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In 1979, Mt. Hope Family Center began as a therapeutic preschool program for children affected by violence in their home or community. We’ve become the only agency in Rochester employing two innovative concepts to help build strong families.
First, Mt. Hope Family Center combines scientific research, clinical services and hands-on mentoring and training in one facility. By working closely together, we’re developing and providing more effective therapies while improving research in human development, maternal depression, child neglect and abuse.
Secondly, although our work is rooted in psychology, we want to discover how other scientific disciplines might improve our understanding of human development. Integrating elements of social work, medicine and, most recently, engineering is creating scientific collaborations that keep us on the leading edge of our field.
Sheree L.Toth Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Mt. Hope Family Center. Dr. Toth is also a tenured associate professor of psychology at the University of Rochester.
Latest News
Sheree L. Toth, Ph.D.
Keynote Speaker at Conference in London on June 18, 2010
Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health's
Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture and National Day Conference
on "Child Maltreatment: The Way Forward."
Dr. Toth presented "Bridging Research and Practice: Relational
Interventions for Maltreated Children."
The emphasis of the Jack Tizard Lecture and Day Conference is one of clinical practice and day-to-day relevance. It was named after Jack Tizard CBE, prior Chair of ACPP, who was a great exponent of multi-disciplinary research and successfully worked on areas traditionally considered within the guarded boundaries of other professionals. Jack Tizard's immense work within the child and adolescent mental health field was recognized internationally and he was awarded both the Kennedy International Scientific Award (1968) and the Research Award of the American Association on Mental Deficiency (1973).
The Jack Tizard Memorial Lectures repidly gained a place in the clinical calendar following their inauguration in 1983. The topics covered reflect this inter-clinical element and eminent speakers have included Professor Philip Graham, Professor Scott Henggeler, Dr. Carole Kaplan and Professor David Galloway, to name but a few. The Lecture appears in the Association's journal, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and past conferences have also been reproduced as an Occasional Paper.
(Link to the ACAM Jack TIzard Memorial Lecture for more information)
Carnival For A Cause
A Grown-Up Evening with a Carnival Theme on July 17, at the Dragonfly Tavern on Park Avenue in Rochester, was a fire-abulous success! The fund raiser was held to benefit the Africa Yoga Project (www.yogashines4change.com) and Mt. Hope Family Center. The Beaumonts, Slightly Better than Bad, Angelo Rose and Doug Zogby filled the evening with music, along with fire shows, face painting, Henna Tattoos, raffles and games.
We're in the TOP 10!
The Society for Research in Child Development has reported that Dr. Sheree Toth and co-authors Drs. Fred Rogosch, Melissa Sturge-Apple, and Dante Cicchetti's article on maternal depression was in the top 10 article downloads on their website in 2009! Actually, two of the top 10 are MHFC data!
Toth, S. L, Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., & Sturge-Apple, M. L. (2009). Maternal depression, children’s attachment security, and representational development: An organizational perspective. Child Development, 80, 192-208.
You can find the list on the SRCD website: http://www.srcd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=76&Itemid=511
Research
Research at the Mt. Hope Family Center focuses on the maltreatment of children and on child and adult psychopathology, including their prevention and treatment. Current areas of research include an assessment of the efficacy of The Center's varied treatment programs and an assessment of sequelae of maltreatment for children. Additionally, research is being conducted on the developmental processes of children raised by depressive and manic-depressive parents.
Intervention
The intervention component focuses on the assessment and treatment of families experiencing severe familial dysfunction and of children at risk of foster care placement and/or emotional difficulties. A number of treatment programs are available to The Center's clients, who are usually referred by the Preventive Unit of the Monroe County Department of Human Services. All of the intervention programs are based on manualized treatment approaches with documented efficacy. The programs available include a child-parent psychotherapy intervention to strengthen familial relationships for children from birth to age five and their caregivers. Children under age six in these programs are assessed across multiple domains of functioning, and the attachment-theory informed intervention is tailored to meet the needs of the children and families. An after school program is provided for at-risk school-aged children that is designed to build the children's self-esteem and to improve their peer relationships utilizing the PATHS (Promotion Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum. A summer camp for school-aged children is offered annually. Child therapy, IPT (Interpersonal Psychotherapy) intervention for depressed mothers and their children, foster family treatment, and parenting classes utilizing The Incredible Years curriculum are also offered.
Training
Graduate students from the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology participate in all of The Center's clinical service programs. Students may also undertake a variety of independent study projects.
