skills

These skills help individuals to set priorities in interpersonal transactions. They learn how to properly attend to relationship needs and how to better value self-respect. Improving interpersonal effectiveness skills assists in decreasing one's vulnerability to abandonment and lessens the sense that all of their relationships are unstable.

Appropriate referral sources for participation in the Psychosocial Skills Training Progam include:

• Individual therapists
  
• Psychiatrists
  
• Primary care physicians
  
• Managed care providers
  
• School counselors and clergy
  
• Psychiatric facilities