Therapy Techniques for Adolescent Residential Treatment

This Article Discusses the Following:

• Definition and importance of adolescent residential treatment
• How to tell if your adolescent requires residential treatment
• Common, specialized, and alternative therapy techniques used in residential treatment
• What to expect during residential treatment
• Qualifications of therapists in adolescent residential treatment centers
• Residential treatment outcomes
• Payment for residential treatment
• Education in Adolescent treatment centers
• How therapy techniques can help treat co-occurring disorders in residential treatment

Residential treatment centers use various therapy techniques to help teens overcome severe cases of mental health and substance use disorders. At Key Healthcare, we administer specialized, holistic, and recreational therapies to adolescents with addiction and mental health issues. Let’s review the relevant techniques in this article to help you understand what constitutes our teen residential treatment in LA.

Introduction to Adolescent Residential Treatment

Adolescent residential treatment is a long-term mental health care for teenagers with severe mental health and addiction disorders. It happens in specialized residential treatment centers that address cases that cannot be best managed at home or in outpatient settings. Teenagers are accorded 24/7 care and support in these facilities to help them recover and live long, healthy, and productive lives.

The Benefits of Adolescent Residential Treatment

• It removes, eliminates, or minimizes outside distractions, allowing adolescents to focus fully on recovery
• Teenagers enjoy direct, constant access to mental health professionals
• It allows teens to meet a new set of peers
• It administers family and group therapies, offering teenagers additional support.
• It allows teenagers to keep up with their coursework while undergoing treatment

Signs That Your Adolescent Child Requires Residential Treatment

Residential treatment is highly recommended when outpatient treatment does not work or if your teenager relapses repeatedly. Teenagers who lack appropriate support (for their mental health and behavioral issues) and repeatedly engage in risky behaviors that put them, their family, or friends at risk should also be talked into residential treatment. Other signs that residential treatment may be the best option for your teen include severe substance abuse, self-harm tendencies, and teenage suicidal thoughts or attempts.

Importance of Early Intervention in Teen Residential Treatment

Early intervention is highly recommended in substance abuse and teen mental health disorder treatment as it identifies disorders at the earliest possible stage, preventing them from escalating or becoming severe. Some of its benefits include:

• It increases the chances of overcoming a behavioral, mental health, or substance use challenge
• It helps teenagers avoid the painful consequences of substance abuse, such as criminal charges
• It leads to better treatment outcomes since people are more motivated and receptive to change before they become addicted to substances.
• It allows teenagers to develop strategies, healthier habits, and relapse prevention skills early enough for sustained recovery and reduced relapse rates.
• It allows teenagers to reclaim their lives, leading to better emotional stability, physical health, and relationships.

The Impact of Adolescent Residential Treatment on Long-Term Mental Health

Adolescent residential treatment can help stabilize severe mental health symptoms and reduce the intensity of mental health disorders, leading to long-term mental wellness. Additionally, the skills taught in residential programs, such as emotional regulation, communication, stress management, and problem-solving, can help teenagers achieve long-term mental well-being. Lastly, residential treatment helps teenagers address mental health issues, leading to better relationships, daily functioning, and more satisfying lives.

Common Therapy Techniques for Adolescents in Residential Treatment

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT for teens is premised on the idea that our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are interconnected; therefore, we can change our behaviors by altering our thought patterns. It is commonly used to treat teen substance abuse, teen depression, anxiety, adolescent bipolar disorder, and trauma. This highly-structured treatment method requires teenagers and their therapists to set specific goals and work towards them.

At Key Healthcare, we use CBT activities and techniques such as cognitive restructuring, journaling, relaxation and stress management, behavioral experiments, problem-solving, and guided discovery to help teenagers achieve better emotion regulation, problem-solving, relationship building, and negative behavior reduction.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

DBT for teens teaches teenagers to deal with difficult situations, manage emotions, and develop healthier coping skills. It requires adolescents to accept the possibility of two opposing thoughts or ideas existing so that they can accept themselves and change their behavior. At Key Healthcare, we administer dialectical behavioral therapy through skills training, individual therapy sessions, and phone coaching. We also use emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness techniques to help teenagers improve relationships and enhance their quality of life.

