Mental Health and Addiction
In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental health or addiction problem. By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have – or have had – a mental illness.
Mental Health and Addiction Services (MH&A) at the Brant Community Healthcare System provides a variety of inpatient and outpatient acute hospital care services. We are a dedicated team made up of, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, and clerical staff. All of the programs and services we offer are based on recovery, striving to assist individuals in meeting their wellness goals, and transitioning to living well with community supports and services.
MH&A team members are bound by codes of confidentiality. Although the support of family and friends is valuable in assisting the individual to recovery, it may not be appropriate or possible for team members to share all information with family and friends. Please respect this obligation.
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Our working hours are from 8am-4pm Monday-Friday. We are currently offering appointments in person and virtually to meet the needs of the community. Click here to read the most recent memo to our community. |
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Please note: If your patient/client requires a psychiatrist, please contact a physician’s office directly. Referrals to OP MH&A services do not include Psychiatry.
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Additionally, all referral forms must be completed with the client’s valid healthcare number. Initial appointments are booked through phone calls as we do not have access to book initial appointments thought text messaging. Please provide the clients direct personal phone number or the best way to reach them. |
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Who do we serve?
We primarily provide counselling and treatment services to individuals living in Brant County and surrounding areas who are 16 years of age or older, and experience symptoms of mental health and addictions concerns.
Individuals can be referred to us by a physician/psychiatry, community supports, and other professionals. We also accept self-referrals.
Our focus is on emergency and acute mental health and substance abuse or dependence care. We support individuals through a continuum of care from Emergency Department, to inpatient acute mental health and substance use concerns, to community based support through our outpatient program with ongoing collaboration with our partners.
Our Core Components of Service
| Assessment | The ongoing comprehensive and holistic picture of the patient's current state of wellness. |
| Individual Therapy | The one-to one collaborative therapeutic relationship between the care provider and patient that focuses on the patient's wellness goals. |
| Group Therapy | A form of psychosocial treatment for a group of individuals facilitated by trained therapist(s) where the individuals interact with one another to meet individual wellness goals. |
| Medication Therapy | Medications may be offered to some patients, to optimize therapeutic outcomes for those individuals. |
| Transition Planning | Transition refers to as the shift from one type of healthcare service to another. The goal of transition is to provide health care that is uninterrupted, coordinated, developmentally appropriate and psychologically sound prior to and throughout transfer into other parts of the Mental Health and Addiction System. Transition planning and preparation involves providing individual with the knowledge and skills they will need to be successful in achieving these ends. |
What programs do we provide?
Emergency Mental Health (ERMH) is a key component of the Mental Health and Addictions Program. Our team includes Registered Nurses and Social Workers who specialize in Mental Health.
This team will conduct a thorough initial assessment of patients who present to the Emergency Department with mental health concerns. They complete mental health crisis risk assessment, collect background information, and provide care recommendations and advice to Emergency Department Team on a consultation basis. The team is well versed with referral pathways to community mental health supports and offer this service to patients who may not meet the criteria for an inpatient admission. Although operating from the Emergency Department, the ERMH team collaborates with the Inpatient Mental Health team to ensure a smooth transition for those who are admitted.
If you believe you are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can contact the St. Leonard's Crisis Line at 519-759-7188 or 1-866-811-7188, or call 9-1-1, or proceed to the Brant Community Healthcare System Emergency Department. There is no wrong door to accessing emergency mental health care.
The Acute Day Treatment (ADT) program is a voluntary, transitional mental health recovery based program for outpatients that is designed to assist individuals with goal-setting, learn coping strategies, enhance daily life, connect with community resources, and learn about symptom management.
The ADT program is a 6 week program that consists of twice-daily appointments with its members in a group setting (5 days per week), as well as optional social-recreational groups. The ADT Program operates Monday through Friday, between 8am-4pm, and is closed on all statutory holidays and weekends. The program is offered as a hybrid model; clients are encouraged to join in-person if able, but a virtual option is available. Individuals must be at least 16 years of age to participate and only psychiatrist referrals are accepted at this time.
