CHC in the Press: Teen Intensive Outpatient Program to Open
A donation from an anonymous Palo Alto resident has enabled Children’s Health Council to address a “critical gap in teen mental health services” by opening what the nonprofit says will be the city’s first intensive outpatient program for teenagers with moderate to severe mental-health issues.
The 12-week program will serve teenagers from 14 to 18 years old struggling with depression, anxiety, self-harm or suicidal thoughts, and for whom regular outpatient therapy might not be working. Teens coming out of a psychiatric hospitalization also often transition into an intensive outpatient program.
CHC’s program will offer individual, group and family therapy; psychiatric services; medication management; and components focused on teaching academic skills and mindfulness, the nonprofit said. Licensed adolescent psychiatrists and therapists will use dialectical behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapy, two common approaches to treating mental-health disorders, to help the teens.
The new after-school program is the latest piece in Children’s Health Council’s Teen Mental Health Initiative, launched last year to increase access to mental-health services and educate the community on youth suicide and related issues.
Read the full article here in Palo Alto Online .