Family Therapy

Teen family therapy helps families understand and resolve underlying problems. It allows teenagers, siblings, parents, and other family members to learn new communication strategies, explore distressing issues, improve family relationships, clarify family roles, increase empathy, and develop healthier relationships. Techniques used in family therapy include behavioral techniques that focus on psychoeducation and skills training, structural techniques that help family members create new boundaries and establish routines, and psychodynamic techniques that assess how family members interpret and respond to problems.

Group Therapy

Teen group therapy is administered to teens with similar substance abuse or mental health disorders to help them learn how to be self-aware, cope with issues, and grow resilience. They also get to develop excellent communication, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution skills. As the session progresses, therapists provide the right tools and resources to the teenagers that can help them make positive life changes and develop healthy coping skills. Techniques used in group therapy sessions include role-playing, psychoeducation, feedback, reflection, active listening, self-exposure, sharing, guided visualization, and imagery. The benefits associated with this type of therapy include increased confidence, self-awareness, social skills, and empathy. Teenagers who undergo group therapy also develop excellent coping skills and feel less alone.

Specialized Therapy Techniques for Adolescents in Residential Treatment

Art Therapy

Art therapy for teen is an expressive therapy that allows teenagers to explore their emotions, improve their self-esteem, develop self-awareness, and address unresolved emotional conflicts. At Key Healthcare, we administer this therapy to help them achieve personal well-being and improved cognitive function. A few therapy techniques offered include painting, carving, drawing, sculpting, scribbling, photography, and collage creation. Studies have shown that this therapy approach can help reduce anxiety, depression, and stress.

Music Therapy

Residential treatment programs use music and musical experiences to help teenagers achieve individualized goals such as mood improvement, stress reduction, and self-expression. This music therapy interventions for teens is administered through improvisation, music production, songwriting, guided music/imagery, music listening, singing, instrumental performance, and music-assisted relaxation. Its benefits include better emotional regulation, improved cognitive functioning and self-expression, enhanced mood, stress reduction, and improved quality of life. It also promotes social interaction, leading to better communication skills.

Play Therapy

Play therapy is commonly administered in adolescent residential treatment to help teenagers process their emotions, deal with unresolved trauma, and articulate problems. It also teaches new coping mechanisms and helps with inappropriate behavior redirection. It can help with teen mental health treatment for anxiety, depression, grief, autism spectrum disorder, toileting and eating disorders in teens, abuse, neglect, domestic violence, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD in teens), family issues, behavioral problems, and learning disabilities. Common techniques used to administer this type of therapy include creative visualization, arts and crafts, storytelling, role-playing, water and sand, and toy phones.

Equine Therapy

Equine therapy is an experiential therapy that relies on horse-focused activities and interactions supervised by a qualified equine therapist. This type of therapy takes advantage of unique horse traits and sensitivities to help teenagers overcome emotional and behavioral challenges, such as poor self-esteem, communication issues, trauma, neglect, trust issues, abandonment, and abuse. Common equine therapy approaches include equine-assisted psychotherapy, therapeutic horseback riding, hippotherapy, and equine-assisted learning. Teenagers who undergo successful equine therapy report reduced anxiety, improved trust, reduced feelings of depression or isolation, improved communication skills, self-esteem improvement, and better impulse control teens.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy use eye movements and other bilateral stimulations to help teenagers with complex trauma, depression, teen post traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health conditions process traumatic events. It lets teenagers access traumatic memories in specific ways, helping them undo the mental injury inflicted by them. Benefits associated with this therapy approach include long-lasting behavioral changes, decreased emotional distress, and better management of trauma-based co-occurring disorders. Common techniques used in EMDR include bilateral stimulation, target identification and assessment, desensitization, positive cognition installation, cognitive restructuring, and closure.

