Mental Health Treatment
Mental Health
The mental health track is available to male and female persons age 12-17 that are struggling with some form of psychiatric issue. Suitable DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition) disorders would include Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, ADHD, etc. Practical behaviors seen would consist of suicidal ideations/prior attempts, sadness, withdrawal, mood swings, out of control raging, self harm, self depreciating statements, distorted thoughts, past trauma, excessive worry, repetitive non- directional behaviors, rebellion, hyperactivity, etc. Moreover, additional behaviors that may be seen from persons in the mental health track are eating/sleeping impairments, academic decline, social impairments, low tolerance level, hopelessness, helplessness, lack of energy, hypersexual behaviors, problematic hygiene, or possible loose associations and thought content. We offer residential, partial day hospitalization and intensive outpatient for persons with mental health psychiatric difficulties.
Psychiatric Treatment
Psychiatric treatment in the mental health track is spearheaded by our board certified child and adolescent psychiatrists who use knowledge of biological, psychological, and social factors in working with our clients. Initially, a comprehensive diagnostic examination is performed to evaluate the current problem with attention to its physical, genetic, developmental, emotional, cognitive, educational, family, peer, and social components. Our psychiatric treatment team then provides a diagnostic impression which is shared with the client and their family. Collaboratively, the psychiatric treatment team, the parents and the client design a treatment plan which considers all of the generated components. The treatment plan identifies problematic responses, specific triggers to the problematic behaviors and coping skills that can be engaged in while in treatment. These coping skills are then practiced while in treatment and thereby transferred back into the home environment upon step down and eventual discharge from the program. The treatment plan is signed by the client, parents and all pertinent members of the psychiatric team. This plan is reviewed weekly to assess for progression, regression, the need for modification etc.
At Adolescent Growth our approach to psychiatric treatment involves individual, group and family psychotherapy; medication management; and consultation with other physicians or professionals from schools, juvenile courts, social agencies or other community organizations. We are committed to aiding clients in this track by equipping them with skills to tolerate discomfort and self soothe in socially appropriate fashions.
Psychosocial Aspect of the Mental Health Track
A key component of the mental health track is the psychosocial groups that are offered at Adolescent Growth. Group therapy is offered multiple times per day and is seen as a vital aspect of treatment. Group therapy allows our clients to not only connect with others, who are experiencing similar issues, but also to learn from others’ unique experiences and to practice the new coping skills that are being acquired. Oftentimes persons suffering from a mental health related issue feels very isolated and singled out. They see themselves as the only person who seemingly has a particular issue. Group therapy can be powerful in dispelling that myth. Clients are also given the opportunity to bond and thereby begin to break out of social isolation.
Our group therapists utilize well-known methods that have produced desired effects in countless research studies. DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) and CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) groups aid clients in skills acquisition. The groups offered can be structured or discussion based, and therapists use art, music, film, media stories, role-play, and other tools to facilitate healing in the group environment.
Specific groups offered include the following:
Mindfulness Group:
Aim: To introduce mindfulness and acclimate clients to practice and to experience “Wise Mind”. “Wise Mind” assists clients with having their emotions and thoughts work together so that wise action can be taken. Clients learn when they are in wise mind they can meet each moment of life as it is, not as they would have it be, and respond to individual moments more skillfully. Art therapy, music therapy, visualization, and meditation are often used to help clients accept and tolerate the powerful emotions they feel.
Emotional Regulation Group:
Aim: To strengthen client’s ability to identify and label emotions, identify obstacles to changing emotions, reduce vulnerability to emotional explosions, increase positive emotional events, and apply coping techniques. Clients are introduced to DBT skills such as Opposite Action, Letting Go of Emotional Suffering, Problem Solving, and the Story of Emotion. Each skill assists clients with increasing their ability to self-regulate.
