Young Persons Unit

Dunfillan – YPU is a day hospital and offers a number of places for young people under 16 years of age experiencing complex mental health difficulties. We offer intensive structured clinical programmes, to assist in alleviating these difficulties and in supporting a smooth transition back to your local service. The Y.P.U is open Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 4pm.

The Y.P.U. team is currently made up of many different health professionals, including Psychiatrists, Nurses, a Social Worker, an Occupational Therapist, a Psychologist, a Speech & Language Therapist, a Teacher, a Drama Therapist and an Administrator. The multidisciplinary team allows Young People and their families to receive a comprehensive assessment and to be assisted and supported in various aspects of their difficulties with different team members.

The Y.P.U is part of the Lucena services and can accept Young People from all of the Lucena Clinics in Tallaght, Rathgar, Dunlaoghaire, Bray and Wicklow. Clinicians in all of these sites refer young people to Y.P.U., if deemed appropriate.

If it is felt that our programme would be helpful for you, then an intake meeting will be arranged in Dunfillan Y.P.U. A member of the referring team is welcome to accompany you if you wish. The Young Person and their family will get a chance to meet some team members and will be familiarised with the building and our policies and procedures. Both the young person and their parents / carers will be expected to consent to the YPU procedures and to the treatment plan in writing.

You will meet your key nurse and a psychiatrist who will discuss your treatment. This may include a combination of groupwork, individual and family work. You will then be given a timetable of your activities for the week.

This is where you meet with a team member. This will allow you time to discuss your difficulties, progress and any other relevant issues. Individual therapies eg Behavioural Therapy, Cognitive – Behavioural Therapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy are available at the YPU. The most appropriate therapy for you will be fully discussed with you.

We believe that groups are supportive and helpful to young people and allow them to feel less isolated and to meet others who are experiencing similar difficulties. Examples of groups on offer are: - life skills, self esteem, relaxation, anxiety management, creative group and drama therapy group. Your key nurse will help you decide which groups are relevant for you.

There will be a number of meetings involving you and your parents / carers (and if appropriate your siblings). These meetings aim to help families discover their own strengths and resources, so as to devise more effective solutions to their difficulties.

A school visit is usually arranged by the team, to allow us hear any concerns your teachers may have in relation to your progress at school. The team may work with your teachers to alleviate school-based difficulties you may experience.

If felt to be appropriate, a psychiatrist will discuss medication options with you and your parents / carer's.

We hope the Y.P.U. would be a short term intervention and that with intensive support and treatment you will improve quickly. In general it takes us about 6 weeks to get to know a young person. We are then in a better position to decide with each young person and their parents / carers whether further treatment will be helpful. A review meeting is scheduled to occur, 6 weeks after your starting date, where a joint decision is made in relation to your care.