Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre

The Maples is an accredited facility that offers specialized programs and services to address the needs of young people (12 to 17 years old) who have a lot of mental health concerns or troubling behaviour.

Learn more about Healing Spirit House and The Maples programming

Getting in to The Maples

Most young people admitted to programs at The Maples are referred by a local Child and Youth Mental Health office. 

The Maples does not provide emergency or acute psychiatric care – visit your local hospital for help in these situations.

What to Expect

Generally speaking, all programs at The Maples are voluntary – that means that most young people agree to attend. The Maples team doesn’t try to control or contain behaviour – instead, they use empathy and constructive conflict resolution to:

• Work in partnership with what each child or teen wants to do
• Strengthen relationships
• Promote healthy individuals and family development

If you stay at The Maples campus, you...

• Get a private room to set up as your own ­ – feel free to bring any of your own stuff with you, just remember it’s not a good idea to bring valuable items
• Can move around freely  – you can do what you would normally do at home as long as it doesn’t interfere with the comfort and rights of others
• Meet with doctors, counsellors and nurses to talk about your personal health, feelings, thoughts and experiences
• Go to school on campus during weekdays and also talk about how school is going with an education advisor
• Do fun stuff with other kids like playing games or watching movies
• Can learn career skills or Aboriginal cultural teachings
• Join others for regular mealtimes

Programs

All programs and services include:

• Participation from family members, caregivers and other health or education professionals involved in each child or teen’s life
• Help and support from a team of social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and counsellors

Each program provides a supportive environment where the teen has time and space for their thoughts, emotions and behaviour to stabilize. When they're ready, the team works with them to start planning long-­term goals.

Families and caregivers are also given support so that they can help the teen transition to a community­-based care plan.

Response Program

Many of the teens who join the Response Program have never had a positive experience with school because of behavioural difficulties or mood disorders. Some feel that life is hopeless. The goal of the program is to help them feel that things can get better by:

• Building a plan that’s tailored to their specific needs to help them manage school, work, health, peer relationships and family life
• Providing an “assessment environment” that makes them feel good about coming to class or joining in other activities

Most times, young people come to live at The Maples while the assessment is completed – some who live on the Lower Mainland can complete the assessment while living at home and just visiting the campus for meetings or tasks.

Once the assessment is complete, The Maples designs a care plan for the teen, their family and the community team who supports them. The objective of the plan is to build understanding about the teen’s life and offer strategies for solving problems that may come up. A care plan consultant is assigned to each young person to provide support until their 19th birthday.

Bifröst Program

This program provides a home­-based, intensive intervention for teens and their families to:

• Explore alternative methods of relating to one another
• Enhance their problem­-solving skills in a supportive environment

The program runs for three and a half months – usually from 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday.

Complex Care

Complex Care is for children and teens (aged 7 to 18) who have health, developmental and/or behavioural needs that affect their ability to function in the routine of daily life. Care includes individual treatment and service plans that integrate multiple service systems.

Connect Parent Group

Connect is a 10­-week program where parents and caregivers meet together in small groups with two trained leaders for one hour each week.

Instead of teaching specific strategies to manage behaviour, group sessions focus on:

• Recognizing and managing feelings or reactions
• Responding in ways that clearly set limits and expectations
• Maintaining and strengthening the parent's relationship with their teen
• Communication and leadership specific to Aboriginal and foster families

Parents don’t need to feel anxious about attending the group. Being invited does not mean they’ve done something wrong or that they’re to blame for their child’s behaviour. In fact, parents and caregivers who have participated said they:

• Felt respected and supported during the sessions
• Realized a lot of parents are struggling with similar feelings
• Feel less stressed and more effective and satisfied in their parenting
• See fewer behaviour problems and better social functioning in their teen

Crossroads Care Program

This program is used when there are obstacles to providing care in the community, for example:

• A severe conduct disorder often associated with mental health disorders, like Tourette's syndrome or attention-­deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Psychiatric disorders that require care in a secure setting

Family meetings and/or therapy may be a component of a youth’s individual treatment plan. Whenever possible, home visits are included in the treatment plan in order to provide youth with successful experiences in their home community.

Some youth will also receive a care plan to help guide their care and treatment in the community after discharge. Typically, full treatment benefit is gained within three months.

Youth custody: Although the program strives to maintain the minimum necessary containment, there may be times when the facility is locked according to legal rulings or policies related to delivering involuntary care and services – ­ like in the case when a court rules that a mental disorder makes a young person unfit for trial or not criminally responsible.

Dala Program

This three-­month program provides assessment and intervention for fragile teens with symptoms like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia or other thought disorders.

The general goals of the program are to:

• Improve the mental health of the teen
• Assist the teen with developing life skills necessary to enhance their quality of life
• Enhance the skills and functioning of the family
• Develop the teen's social support network
• Develop the teen's family and community support network

Individualized treatment goals and a care plan are made in conjunction with the teen, their caregivers, referring agents and a Maples social worker.