Spurwink Services

About Spurwink Services

Spurwink Services, listed here in Lewiston, Maine, is a nationally accredited nonprofit providing behavioral health and education services to children, adolescents, adults, and families across the state. They began with a single house in Portland and now operate more than 50 locations. Their work centers on people facing mental health challenges, emotional and behavioral disorders, autism, and intellectual or developmental disabilities, with an emphasis on building on each person’s strengths and staying with them for the long haul. Services range from outpatient therapy, case management, and school-based counseling to day treatment schools, therapeutic preschools, residential treatment, and treatment foster care.

For young people, clinicians use evidence-based approaches such as Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Motivational Interviewing (MI), and they treat family involvement as central to progress. Families needing more intensive help can turn to Functional Family Therapy, a structured model aimed at improving how the household functions and lowering risk. Master’s-level therapists also work inside public schools and primary care practices, so support is available where kids and families already spend their time. Other specialized options include residential care for youth ages 5 to 21 with autism, intellectual, or developmental disabilities (including many who are non-verbal), abuse assessment and treatment through the Spurwink Center for Safe and Healthy Families, and vocational training that helps young people prepare for work.