Lesson Three - Types of Therapeutic Environments

There are different options for care depending on the severity and type of mental illness a person is diagnosed with. This final lesson will explore the different settings and provisions for each option.

Active/Acute Therapy

Active or acute therapy is the most extreme form of therapy for a mental illness. There are private treatment centres that people can pay to attend to help with mental illness, but there are also public facilities available. The only caveat with the public facilities is that the majority of people need a referral to get into them since they are usually at capacity. For more information on these facilities, check out the Inform Alberta website.

You can see that this page is from the Central zone for child and youth in-patient facilities. Notice on the right-hand side the note about referrals and eligibility requirements. Feel free to change the AHS zone to whichever zone you live in and see what services are available in your area.

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Central Alberta Zone

The two main adult facilities in central Alberta are the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre and the Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury (located in Ponoka).

There is one main child and youth facility located at the Red Deer Regional Hospital.

Calgary Zone

There are three main child and youth in-patient facilities located within Calgary. These facilities are the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Foothills Medical Centre, and South Health Campus.

Edmonton Zone

There is an adult in-patient facility located in Edmonton, but this facility is reserved mainly for people who have committed a violent crime and also have a mental illness.

South Zone