CHILDREN'S SERVICES

Grief and Trauma Specialty Team

(formerly Child & Adolescent Intensive Treatment Services - CAITS)

Specialized Treatment for Children and Youth

What to Expect When Your Child is Affected by a Trauma

Download a brochure about our Trauma program

Download a brochure about our Complicated Grief program

Gateway Healthcare has developed two specialized programs to provide intensive
treatment services to children and youth who have experienced traumatic events or have complicated grief issues. These evidence-based programs offers trauma and grief therapy services and psychiatric consultation and assessment to children and their families.

WHAT IS TRAUMA?
Trauma is defined as any real or perceived lifethreatening situation. Children often have varied
emotional and physical reactions after experiencing a trauma that is emotionally painful, distressful or
shocking. If unresolved, there are often lasting mental and physical effects. The following is a list of the types of trauma a child can experience:

• Disasters/Events: Disaster or events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorism, war, victim
  of crime, serious car accidents, etc.
• Abuse: This includes sexual, physical and emotional or verbal abuses and/or witnessing domestic violence.
• Neglect: Neglect is the failure of caregivers to fulfill their responsibilities to provide needed care.
• Death-related Trauma: A Sudden Death occurs without any forewarning; it is unexpected. A Traumatic Death, in addition to being sudden, can also be violent or destructive and may involve many deaths. Trauma may also occur when the child has witnessed a long-term illness.

WHERE DOES COMPLICATED GRIEF ARISE?

• A child may experience complicated grief if death loss was sudden, traumatic and violent such as with homicide, suicide and accidents.
• Complicated grief may develop if the child has already had previous multiple losses and/or if the deceased individual was abusive/neglectful to the child.
• A child may also experience complicated grief if there is inadequate or inappropriate support through their social network.

INDIVIDUALIZED THERAPEUTIC SERVICES
Gateway’s services include community and homebased therapeutic sessions which use play therapy,
cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy and parent education resources. Our highly trained team
of psychiatrists, clinicians and case managers works with the family and all key stakeholders to develop
an individualized treatment plan based on the family’s needs. Additionally, Gateway works collaboratively with FRIENDS WAY, Rhode Island's only bereavement center for children to offer peer-to-peer support for bereaved children and their families. 

Many of our teams are co-located in several schools throughout Rhode Island allowing for seamless and expedient access, as well as efficient care coordination.

CONTACT US
For more information, admission criteria or to contact us, please call (401) 729-8701.

For emergency services, call toll-free 866-429-3979.

These specialized programs are funded through Medicaid and the Rhode Island Department of Human Services.