The goals and outcomes of the program include:
- Increased ability to use healthy coping skills
- Positive lifestyle changes to daily routine (eating, sleep, time management, and communication)
- Improved self-awareness (interests, abilities, triggers, stressors, warning signs of being unwell)
- Improved access to community resources and community supports
- Improved self-management of mental health symptoms
- Reducing hospitalization and emergency department visits
For more information please contact 519-751-5544 ext. 2657
The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic is an outpatient mental health clinic for children and adolescents (ages 5-18). This referral-only clinic runs once a week and offers:
- Psychiatric Consultation
- Rapid Response
- Transitional Counseling
- Access to Early Interventions and Early Psychosis Intervention programs (if applicable).
More information about the CAPC can be found here.
Click here to access the referral form.
Supplemental Information
Please use the below documents to supplement your referral:
Crisis Counselling offers psychoeducation and skills for individuals with serious and persistent mental health related issues. This program offers up to three individual sessions for people aged 18+ in the Brantford and Brant County region.
The problem at hand must include a mental health and/or addiction issue but our service is more tailored towards a focus in mental health. There are other services in our area that focus on addiction being the prime focus. For example, Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) and St. Leonard’s.
The crisis counselling program provides time sensitive therapeutic care to persons seeking mental health support. In a single session, you will have the opportunity to present and address your immediate problem with a social worker counsellor. Your immediate needs will be assessed by the counsellor and together you will make a treatment plan that is best for you.
Please note that there is a wait for this service. Priority is determined mainly by risk level and also by length of wait. Please ensure that all sections of your referral form be completed, including Risk. Incomplete referrals will be returned to you via fax for additional information. Your client’s place on the wait list will be preserved in the interim.
If there is a change to your risk level, please notify intake at 519-751-5544 ext. 2329 or ext. 5530
The Early Intervention Program/Wayside Alongside Youth (WAY) Program at the Brantford General Hospital accepts referrals for people aged 16-24 years. The program accepts youth who are experiencing first or worsening mental health concerns or are transitioning from youth to adult services.
WAY services the Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk areas and people referred to WAY will be asked to attend a group orientation via Zoom. Once the orientation is completed the client will be placed on the WAY-Early Intervention waitlist. Please note that waitlist times are different based on locations for services.
The WAY program offers one on one counselling for up to one year and is made up of two social workers and two peer support workers. Social workers provide the one-on-one counselling, while peer support workers provide outreach and use their personal experience of mental health and the healthcare system to promote hope that recovery is possible.
As an Early Intervention Program, if someone has successfully completed a year in this program, they are not eligible to access it again in the future. However, we will consider readmission for unable to complete or follow through from referral, please feel free to connect for further information.
For more information please contact 519-751-5544 ext. 2126
The Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) program is a voluntary program delivered through formal partnerships between Brant Community Healthcare System and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). EPI services the Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk areas. Our main offices are located at the Brantford General Hospital, but clinicians are able to meet clients in their community as needed.
The EPI Family Support program is for parents, siblings, partners and friends of an individual who has been diagnosed with, or is showing signs of psychosis.
We provide intensive services that involve assessments, consultations, education and treatment plans. We also help clients and families identify concerns and goals and develop plans to support wellness and recovery. Our team consists of highly skilled and trained multidisciplinary team of nurses, occupational therapists, social workers/family support, and psychiatrists.
We focus in coping strategies, psychological treatment, and medications within a Cognitive Behavioural Model. We endeavour to provide continuous, comprehensive, consistent psychiatric care to provide stabilization as quickly as possible to allow individuals to engage in community aftercare.
The aim of this Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) program is to equip you with the knowledge and tools of how to support both your loved one and yourself on this recovery journey.