Alternative Therapies for Adolescents in Residential Treatment

Alternative therapies are not classified under conventional medical practices. However, they are equally effective. Examples include:

• Holistic Approaches

Holistic approaches promote teenagers’ overall health and wellness by considering their minds, body, spirit, and emotions. They are premised on the belief that adolescents can achieve optimal health by gaining a proper life balance. At Key Healthcare, we offer diet and exercise as part of our holistic treatment programs. Other common approaches include acupuncture, holistic psychotherapy, homeopathy, and massage therapy.

• Adventure Therapy

Adventure therapy is an experiential therapy that uses challenging activities such as hiking and rock climbing to help teenagers achieve desired therapeutic outcomes. At Key Healthcare, we offer hiking and teen surf therapy to allow our patients to experience the therapeutic abilities of nature, engage in real-world experiences, achieve personal development, hone interpersonal skills, engage in physical reflection, and reduce stress.

• Mindfulness-Based Therapies

Mindfulness-based therapies are used to treat different physical and mental health conditions. They make teenagers more aware of their thoughts, emotions, feelings, surroundings, and situations for better responses. At Key Healthcare, we offer acceptance and commitment therapy for teens for stress reduction, cognitive and behavioral therapies to help teenagers overcome mental health and addiction challenges (We also have teen yoga!). Benefits associated with this type of therapy include reduced anxiety and depression, lower blood pressure, chronic pain management, and improved sleep.

Qualifications of Therapists in Adolescent Residential Treatment

Given the sensitive nature of mental health and substance use disorders, our residential treatment professionals are highly qualified. Let’s examine the education, training, certifications, licenses, experience, and expertise required for the best residential treatment outcome.

Education and Training

Most states require therapists to have a Master’s degree in psychology, social work, or counseling before licensure. Depending on their chosen practice areas, they also need supervised clinical training, specialized training, or fieldwork. Note that most psychologists in the United States have a doctorate in Psychology (Psy.D. or Ph.D.).

Certifications and Licenses

Here are some of the commonly available therapist certifications and licenses:

• Licensed Professional Counsellor

This a state-level license every professional counselor must have. Even though state requirements vary, most licensed professional counselors require a Master’s degree in counseling, supervised clinical hours, and a national licensing exam pass.

• Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)

A licensed mental health counselor requires a graduate or master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. They must also pass the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling exams.

• Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMGC)

A licensed clinical mental health counselor requires graduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology (or a related field) and internship experience. They must also pass the licensing examinations issued by the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination and the National Counselor Examination organizations.

• Licensed Professional Psychologist

Depending on the state, a licensed professional psychologist requires a doctoral degree in Psychology and 1500-6000 supervised hours. They must also pass the Professional Practice in Psychology exam.

• Licensed Clinical Addiction Counselor

A licensed clinical addiction counselor requires a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Psychology or addiction/substance abuse and supervised clinical experience. They must also pass the state and national licensure exams.

Other common therapist certifications and licenses include Licensed Mental Health Practitioner (LMHP) and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor of Mental Health (LPCC).

Experience and Expertise

Before being a licensed therapist in the United States, one needs at least 2,000-3,000 hours of supervised experience within a given timeframe and expertise in areas such as assessment and evaluation, clinical knowledge, therapeutic interventions, treatment modalities, trauma-informed care, ethics, and professionalism.

What to Expect During Adolescent Residential Treatment

Since your teenager will be with us for the entire treatment period, discussing a few things they should expect upon setting foot in our facilities is important.

Admission and Assessment

Worrying about your child’s condition and whether they will fully recover is stressful enough; therefore, we have made the admission process at our Key Healthcare facilities as relaxed and stress-free as possible. Upon contacting us, you will complete an in-depth assessment of your child to shed light on their condition. We will also verify your insurance coverage and inform you about your benefits.

