Arizona State Hospital

Mission Statement

The mission of the Arizona State Hospital Counseling Therapy Program is to provide a range of individual and group therapy modalities for patients in the hospital. Additionally, therapists provide coaching and support for staff assigned to the treatment units. Therapists provide treatment for individuals who present with challenging treatment issues such as emotional dysregulation or borderline personality disorder (DBT Program), post traumatic stress disorder, a history of sexual abuse, anger management problems, co-existing substance abuse/mental health issues (MICA Program) and behaviors indicating the need for treatment with detailed behavioral programs.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT, developed by Marsha Linehan, Ph.D. and her colleagues at the University of Washington in Seattle, is a form of treatment that research has proven effective in working with individuals with multiple problems, including those with a history of suicidal, self-harming, and other self-destructive behaviors. 

Additional research has shown its effectiveness with eating disorders, substance abuse and adolescents who are suicidal and/or self-harming. DBT is currently available on the Ironwood 1 and the program is being developed on our Desert Sage Treatment Unit.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy consists of four primary modes of treatment:

• individual DBT therapy
• skills training classes
• coaching in the use of the skills in the environment
• consultation for treatment team members

Skills training education is focused on the following four areas:

• Core Mindfulness Skills
• Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills
• Emotion Regulation Skills
• Distress Tolerance Skills

Mentally Ill Chemically Addicted Program (MICA)

Mentally Ill Chemically Addicted (MICA) provides comprehensive addiction and mental illness treatment for patients who require a clinical focus is on both mental illness and addiction.

Patients learn to understand, accept, and cope with the challenges of mental illness and chemical addiction. The program offers intensive group therapy and weekly individual therapy sessions are available. MICA staff works with the agencies that will provide treatment following discharge from the hospital.

The MICA program at Arizona State Hospital utilizes the approaches suggested by the Stages of Change Model (SCM). The idea behind the SCM is that behavior change does not happen in one step. Rather, people tend to progress through different stages on their way to successful change. Each patient progresses through the stages at his/her own rate. Each person must decide for himself or herself when a stage is completed and when it is time to move on to the next stage. Our staff assist in this process. 

Individual and group therapy focus on:

• education about addiction and mental illness
• antecedents to substance use
• changing maladaptive behaviors, thoughts, and emotions
• relapse prevention

Individual Counseling

Treatment utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), didactic/teaching approaches, are available for the following:

• eating disorders
• addiction
• depression
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• family issues
• personality disorders
• self-esteem issues
• anger management

Additional group and individual therapy will be developed to meet the needs of our patients and their treatment teams.