We offer intensive psychiatric services to teens ages 12 to 18 in an outpatient setting. We designed the program to keep teens in the community, out of psychiatric inpatient treatment, and/or transition them from our inpatient unit back home. Our goals are to help teens improve their functioning, develop healthy coping skills, and stabilize their mental status.
Our evidence-based programming provides skills training to increase awareness of thoughts, feelings and behaviors to enable teens to make healthier commitments and choices. Family therapy and education is also a core component of our program.
We also provide psychiatric assessment, medication management and case management for teens experiencing psychiatric symptoms and behavioral problems that cause significant impairment in everyday educational, social, vocational and/or interpersonal functioning.
During the school year, our program is 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. During summer break, school vacations and school holidays, hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We follow the academic calendar of Akron Public Schools and an instructor is on-site to help students with their schoolwork and to serve as a liaison between the program and school.
We offer several groups during the day, including:
- Check-in/Goals - Participants check-in about their current emotional and mental health status and discuss the progress they made.
- Dialectical behavior therapy skills - A skill is taught from the DBT model, which will be reflected in all the other groups.
- Psychotherapy - Teens focus on the issues leading to their admission into the program and the work they need to accomplish to better function with their family, peers and in the community.
- Art therapy – Art is used to reduce anxiety, prompt the release of emotions, and explore issues related to the teen's admission.
- Spiritual wellness - Participants reflect on their spirituality and how this influences their overall health in body, mind and spirit.
- SIGNALS - Participants identify signs of wellness and relapse, creating a plan to continue skills learned after discharge.
- Yoga - Yoga is used to promote physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
- Check-out/Goals setting - Participants set achievable and measurable goals to work on at home and in their communities throughout the week. We also evaluate safety to return home.
