Treatment planning is individualized, and progress toward specific goals is regularly reviewed. Treatment services are comprehensive. Group treatment for social skills training is essential for latency aged and adolescent patients and is provided several times during the year. The outpatient program is located in the Wightman Community Center in Squirrel Hill and serves an average of 100 patients per month. The response to medications is documented empirically rather than anecdotally by implementing standardized rating scales, questionnaires, and observational strategies.
Parents receive direct teaching about the risks and benefits of medications.
This was established to provide more intensive treatment than is typically available through community support services and traditional outpatient settings when specialized classroom settings are not available. Partial hospital services utilize the same treatment modalities as mentioned above. Assessment and treatment is provided by a multidisciplinary team that includes a clinical psychologist, a child psychiatrist, a behavioral psychologist, a clinical social worker, four bachelor-level clinical associates, and a pediatric nurse practitioner. Various treatment interventions are used, including group therapy, social skills training, anger control, behavior management, medication evaluation and management, and school consultation. This is a collaborative effort between the Merck Program and the Pittsburgh Public Schools.