Therapy

In 2014, the Burke Center for Youth adopted and implemented an Integrated Treatment Model, which includes Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), and Equine-Assisted Therapy as evidence-based and trauma-informed behavioral interventions. As caregivers, all staff are trained in TBRI.

TBRI is a trauma-informed holistic approach that is multidisciplinary, flexible, and attachment-centered. It is a caregiver training that is specifically designed for parents and caregivers of children who have experienced maltreatment, abuse, neglect, multiple home placements, and violence, but is an approach that can be used with all children. TBRI helps caregivers understand what should have happened in early development and then guide children and youth back to their natural developmental trajectory.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, commonly known as EMDR, is a mental health therapy method. EMDR treats mental health conditions that happen because of memories from traumatic events in your past. It’s best known for its role in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but its use is expanding to include treatment of many other conditions.

Sand tray therapy is a therapeutic technique, or tool, that can be used with kids, teens, and adults to help therapists diagnose and treat various mental health conditions. Unlike other therapeutic techniques, this type of therapy allows you to show your feelings rather than articulate them.

Sand trays in psychotherapy are a creative approach to reading a person’s mind and unlike other techniques, you don’t have to force a client to talk. [Instead] clients let out their emotions and frustrations over sand miniatures, and in the process heal their psychological wounds. That’s why it’s  particularly effective for people who have lived through trauma or experienced abuse. They can express their emotions without having to experience the distress of talking or reliving the event. It’s also an effective technique for kids because children sometimes have a difficult time expressing verbally how they’re feeling.

It can also be effective for kids, teens, and adults who:

• have  depression
• have an  anxiety disorder
• have  attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• are  autistic
• are  grieving
• have learning difficulties
• have  low self-esteem
• have physical disabilities

Scott Caton is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and a Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider Supervisor. A member of the Burke Center for Youth team since 2015, Scott has worked with young men in Child Protective Services and/or on Probation since 2007. In addition to providing talk therapy, he is also trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Mediation.

Although raised in Northern Virginia, Ashley was born in Texas and returned to obtain an undergraduate degree at Baylor University. In 1998, she was awarded a Master’s degree in Social Work from The University of Texas in Austin with a specialization in Mental Health and, what was then, Chemical Dependency, now Substance Use Disorder (SUD). For over 30 years, Ashley has had the pleasure to work as a social worker in all aspects of mental health including psychiatric, SUD treatment, criminal justice, school, private, and non-profit settings. She has creatively worked with and direct staff, interns, and clients individually and in groups. She spent most of her career building programs, supervising staff, and clients in the context of residential, day and outpatient mental health treatment while conducting individual, couples, and family therapy.

As a therapist, Ashley fosters a relationship based on trust, strengths, support, and empathy. She offers and encourages constructive feedback, safety, respect, and, self-care. Ashley is joined in practice by her special needs therapy Siberian Husky, Nash!