Together, we are redefining mental health care for youth, creating a brighter, healthier future for those we serve
Powered by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and The Garry Hurvitz Centre for Community Mental Health (GH-CCMH) at SickKids.

Glossary
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Acute Care
A health concern that needs immediate attention or support.
AMANI
A mental health and substance use service designed to support Black youth and their families.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
A condition that affects how a person communicates, learns, interacts with others, and behaves. It is called a spectrum because of the different levels of symptoms someone may experience.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
An eating disorder where people will avoid or limit eating certain foods for reasons unrelated to body weight and/or appearance.
To learn more, please visit: https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/avoidantrestrictive-food-intake-disorderarfid-overview
Brief counselling
Short-term counselling focused on specific goals or concerns. *The number of sessions can vary.
Child custody/access case
A legal process where parents or a court decide how children will be cared for and who will make decisions for them after parents are no longer together.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
A type of therapy that helps a person understand the connection between your thoughts, feelings and actions.
Cognitive level at and below the moderate developmental and/or intellectual delay
A level of learning and understanding where a person may need additional support.
Community Services
Programs or supports available in the community such as counselling, peer support, housing support or family services. *Please use the KHP widget to explore community services near you.
Complex
When a person experiences multiple challenges or needs that may require support from multiple professionals and/or services.
Consultation
A meeting to talk about concerns, ask questions, share information and discuss next steps for care.
Coordination of care
Health-care providers working together to coordinate a person’s services, supports, and treatment.
Crisis
A situation where a person feels overwhelmed, unsafe or unable to cope.
Crisis management
Crisis management involves providing a person with immediate support, creating a plan to help keep them safe, and connecting them with appropriate care.
Diagnostic Assessment
An assessment with a qualified professional to help explain a person’s symptoms, challenges, and experiences.
Dinosaur Social Skills Program
A group program that helps children develop social, emotional, communication and problem-solving skills.
Education and Community Partnership Program (ECPP), formerly known as Section 23 classroom
A specialized education program in Ontario to support students who cannot attend regular classes due to medical, mental health or behavioural needs.
Family-Based Treatment (FBT)
A treatment approach often used for eating disorders that lets parents or caregivers play a larger role in supporting a young person’s recovery.
Frontline clinician
A health-care professional who works directly with their patients.
Genetically Susceptible
When a person may have an increased chance of developing a certain condition. This does not mean they will definitely develop that condition.
Harm reduction
An approach to care that focuses on reducing risks and harms that come from specific behaviours; harm reduction promotes health, safety, and well-being.
Integrated Care Pathway (ICP)
A step-by-step plan that outlines a person’s care journey from the start of treatment until the end.
Measurement-Based Care Framework
This involves collecting patient data throughout treatment to help inform and improve clinical care. For example, patient data could include monitoring how they’re feeling throughout the course of their year.
Medical Home
A team-based approach to organizing and delivering comprehensive care. For example: doctors and social workers.
Multidisciplinary team
A group of professionals who support your care. This may include: psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, and other health-care professionals.
Naloxone
A medication that can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Neurodevelopmental Disorder
A condition that affects how the brain develops and functions.
No catchment
A service that does not require a person to live in a specific geographic area to access it.
Non-acute/non-urgent
A concern that is important, but does not require immediate or emergent attention.
Non-clinical
Supports or services outside of medical assessment and treatment such as peer support and educational support.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A mental health condition where a person has unwanted thoughts called obsessions. A person with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder will feel they need to repeat specific actions or rituals (called compulsions) to reduce their anxiety.
Pharmacological management
The use of medication, often alongside other treatment methods, to help manage health symptoms.
Primary Forensic Concern
When the main focus of assessment, treatment, or support is related to a legal or justice issue.
Psychiatry
The area of medicine that focuses on mental health.
Psychosis
A condition that may cause a person to see or hear things that others cannot and makes it difficult for them to determine what is real and what is not.
To learn more, please visit: https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addictionindex/psychosis
Psychosocial Support
Supports that focus on both your mind (psycho) and life around you (social), and how they impact one another.
Selective Mutism
An anxiety disorder where a person can speak in situations where they feel comfortable, but then they find it very difficult or impossible to speak in other social situations such as school or around unfamiliar people.
To learn more, please visit: https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-how-to-help-a-child-withselective-mutism/
Streamline care
Making services easier to access and better connected so a person can get the support they need more quickly and with fewer barriers.
Subspecialist
A health-care professional with advanced training and expertise in a specific area of care.
System navigation support
Help finding, understanding, and connecting with the programs, services and supports that best meet a person’s needs.
Tourette Syndrome
A condition that causes a person to have involuntary or unwanted movements and/or sounds called tics
Unstructured supportive individual therapy
A one-on-one therapy where session topics are led by the patient and what feels important to them. It does not follow a set plan or schedule from the therapist.
Trusted Resources
Explore a wide range of trusted tools and resources designed to support and empower young people and families with information and guidance.

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