Outpatient clinic for risk behavior and self-harm (AtR!Sk)

The outpatient clinic for risky behavior and self-harm (AtR!Sk) opened in April 2013 and is intended to help shorten long waiting times for young people with risky behavior and self-harm (see questions below for examples) and thus enable faster, specific diagnostics and treatment.

Therefore, all young people and their families who feel addressed by the topic and are between the ages of 12 and 17 can come to our open consultation hours every Thursday between 10 and 11 a.m. in the building at Blumenstrasse 8. A brief telephone appointment in advance is requested for organizational reasons.

In our work, it is particularly important to us to find out which risky and self-harming behaviors occur as part of the normal development process and have nothing to do with serious psychological problems, and which behaviors indicate the onset of a mental illness and are associated with a strong psychosocial burden for those affected and their families.

In AtR!Sk we understand the term risky and self-harming behavior to mean the following:

• Regular self-harm (e.g. “cutting”, burning yourself, hitting yourself)
• Suicidal thoughts, suicide plans or suicide attempts
• Binge drinking (often in combination with other substance abuse) or drug use (smoking weed, pep, LSD, etc.)
• Media and internet addiction
• Sexual risk behavior (e.g. frequent unprotected sex)
• Impulsive and delinquent behavior.

Our services

Quick assessment and help during open consultation hours

We - qualified doctors and psychologists - offer an initial brief contact (20-30 minutes) as well as an assessment and a plan for further action every Thursday from 10:00 to 11:00 during open consultation hours. Any young person and/or parent affected by the problems mentioned above can come to see us without making an appointment. However, we would be happy if you would register in advance, as this will enable us to avoid long waiting times.

Possible further procedures could include further diagnostics or treatment in AtR!Sk. Sometimes a direct referral to established colleagues, psychotherapeutic outpatient clinics or parenting and addiction counseling centers can be the most sensible next step.

Specific and comprehensive diagnostics

A diagnostic (consisting of a detailed examination of stress, problem behaviors and psychological problems) takes 2-3 hours and takes place on a morning in the following weeks after the open consultation hours. In addition to a detailed examination of existing risky and self-harming behaviors, the focus is also on personality diagnostics and testing for mental illnesses. Following the diagnostics, the young people and their parents receive feedback and recommendations. This appointment lasts around 45 minutes. Depending on the results of the diagnostics, we recommend various therapy options at our clinic or with colleagues.

Therapies

At AtR!Sk itself, we currently offer the following disorder-specific therapies on an outpatient basis. These are mainly carried out by our psychologists:

• Individual short-term therapy for risky and self-harming behavior (10 sessions). This newly developed short-term therapy is intended to lead to a significant reduction or termination of self-harming behavior by teaching you new strategies for dealing better with stress and pressure.
• Short-term therapy for self-harming and risky behavior in adolescence
• Combined individual and group therapy over 25 weeks for personality development disorders (so-called dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents, DBT-A). DBT-A supports you in surviving difficult, stressful situations, perceiving and dealing with your own feelings, and solving problems with others better. You can take part in a total of 21 group therapy sessions and 25 individual therapy sessions. During the group therapy sessions, appointments with caregivers are scheduled approximately once a month - during which the parents are also given an insight into the therapy.
• Integrative medical advice: if drug treatment is necessary, we offer detailed advice in which we weigh up all the risks and benefits of such treatment. This is carried out by a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry.
• Of course, we also admit (part-time) inpatients to our clinic if necessary. The day center, the psychotherapy ward or the early treatment center are available for this purpose.

If you answer "YES" to any of the following questions, we could be a possible place where you can get professional help quickly.

• Do you take illegal drugs?
• Do you drink until you black out or quite often?
• Have you intentionally hurt yourself recently?
• Do you often have intercourse or unprotected sex?
• Do you spend most of your free time on the Internet and playing computer games and are you in trouble with your parents because of it?
• Do you sometimes think about taking your own life?
• Have you already come into conflict with the law?Did you answer yes to any of the questions? Then please contact us or simply come to our open consultation hours!