Introduction, Problem Gambling
Location: {Smith Centre} Contact: {Denise}

Clients Room

The Youth Services program at the Sister Margaret Smith Centre offers a variety of residential and community counselling programs for youth. Our overall purpose is to assist youth, together with family members, who are directly experiencing the harmful effects of alcohol and other drug use.

Our Goals

The goals of the youth services program are:

Treatment Models

The Sister Margaret Smith Centre promotes a holistic approach to recovery from substance abuse. Our programs range from intensive residential or day treatment to community counselling and outreach. We use a variety of approaches and resources based on individual needs.

Components of the program include:

The Team

The youth services staff is composed of counsellors and youth workers with academic backgrounds from Child and Youth Work, Social Work and Psychology.

Other members of the team include a Recreational Therapist, Physician, Spiritual Advisor and Consulting Psychologist. Community resources include a Native Spiritual Worker brought in on a regular basis to enhance programming.

Basketball Court

All youth that come to the clinic have a case manager and a prime worker assigned to them. These people will work closely with youth to guide them before, during and after their treatment experience.

Youth Workers run evening and weekend programming that range from group education, self help meetings, and recreational components. Life skills classes are offered to help youth practice daily living tasks.

A full time Therapeutic Recreationist will help youth learn about healthy ways of living. The Smith Centre also has a gym that sees a lot of volleyball, and basketball action. A craft program will also allow youth to let their creative side grow! Regular community outings are an important part of Smith Centre programming.

Referrals are easy to make and are accepted from anywhere in Ontario.

The Youth Services program of Sister Margaret Smith Centre offers a variety of programs to assist youth with their substance use issues up to 18 years of age.

Referrals - 5 Easy Steps
Step 1	Assessment A substance use assessment is required prior to admission. This assessment can be completed at an assessment and referral centre in your area. In Thunder Bay the assessment can be completed at Family Services 807.684.1880 or at the Sister Margaret Smith Centre 807.343.2425 ext 2553. If you do not have an assessment and referral centre in your area please call us for information as to how get an assessment.
Step 2	Intake Our Intake Worker will review the assessment and contact the referent and the client to arrange a screening interview. This interview may be by phone or in person for local youth. A multi-disciplinary team reviews all client information to determine if the service meets the client's need.
Step 3	Pre-Treatment All clients are encouraged to participate in some form of pre-treatment before entering the residential program. This process ensures that they are ready for the intensive program.
Step 4	Intensive Treatment Sister Margaret Smith Centre Youth Services provides a five week intensive substance abuse treatment program utilizing a holistic, harm reduction approach to recovery which focuses on changing behavior through examining beliefs and values. The program includes group therapy, individual counseling, education sessions, life skills development, self-help introduction, leisure and recreation skills and relapse prevention. The residential treatment program offers 8 residential beds per block to youth who are from out of town and/ or require this level of safety and supervision. This program also offers 2 beds per block for local youth who require the intensive day treatment component from Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 3:30 pm (Eastern Time).
Step 5	Community Based Treatment Youth Studying After treatment, youth may attend individual counseling, an aftercare group or be referred to other services in their community as needed. Community Based Services are offered to youth in the Thunder Bay community and surrounding area. The majority of these programs offered through the Sister Margaret Smith Centre are in coordination with the Thunder Bay Integrated Youth Addiction Services. The agencies involved with these services are: Sister Margaret Smith Centre- Youth Services Lakehead Regional Family Centre - New Experiences Program (This program offers services to youth with concurrent disorders of mental health and substance use.) Family Services Thunder Bay - Assessment and Referral Program (this program offers intake, assessment, education screening and referral of youth with substance use issues.)