Some of the services we offer through this program include:
- Individual counselling
- Education and support groups
- Opportunity to connect with other families for support
- Coping and safety planning
- Involvement in the client’s care with permission
- Links to community resources
For more information please contact 519-751-5544 ext. 5530
Assessment
When a patient is admitted to our Acute Inpatient Mental Health Service, an admission assessment is started immediately by the nursing staff. An initial assessment by a psychiatrist will be done within 24 hours of admission. The psychiatrist will direct patient care through ongoing assessment and communication with team members. The mental health team consists of: family, pharmacist, nurses, occupational therapists, therapeutic recreationists, family doctor and the psychiatrist. Any or all may be included in a patient’s care.
Family doctors will be kept informed of patient progress and may visit the unit on a regular basis or as needed. Goals of an inpatient mental health admission are to stabilize the acute mental health crisis—potentially with treatment or medication— regularly monitor and evaluate risk of harm to self or others, as well as to provide programming and services designed to enhance wellbeing once a patient returns to the community. Additionally, our team works to help patients and their loved ones identify post-discharge goals that can be supported through access and referrals to community resources for follow-up care.
Talk to us
Nursing staff will attempt to make contact, via telephone or interview, with family/friends shortly after admission. We recognize the important role that family and loved ones can play in the support of a person experiencing a mental health challenge. If you have information that you wish to share with the psychiatrist or the team about a loved one who is admitted to the inpatient unit, please contact nursing staff.
Nursing staff will be glad to talk to you about your relative's condition/progress and to answer questions related to hospitalization. Please note that Mental Health staff are bound by codes of confidentiality and it may not be appropriate or possible to share all information with you without consent from the patient.
To speak with nursing staff, you may ask at the nursing station when you are visiting or you may telephone the unit at 519-751-5544, ext. 2424.
Visiting Hours
Visiting hours are designed to match our program and are different from the main hospital. Visiting a patient on the unit must be arranged in advance by contacting the unit directly. If you are unable to visit during regular visiting hours please discuss this with your loved one’s care team.
This partnership between Brant Community Health Care System (BCHS) and JonAyves Learning Club is designed as a pilot program to support students from Kindergarten through Grade 12 with literacy and numeracy, particularly those within the mental health communities. Our primary goal is to explore the connection between confidence in education and its impact on anxiety levels and overall mental health, particularly in relation to attending school and engaging in an academic environment.
Why This Partnership Matters
- Many students become outpatients of BCHS due to anxiety or other reasons that prevent them from attending their regular school days.
- Our goal is to help these students build confidence in their education through 1-on-1 virtual sessions, ultimately aiming to improve their mental health and willingness to attend school.
- Students spend between 10,000 to 15,000 hours in school between Kindergarten and Grade 12, with an average of around 1,000 hours per year. It is critical to ensure that students remain in school as much as possible to foster both academic success and emotional well-being.
- This partnership will work to improve students' outlook on learning and school by providing education in a safe, personalized environment.
- Students won’t need to leave their homes to participate. JonAyves Learning Club has found that virtual sessions greatly benefit families, offering accessible, structured learning support.
How We're Making a Difference
Through this collaboration, we will:
- Leverage the expertise of JonAyves Learning Club in literacy and numeracy instruction.
- Combine BCHSYS’s years of experience and care in the mental health space to address the educational challenges faced by students in Brantford.
- Explore new ways to support students who struggle academically due to mental health-related barriers and analyze how improving their educational confidence can positively impact their mental health and school attendance.
Click here to download an information sheet about the JonAyves Learning Club
Staff at the Medication Clinic administer long acting injections (LAIs) to outpatient clients. Through regular contact with a Registered Nurse, regular assessment of a patient’s biopsychosocial needs is undertaken to understand how they are coping and adapting within the community, and to optimize medication effectiveness in supporting the identified goals of treatment. The Medication Clinic assures adherence/compliance to medication therapy which helps clients lead an optimal life in the community.
