Planned Parenthood Toronto has launched online group therapy for youth struggling with mental health concerns.The group therapy platform connects participants with both trained therapists as well as with peers struggling with similar issues.
A first of its kind service in Canada, the online group therapy is open to young people aged 18-29, and is completely free and confidential.
The inaugural online sessions--one focusing on depression, one on anxiety and one on relationships--began early last week. For seven weeks registered participants will be provided with tools for coping with anxiety and depression and will participate in group chats with their peers and individual chats with an experienced therapist.
The impetus behind the initiative was two-fold, explains Sarah Hobbs-Blyth, executive director of Planned Parenthood Toronto. It was a response both to a lack of free counseling services for youth in the city, as well as an acknowledgement that all sorts of barriers (from time, to parental resistance) can stop youth from accessing the services they need.
"There were a lot of things that coalesced to make this happen," says Blyth "For one, awareness of mental health issues facing youth is on the rise....We also did a needs assessment at Planned Parent Hood Toronto and saw that youth in Toronto really wanted to access information using technology as long as it wasn't a passive experience. That is they were more likely to access information using technology if they had someone to interact with."
The online group therapy program is currently in pilot phase but, says Blyth, PPT anticipates that the program will be renewed.
"The hope is that once we start to see the positive impacts of the program we'll find funding to continue it in the future."
Writer: Katia Snukal
Soure: Sarah Hobbs-Blyth, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Toronto