Interactive Mobile Parent and Child Therapy (IMPACT)

Using a brief-treatment mobile therapy model, we seek to introduce specialized and evidence-based early childhood mental health services across Allegheny County, in Pennsylvania, addressing the local call for more mental health services specifically designed for young children.

Like our other programs, the Matilda Theiss IMPACT Program provides a foundation for the enduring emotional health of young children with psychiatric disorders or those at high risk of developing psychiatric or developmental difficulties.

We use a multi-method approach of evidence-based therapeutic techniques that:

1. Foster supportive and nurturing care.
2. Promote healthy attachments and emotional bonds with parents and caregivers in order to enhance a child’s capacity for trust, empathy, and compassion.

The specific focus of the Matilda Theiss IMPACT Program is on providing mental health treatment and consultation to not only the child, but to the child’s family and caregivers in the community in which they work and live.

The program is designed for young children:

• With a diagnosed mental health disorder, such as disruptive behavior disorder, depression, anxiety, ADHD, or another.
• Who are deemed at risk for mental health disorders, due to documented prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs or having a parent or sibling with a diagnosed mental illness.
• Transitioning out of more restrictive services, such as inpatient or partial hospitalization programs.

Brief-treatment mobile therapy services can be provided one to six hours per week for 36 weeks. Services are provided in the community — typically in the home or school settings.