| Mikan & Migisi Day Treatment Programs |
| The term Mikán means "I find it or I discover it" in the Annissinabe or Ojibwa language. Mikáná translates loosely into the "path or roadway". For us the term Mikan means the ability to leave ones old pathway in life to find a healthy new direction. This Native American term says much about what we are helping our clients to accomplish. The new path will not be one which was given to the client in the past. Rather, it will be a direction that the clients themselves create from a place in their lives free of unhealthy sculpting and the effects of trauma. The path found through Mikan is meant to be a new direction for the client's life, one which they sculpt themselves. |
Marriage & Family Health Services, Ltd.
| The Mikan program was developed in 1995 and is designed to intervene when traditional outpatient services are not sufficient. The Migisi program has been created for the 5 to 11 year old; with the Mikan program designed for the needs of the 12 to 19 year old. These programs give the child and family an opportunity to meaningfully change and remain in their home, school, and community. The Mikan programs have been highly successful and allow the student to keep up academically as they gain academic credit while completing their treatment goals. Our day treatment services are provided by licensed and certified therapists who possess not only years of experience working with children, but have formal education in the complex techniques that have been demonstrated empirically to be most effective. Just as it would not be reasonable to trust one’s physical health to a physician who is unlicensed, we believe that all children and teens who are referred for the level of care that characterizes our day treatment programs should have services provided by licensed and certified professionals. Our day treatment programs are built around the most current evidence-based interventions available. We make use of a range of sophisticated and proven tools for helping troubled children and teens, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) approaches, Trauma Reprocessing and Resculpting Therapy (TRRT), Play Therapy, and a range of other strategies. It is because of the complex nature of these kinds of treatment techniques that we require licensure and certification of our staff. The provision of these sophisticated techniques takes place on a highly individualized basis. Our approach requires three to four staff for the ten to twelve children or teens at each of our sites. This strong staff-to-client ratio allows the close attention and care that is necessary for effective treatment. Our treatment day is just that, a treatment day. We leave the task of education to the experts in our local school systems and focus instead on a very intensive half day of psychotherapy. While we use psycho- education techniques to help children develop the skills they need to succeed, the cornerstone of our effective treatment approach is intensive therapy provided by licensed and certified experts. In such a personally intense treatment approach, the composition of a group is vital. That is why we separate our groups by developmental stages that fall roughly along the divisions between elementary, middle, and high school, which correspond to our Migisi and Mikan programs. This division of age groups allows us to tailor the day treatment approaches to the psychological, emotional, cognitive, social, and developmental needs of children and teens on a much more individualized basis than programs that adopt a one-size-fits-all model. And, perhaps most importantly, our treatment philosophy is predicated upon the belief that a large part of our job is helping children and teens find their own way to the desire to change. While behavior modification models, like boot camp programs and some day treatment approaches, can produce good behavioral compliance while the child is in-program, there tends to be very little carry-over in post-treatment. Our goal is to help children and teens come to their own recognition that change is important to them; they then become powerful allies in their own success. On a related note, we do not believe that behavioral or psychological change can or should be coerced by punitive or restrictive approaches and never by the use of holds or restraints, which we regard as not only dangerous, but dehumanizing to both the child and the person applying the hold. Our Understanding of "Bad Behavior" Bad behavior in kids – whether it’s “simple” stubbornness or noncompliance at home, disruptiveness in the classroom, alcohol or drug abuse, or illegal behavior on the street – is about trauma, confusion, frustration, hurt, shame, and pain. Real, gut wrenching, soul withering pain. The kind that would defeat most of us. is that day treatment is about dismantling the barriers that keep a person from finding his or her way to peace, a way out of the hurt and pain. Certainly, in some cases, some teaching is in order – skills are important, whether they’re social skills, self care skills, or better appreciation of the mixed-up ways all of us can sometimes think. But psycho-education is not enough. It’s also not about discipline or “behavior management,” and it’s certainly not about force. No matter how troublesome a child’s behaviors may be, it is not possible