The Brien Center – Child and Adolescent Services – 251 Fenn Street

The Brien Center – Child and Adolescent Services is a behavioral health facility located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. They treat children and adolescents for substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder. They also support children who have both a mental health condition and a substance use issue at the same time.

When your child comes in for their intake meeting, they will be drug tested and asked questions about their daily habits and their drug use. They will also receive a psychiatric evaluation. This will determine if they have been through a traumatic experience or if they have a mental health disorder.

Each of the kids who is treated here receives group and individual therapy. I like that they use the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach. This method heavily involves parents in therapy. Not only will your child receive individual therapy sessions but you will also have family therapy sessions. You can meet one-on-one with your child’s therapist if you want to discuss your child’s progress.

Practitioners of this type of therapy believe in using wraparound services to treat kids with mental health and substance issues. This means that they will build a network of supportive people around your child such as social workers, mental health professionals and family members. Each person will have a say in the methods of therapy that are used.

They have a drug prevention program for teens as well. They work with local school systems to help educate kids about the effects of drugs on their bodies and their lives.