Arbour Counseling Services, Rockland has opened a Substance Abuse Intensive Outpatient Program (SA IOP), also known as a Structured Outpatient Addiction Program (SOAP), to help clients develop relapse prevention and coping skills so they become more independent in recovery.

The program is comprised of psychosocial evaluation, relapse prevention planning, group and individual counseling, family therapy, random toxicological screenings and aftercare and discharge planning.

Patients participate in several skills groups while in treatment. The Relapse Prevention Group cultivates skills clients will need to achieve and maintain abstinence. These skills may either be directly related to their substance use or may apply to broader areas relevant to their continued sobriety such as ways to manage anger, solve problems, or relax.

The Early Recovery Skill Building Group teaches clients an essential set of skills for establishing abstinence from drugs and alcohol, including the use of self-help and professional services. The Recovery Support Group provides program participants the arena in which to share information about relapse prevention and receive assistance in coping with the issues of recovery and relapse avoidance.

The SA IOP meets Monday – Friday, during the hours of 1:00-4:30 p.m. Length of treatment is tailored to meet the needs and goals of individual participants. It contracts with most insurances except MBHP. For more information on the SA IOP program, please contact Linda Mazak at 781-871-6550, X26.

Also, Arbour Counseling Services, Rockland, has started an Adolescent Social Skills Group for patients ages 13 and older who have autism. The group is led by Jill Liddy, M.Ed., LMHC, BCBA, and is based on applied behavior analysis.

Liddy is a Board-Certified Behavioral Analyst, and she has been working for the past fifteen years in the Carver school systems with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Professionals in applied behavior analysis engage in the specific and comprehensive use of principles of learning, including operant and respondent learning, in order to address behavioral needs of widely varying individuals in diverse settings, including building the skills and achievements of children in school settings and enhancing the development, abilities and choices of children with different kinds of disabilities.

The subject matter for the group includes turn-taking, how to start and stop conversations, appropriate expression of feelings, advanced conversation skills, body language, inferencing, perspective-taking. Reduction of inappropriate social behavior and learning to recognize emotions and feelings in others are important goals.

The group is held Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at the counseling center. Most patients attend the groups for eight to 12 weeks. Sessions include practicing how to read non-verbal body language and can include computer imagery related to reading facial expressions, as an example.

According to Liddy, “the groups focus on social thinking and identifying patterns of behavior in others. The participants develop self-awareness and learn important skills that they can model.” Liddy said child and parent feedback has been very positive about the program and new skills learned.

There is also a smaller group currently running for six to nine year-olds that operates using similar premises and principles, but the focus is through play. Each of the children who are referred to this group have a current presentation of severe behavioral acting out.

For more information, please contact Jill Liddy at (781) 871-6550.