Afterward, we will invite you to our treatment facility and let you meet our staff members and see where your child’s treatment will occur. Upon completing our assessment, we will recommend the best programs befitting your child’s condition and admit them to the facility with your permission. Please be free and ask our team any questions. We will also prepare your family for what to expect for the duration your child will be with us.

Individualized Treatment Plans

An individualized treatment plan is a comprehensive, person-centered, and recovery-oriented treatment plan developed in collaboration with a teen and their family members to promote lasting recovery. It allows teenagers to recover emotionally, cognitively, and socially by considering their social, spiritual, mental, and physical needs.

Components of an Individualized Treatment Plan

Treatment plan components vary depending on the teenager’s condition and treatment goals. However, here are some standard inclusions:

• Problem Statement

The treatment team must thoroughly assess and evaluate the client and their situation to identify problems, which are then expressed as problem statements. Items of evidence should accompany these problem statements, and the treatment plan should be adjusted when new problems arise. An example of a problem statement is ‘suffering from depression.’

• Goals

The teenager, family members, and treatment team must collaborate to establish clear treatment goals to address the identified problems. The goals should focus on problem elimination and skill improvement aimed at relapse prevention. They must also define the behaviors clients should exhibit consistently to recover fully.

• Objectives

Objectives are clearly defined tactics or skills required to reach established goals. These are concrete behaviors that can be seen or felt by those around the teenager. Most treatment teams set well-informed objectives by putting them up against the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based) criteria, ultimately leading to a thorough plan capable of reaching treatment goals.

• Interventions

Interventions are tactical and measurable items treatment teams use to help patients attain their goals and objectives. Common treatment interventions in individualized mental health treatment plans include group therapy for teens, family therapy, medication-assisted treatment, evidence-based approaches, and alternative therapies.

On top of the abovementioned components, the individualized treatment plan should also address medication management, relapse prevention, and cultural considerations.

The Importance of an Individualized Treatment Plan in Adolescent Residential Treatment

• It ensures that each issue is addressed on an individual basis
• It can be adjusted to accommodate different conditions or new problem statements
• It gives teenagers and their family members a say in the treatment plan
• It offers teenagers a personal recovery roadmap that can be used after treatment
• It addresses physical, social, mental, and spiritual treatment needs

Therapy Sessions

We offer weekly individual and group therapy sessions at our Key Healthcare facilities to help teenagers explore their emotions and understand how their thoughts and behaviors can impact their lives. They also occasionally participate in holistic and recreational adolescent therapy activities such as music production, art, and surfing to reduce stress and increase self-awareness. Lastly, we offer family therapy sessions to help family members build healthy boundaries, address communication issues and develop coping skills for long-term recovery.

Family Involvement

Family members are important in teen mental health and substance use treatment and recovery. Most residential treatment centers, ours included, offer family-centered treatment for better results.

The Importance of Family Involvement in Adolescent Residential Treatment

• It helps families understand and resolve the underlying problems within the family dynamic
• It promotes a better understanding of the struggles, challenges, and progress of the teenager in treatment
• It empowers the family to offer better ongoing support and encouragement
• It allows families to obtain more insight into co-occurring disorders, addiction, and recovery
• It helps families establish healthy boundaries and improve their communication skills
• It offers teenagers the much-needed support system and motivates them to get better
• It helps relapse prevention by promoting family members’ awareness of high-risk situations and potential triggers.
• Teenagers are likely to stick to their treatment plans and sustain positive changes when their families are involved.

Outcomes of Therapies In Adolescent Residential Treatment

Research Studies

Several studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of residential treatment centers in mental health and substance use treatment. A review of the research studies conducted between 1993-2003 on the residential treatment outcomes for children and adolescents concluded that it is an invaluable intervention, especially when offered as part of a comprehensive holistic and ecological care system. It also discovered that community support, aftercare services, and family involvement positively influence post-discharge outcomes.