Distress Tolerance Group:
Aim: To strengthen client’s skills in managing a crisis without making the crisis worse or doing more harm to themselves/others. The goal is for clients to become capable of recognizing and reacting to negative situations differently than in they have in the past. Clients learn how to recognize a crisis as well as its impact on their lives, rather than becoming overwhelmed or reacting emotionally. This skill allows clients to make wise decisions about how to take action in a crisis rather than engaging in often destructive behaviors.
Interpersonal Effectiveness Group:
Aim: Teaches client’s effective strategies for asking for what one needs, saying no, and coping with interpersonal conflict. Group focuses on how to maximize client’s abilities to reach their goals without damaging relationships or their own self-respect. Clients often will engage in role-play to practice skills learned in group.
Self-Esteem Group
Aim: To strengthen self-esteem by highlighting our clients’ strengths and encouraging self-care. Art therapy, music therapy, and open discussion are used to define self-esteem and its role in clients’ functioning. Clients are taught to recognize their strengths, affirm themselves, and validate their thoughts and feelings. Brainstorming is used to identify daily strategies for strengthening self-esteem. Often issues of past abuse surface during this group, and clients are offered a safe and supportive environment in which healing can take place.
Spirituality Group
Aim: To help our clients develop a sense of being part of something larger than themselves, and to promote awareness of one’s purpose in life. Clients are encouraged to share personal experiences with spirituality, religion, God, or a higher power. Readings, art therapy, music therapy, and open discussion are used to guide clients in examining the link between spirituality, healing, and accountability.
Healing the Addicted Mind Group
Aim: To assist clients in understanding and correcting faulty thinking patterns that contribute to issues such as addiction and other self-destructive behaviors (cutting, raging out of control, etc), depression, anxiety, and anger. Clients are guided in examining and understanding their own faulty thinking patterns, and how these affect their emotions and behavior. They are then taught to challenge and correct those thinking patterns by implementing principles of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Family Dynamics
Aim: To help our clients understand family systems theory and how it applies to their own families. Psycho-education, art therapy, and role-play are used to guide clients in exploring their own family dynamics and understanding how each family member’s behavior affects the entire family system in both positive and negative ways. Clients are challenged to see their similarities to their family members and to simultaneously learn to appreciate each member’s uniqueness.
Violence Prevention and Conflict Resolution
Aim: To improve clients’ ability to deal with interpersonal conflict in productive, non-violent ways. Clients are invited to share personal stories of witnessing or being involved in interpersonal conflict. Open discussion, role-play, and therapist/peer feedback are used to examine the cycle of violence and teach how to use problem solving to resolve conflict in healthy ways.
Behavior Group
Aim: To promote daily efforts towards self-generated weekly goals that relates to our clients’ individual treatment plans. Upon entering treatment, each client develops a goal with specific behavioral components that can be practiced every day. During this daily group, each client restates his or her goal and reports on how he or she worked toward that goal since the last group. Clients are held accountable for working towards their goals by linking their efforts to promotion in our tier system.
Process Group
Aim: To allow our clients to share and process challenges and successes related to treatment. This daily, open-discussion group is used to allow clients to share anything that is on their minds. Therapist and peer feedback is used to help clients process their thoughts and feelings about both obstacles in treatment and positive strides towards goals.
Education
An academic facilitator is staffed and on site to design, manages and to executes an individualized academic plan for each client. The education part of the program is an individually paced study of traditional junior and high school courses. This allows the client to confront troubled areas, which may block academic and social growth. We take education very seriously and we realize that academics directly impact each client’s future. The school program is operated on a twelve-month basis. The curriculum meets all legal requirements of the Education Code.
Spirituality
We define spirituality as the courage to look within and to trust. What is seen and what is trusted is a deep sense of belonging, of wholeness, of connectedness and of openness to self. Spirituality is crucial in recovering and reclaiming self dignity and self respect because we believe that to make mistakes in life is to find your life. The connection between psychology and spirituality encourages troubled teens to find and connect themselves to a higher calling and purpose in life.
Our caring treatment team is eager to help you and your hurting family.
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