Referrals to the Medication Therapy Clinic for both inpatients and outpatients will only be accepted from psychiatrists and/or general practitioners with privileges to The Brant Community Healthcare System. The need for medication monitoring may be identified by any member of the treatment team, but will be undertaken only when ordered by the attending family physician and/or psychiatrist.
Psychiatrists, family physicians and/or nurse practitioners without hospital privileges will make arrangements with the MH Group Programs/Medication Therapy Psychiatrist for interim treatment coverage while the client is an active client of the Medication Therapy Clinic.
Talk to your psychiatrist or family physician if you have questions about Long-Acting Injectable (LAI) medications or the role of the BCHS Medication Clinic.
What this program does
The Ontario Structured Psychotherapy (OSP) program provides access to free, evidence-based psychotherapy and related approaches for individuals 18+ with depression, anxiety and anxiety-related concerns.
How this program helps
OSP is structured to provide short-term support, focused on a particular problem or goal, using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Different treatment options are offered based on the level of care that meets each client’s individualized needs. Many clients will begin with treatments that combine self-led strategies, such as the BounceBack program which provides guided workbooks, with support from a coach by telephone. Additional services include structured group or one-on-one therapy, virtually or in person within the community.
Topics Addressed:
- Depression and low mood
- Generalized anxiety and worry
- Social anxiety and performance fears
- Unexpected panic attacks and agoraphobic fears
- Health anxiety
- Obsessive-Compulsive concerns
- Post-traumatic stress
- Specific fears
- Other anxiety- and stress-related problems (e.g. work stress, test anxiety)
Funding and governance of OSP
OSP is funded through Ontario’s Roadmap to Wellness mental health and addictions strategy. The Ontario Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence is responsible for supporting implementation and oversight of OSP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and its partners.
In Ontario’s West Region, OSP is managed through a partnership between St. Joseph’s Health Care London and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, along with a number of community organizations who provide local therapy to clients. Learn more at OSPWest.ca.
How to Access OSP West
OSP West accepts referrals from health care providers and self-referrals from potential clients. To learn more and to access referral forms, visit OSPWest.ca. Health care providers using the Ocean eReferral Network can make a referral by searching for “OSP West”.
BCHS is dedicated to supporting families affected by mental health and substance use problems by providing resources such as;
- Early Psychosis Intervention – Family Support Group
- Partnering with Families Affected by Mental Health – Education Group
- Patient Family Advisory Committee
For more information please contact Rebecca McAuley.
Phone: 519-751-5544 ext. 2114
Email: rebecca.mcauley@bchsys.org
This service is provided in partnership with out local Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk RAAM.
The RAAM Team will share your substance use management strategies and treatments, including medications and psychosocial interventions, to ensure a holistic approach throughout this journey and reconnect you with your primary care provider.
For more information click here.
The Early Intervention Program with Outpatient Mental Health and Addictions Services offers peer-facilitated groups for youth ages 16-25. These groups offer psycho-education on topics such as skill building for executive functioning concerns, learning to cope with chronic pain, building foundational skills for wellness (hygiene, sleep, exercise, etc.) and self-esteem.
The groups involve guest speakers from community partners and healthcare professionals.
Once a referral is received, clients will be contacted and notified of available cohort dates and times. There is a maximum of 15 spots per cohort.
Click here to download the referral form.
Poster for Foundational Skills Group.
Posters for other groups.
The REP Group is a drop-in group for ages 16+ at the Brantford General Hospital. A Recreational Therapist and Peer Support Specialists facilitate the group. REP offers opportunities for individuals to learn new skills, develop hobbies, socialize, do recreational activities and practice leisure.
During REP, facilitators will carry on conversations on educational mental health topics.
Rep runs every OTHER Tuesday starting April 15th, 2025, from 1:30-2:30 at the Brantford General Hospital E-Wing level Upper 1.