Success Rates

Figuring out the success rate of teen residential treatment programs can be quite challenging owing to the many factors involved, such as the teenager’s perceived social support, self-efficacy, readiness to change, therapy outcome expectations, therapy treatment satisfaction, clinical profile (the stress, depression, and anxiety levels in patients) and associated emotions. Overall, teenagers who undergo residential treatment willingly are more likely to overcome their mental health and addiction challenges.

Long-Term Benefits

Recovering from a mental health or drug use disorder does not end with residential treatment. Since it is a process, teenagers require long-term follow-up to prevent cases of relapse. Such follow-up services ensure that teenagers receive ongoing support and accountability, helping them stay on track with their goals. They also help them cope with difficult emotions, manage stress and make healthy choices.

The Long-Term Benefits of Adolescent Residential Treatment

• The structured and supportive environment in residential treatment centers can help teenagers achieve long-term sobriety and substance use recovery.
• It equips teenagers will valuable long-term life skills and coping mechanisms
• The integrated treatment and specialized interventions used can help teenagers manage and improve different mental health conditions for better mental well-being and improved life quality
• It prevents mental health, behavioral, and substance abuse challenges from escalating, thus preventing future problems.
• It allows teenagers to work on self-awareness, personal growth, resilience, and long-term self-improvement.

Education in Adolescent Residential Treatment Center

Residential treatment centers ensure that your child’s academic life continues after they are admitted. Teenagers in such facilities require academic support to stay on top of their schoolwork. We have partnered with Mission Academy School at Key Healthcare to help teenagers obtain curriculum and credit recovery. We also have a friendly staff ready to support their studies.

Balancing Treatment and Education

Residential treatment programs must balance treatment and education since both play an important role in recovery. The daily routine is usually adjusted to allow for group activities, therapy sessions, and other treatment components and also offers time for academic assignments and studies. Teenagers must also find ways to balance treatment and education, which can be challenging. To help them, our treatment and educational staff at Key Healthcare offer individualized academic support to address any learning gaps, teach effective time management and prioritization skills, offer emotional support, and identify stress reduction and relaxation opportunities.

Paying for Adolescent Residential Treatment

Parents can use different payment options to clear their children’s treatment bills. The most common are payment plans, insurance coverage, and scholarships/ grants.

Insurance Coverage

You can pay for your teenager’s treatment via insurance, which is the most common payment method used. We have partnered with several insurance providers, such as Value Options, Health Net, BlueCross BlueShield, and Anthem BlueCross, to give you an easy time. However, we urge you to make a point to obtain the following information from your insurance provider:

• The number of sessions covered per year
• The deductible for inpatient treatment
• Co-payment, if any
• Whether the plan covers outpatient mental health services too
• The duration per session covered

Alternatively, verify your insurance here and find out more about your coverage.

Payment Plans

Depending on the situation, some centers offer payment plans for parents (without insurance) who cannot afford to pay the full amount before treatment begins. In this payment approach, the residential treatment center works out the best arrangement for you, depending on your budget.

Scholarship/ Grants

Residential treatment can be expensive. Certain nonprofit organizations assist parents unable to afford treatment or make timely payments. Note that scholarships are generally given on a ‘per need’ basis and can offer partial or full treatment funding, while grants are awarded by state-funded facilities such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Co-Occurring Disorders in Adolescents: How Therapy Techniques Can Help

A co-occurring disorder is said to exist when a teenager has a concurrent mental health and substance use disorder. Previous studies have placed the prevalence of co-occurring disorders at 18.5%: a significant percentage being patients in residential treatment facilities. Common examples of co-occurring disorders include alcohol addiction and depression, drug addiction and anxiety disorder, and lastly, substance use disorder and schizophrenia.

Integrated Treatment Approach

Residential treatment programs use integrated approaches to help teenagers address underlying mental health issues. It recognizes the connection between mental health and addiction and aims to treat both conditions concurrently.

