Behavioral Health Team
Behavioral Health Team
Supporting Optimum Well Being for Adults with Developmental Disabilities
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Who We Are
Our Services
Our Expert Team
Training and Education
Our History
Denver Options' Behavioral Health Team provides effective, professional services that will improve a person’s overall well being and behavioral health through achieving person-centered goals that will improve communication, relationships and overall life skills.
Our service model focuses on identifying the underlying causes of behavior concerns, such as trauma, undiagnosed mental illness, medical issues, cognitive functioning abilities and environmental factors to ensure productive therapy goals. We offer specialized therapy services such as EMDR, relaxation techniques and social/emotional groups.
Our approach to assessment is team based, emphasizing a thorough, comprehensive assessment to ensure accurate diagnoses and useful recommendations for the person, family and service provider team. Services are closely coordinated with providers, service coordinators, families, PCP and other therapists.
Our Services
Behavior Assessment Clinic (BAC) – Psychiatric Evaluation
A complete, interdisciplinary evaluation and assessment conducted by our psychiatrist with our other experts in psychology and behavior analysis. This comprehensive assessment clinic meets together with the person, family members and team to review all presenting problems and historical issues. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation report is completed, with detailed recommendations.
Functional Behavior Assessment and Consultation
Key to assisting a person with any behavioral concern is an initial Functional Behavior Assessment. This service includes a thorough records review, interviews and observation to provide analysis, recommendations and consultation for developing Individual Behavior Service Plans and staff training.
Individual Therapy
Individual treatment sessions are available to meet the needs of customers with a variety of mental health and/or behavioral service needs, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, grief support, substance abuse, and cognitive restructuring.
Groups
A variety of groups have been developed specifically for persons with intellectual disabilities to support needs to learn skills, receive emotional support and build self-confidence. It has been demonstrated that therapeutic groups are highly effective and successful for persons with ID. We offer the following groups:
- Women's group
- Anger management
- Relationship skills
- Parenting support
- Self-empowerment
- Drug and alcohol therapy
- Teen talk: Strategies for the "good life"
Psychological and Neuropsychological Evaluation
Testing services include assessments of intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. More comprehensive evaluations include a battery of neuropsychological tests to evaluate abilities such as verbal and/or visual memory and retrieval, problem-solving ability and other areas of executive functioning. These evaluation reports and recommendations provide valuable information for service planning and support provision of all kinds, including vocational rehabilitation and employment services.
We are a multidisciplinary team with expertise in Psychiatry, Psychology, Behavior Analysis and Social Work. Each team member has expertise in working with persons who have an intellectual disability.
Riki Towle, MA, BCBA
Riki has been working with persons with developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health needs since 1984 and led the initial development of the Behavioral Services Team in 1990. She received her graduate training from Southern Illinois University and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Her primary areas of specialty are functional behavior assessment, behavior consultation and staff training.
Greg Thaler, PhD
Greg is a psychologist with over 35 years of experience working with persons with developmental disabilities. He received his doctorate degree from the University of Colorado and joined the Behavioral Health Team in 1998 after eight years in private practice. Dr. Thaler practices client-centered therapy, and his areas of specialization include neuropsychological assessment, individualized and group psychotherapy, staff training and behavior consultation.
Margaret Davis, MD
Margaret has been the Psychiatrist with Denver Options’ Behavioral Health Team since 1996. She completed her medical training at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and her psychiatric residency at the University of Colorado. She practices in the area of adult psychopharmacology, with a specialization in working with people with developmental disabilities. She leads the Behavior Assessment Clinic Team and sees many persons individually for medication evaluations and other consultations.
Katherine Schoech, MA, LPC, Doctoral Candidate
Kathy has 24 years’ experience in the developmental disabilities field. She joined the Behavioral Health Team in 2005 upon obtaining her license in Professional Counseling. She has specializations in substance abuse, anger management and PTSD. She provides individual and group therapy, as well as staff training. She is a certified EMDR treatment specialist and is currently working on her doctorate in clinical psychology.
Beth Peterson, PsyD
Beth is a psychologist with the team since 2008. She has over 17 years of experience working with persons with intellectual disabilities. Beth practices client-centered therapy and her areas of concentrations include group therapy, neuropsychological assessment and existential therapy. She is also interested in multi-cultural issues, special populations and conducting research.
Nina Cruchon, MSW
Nina has worked with persons with developmental disabilities for over 25 years in a number of capacities. She has a specific interest in the development and provision of services for persons with behavioral and mental health needs. She joined Denver Options in 1994 and has been the director of the Behavioral Health Team since 2000.
We offer a number of workshops on topics that will advance participants knowledge and skills, and enhance successful services and supports. We are also available to provide in-service trainings for agencies, families and other organizations, upon request.
Download the 2011-2012 Clinical Training Series flyer.
Intern Program
We are an approved intern site for doctoral psychology students and frequent have a doctoral intern and Masters Level students in Social Work and Counseling Psychology.
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Our History
Over 15 years ago, Denver Options started an innovative Behavior Assessment Clinic in response to a need for assisting our customers with behavioral and mental health needs, commonly referred to as a dual diagnosis. Over the years, our team has grown, and we currently provide comprehensive behavioral health services for our Denver Options’ customers and others throughout the Denver metro area community. We are also a valuable resource for consultation, community education and professional training.
Events
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02/24/2012 - 9:30am
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03/05/2012 - 10:00am