to force a person to change when he or she is not ready. You may “win some battles” but the children who find their way to day treatment are waging a desperate war, one that involves their very emotional survival. Their stubbornness in clinging to their problem behaviors is their only lifeline. For us at Marriage and Family Health Services, day treatment is about safety. It’s about using years of experience and training and passion for the work to create a time and place in which anguished children and teens can work through the pain that drives their behavior. And, of course, it is about providing the best, evidence-based, individualized treatment available. Trauma and Loss – The Painful Secret At Mikan Day Treatment, our years of research into the lives of the children with whom we work, and into the factors that have led to our proud record of success in helping them recover, have confirmed for us again and again that all behavior has meaning. Children are not oppositional because it’s fun; they don’t neglect their school work because they’re “bored;” and they don’t break the law because they’re delinquents. Their misbehavior is not random. What we have found is that in more than 90% of the cases – the children and teens who end up in day treatment do so because of misbehavior that is driven by underlying loss and trauma. The sad fact of it is that very bad things happen in this world and, for the children who find themselves in our care, it sometimes seems like most of that bad happens to them: physical and/or sexual abuse, neglect, and the loss of important relationships because of poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, and other factors. For almost all of the children who meet criteria for Level I Day Treatment Services, trauma and loss is part of the fabric of their lives. So much so that they sometimes have no sense of it themselves. In fact, approximately a quarter of all of the trauma that is reported by our clients comes to light for the first time while they’re in treatment. And many of the others, those whose burden of pain has been identified before they arrive in day treatment, have made no connection between that pain and their awful, disruptive, troubling behavior. They just know that no matter how much they want to, they have never had luck at “being good” and “following the rules.” Our Work We, the staff of Mikan Day Treatment, take great pride in the training, experience, and devotion that helps us to create the unique environment that allows traumatized children and teens to understand themselves and their behavior, and to change the course of their lives. Yes, we use a myriad of time-tested techniques – but the keys are safety, warmth, and patience. If you believe you have a child who would benefit from one of our day treatment programs, please use the referral process listed below. |
| Lisa Lo, BSW Case Manager Eau Claire Mikan ecmuckwa@sbcglobal.net |
| Jessica Stiteley, MFT Case Manager Eau Claire Migisi ecmikan@sbcglobal.net |
| Carrie Spaeth, BSW Case Manager Chippewa Falls Mikan chippewafallsmikan@att.net |
| Carolyn Schultz, MAC Case Manager Mondovi Mikan mondovimikan@frontiernet.net |
| Bethany Julien, BS Case Manager Ladysmith Mikan ladysmithmikan@centurytel.net |
| Victor Michalek, BA Case Manager Marshfield Mikan marshfieldmikan@frontier.com |
| Jacki Streveler, MS Case Manager Marshfield Migisi marshfieldmigisi@frontier.com |
| Jessica Springer, APSW Case Manager Rice Lake Mikan mikan-ricelake@chibardun.net |
| Katie Swift, BSW Case Manager Rice Lake Migisi migisi-ricelake@chibardun.net |
| Megan Mills, MS Case Manager Hudson Mikan hudsonmikan@att.net |
| Jennifer Elkin, MS Case Manager Hudson Migisi hudsonmigisi@att.net |
| Day Treatment Referral Process When a child or teen is identified as one who might benefit from therapeutic day treatment, the person making the referral (e.g., parent, teacher, social worker, school administrator, physician, etc.) should have a discussion with the child's parent/guardian about the opportunity to participate in Mikan/Migisi. The referral form can either be faxed to us or you are welcome to call us together and we can help you complete it. If the parent/guardian would like us to contact them directly, we do need to have their permission obtained. Neither the referral nor the intake appointment obligates the family or school in any way. The purpose of contact will be to learn more about the program and requirements. The referral source may be identified as a point of contact and can be included in the treatment planning for the child. Please click on the link below to view our referral form, please complete and fax to our business office at (715) 832-0771, our staff can forward it to the appropriate case manager for you.
Please feel free to contact us at our business office should you have any questions. You may do so by phone (715-832-0238) or by email at mfhsec@sbcglobal.net MFHS Referral Form MFHS Newsletter - January 2012 |
| Eau Claire Mikan & Migisi Programs |
| Chippewa Falls Mikan Program |
| Mondovi Mikan Program |
| Hudson Mikan & Migisi Programs |
Rice Lake Mikan & Migisi Programs
| Ladysmith Mikan Program |
Marshfield Mikan & Migisi Programs
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| Day Treatment Graduate Testimonials |
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