A multidisciplinary team administers mental health and substance use treatment to teenagers, improving their overall quality of life. Some common approaches used include lack of motivation therapy, trauma-informed care, and medication-assisted treatment.

Benefits of Integrated Treatment

• It increases the treatment motivation of patients with co-occurring disorders
• It enhances collaboration among different healthcare professionals
• It promotes a holistic understanding of the patient’s needs and allows for coordinated care
• It allows individuals to access personalized and tailored care
• It increases the chances of successful recovery, given the holistic approach to treatment
• It enhances the overall well-being of teenagers
• It promotes engagement and treatment effectiveness

Conclusion

Residential treatment is the way to go if you are worried about your teen’s excessive drug use or mental health challenges, as it applies evidence-based practices and different interventions adapted to meet the specific needs of teenagers.

Our residential program at Key Healthcare uses the above techniques to help your child grow, heal and achieve personal transformation. Additionally, our treatment approach is holistic, made possible by our experiential and alternative therapy techniques. Kindly contact us or schedule a consultation and let us put a smile on your loved one’s face again.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Who Can Benefit from Adolescent Residential Treatment?

Residential treatment programs are generally used to treat severe mental health and addiction disorder cases. They benefit adolescents with addiction challenges, emotional and behavioral issues, post-traumatic teenage trauma, complex trauma, self-harm/ suicidal tendencies, and chronic or treatment-resistant mental health conditions.

How Does Adolescent Residential Treatment Differ from Other Types of Treatment?

Adolescent residential treatment is more intensive and structured than other treatment forms, which explains why it is used for severe cases. It entails 24/7 support and care, transition planning, aftercare support, intensive therapeutic programs, and peer support. It also eliminates outside triggers and influences and takes relatively longer.

How Long Does Adolescent Residential Treatment Typically Last?

Teenagers admitted to our facilities stay for 45-60 days, depending on the severity of their cases and how fast they react to treatment. We also have an extended care program for teenagers wishing to extend their stay and obtain supervised recovery.

How Can I Investigate the Expertise of an Adolescent Treatment Therapist?

Your teen deserves the best care and support, which can only be offered by expert therapists.

To determine how good their therapist is, you can ask about their professional certifications, licenses, and educational background; review their experience; and check whether they are official members of mental health or teen therapy professional organizations.

You can also schedule a consultation and ask relevant questions such as their experience, treatment philosophy, and certifications.

How Can I Find a Therapist Specializing in Adolescent Residential Treatment?

You are in the right place if you need a professional to help your teenager navigate their mental health, behavioral, or substance abuse challenges. We have a team of qualified counselors and psychologists invested in adolescent well-being that can help your teen. Kindly reach out or schedule a call with us for assistance.

How Do I Know if My Adolescent Needs a Higher Level of Care Than Residential Treatment?

Do not lose hope if residential treatment doesn’t work out for your child because other higher levels of care can help address the following cases: teen resistance to residential treatment, severe symptoms impairing teen functioning, and persistent suicidal thoughts or attempts. Remember to consult a mental health professional first.

Can Adolescents with Co-Occurring Disorders Be Treated in Residential Treatment?

Yes. Our Key Healthcare residential program is designed to treat teenagers with concurrent substance abuse and mental health disorders. We use integrated and comprehensive treatment approaches to help them recover fully.

Are There Any Support Groups or Resources for Families of Adolescents in Residential Treatment?

Families with teenagers in residential treatment centers can benefit from educational resources, family therapy and counseling, online communities and forums, local mental health organizations, and family support groups such as:

• NAMI Family Support Group
• Learn to Cope
• Parents of Addicted Loved Ones
• Families Anonymous
• SMART recovery family & friends
• Al-Anon

How Long Do The Benefits of Adolescent Residential Treatment Last?

With a supportive environment, enough aftercare support, treatment, regular follow-up care, and continued therapeutic activities engagement, the benefits of adolescent residential treatment can last way beyond the program’s duration.