Teen Mental Health
How to Ask for What You Need in Therapy
The best way to ensure your teen gets all they need from therapy is to ensure they feel comfortable asking their therapist for what they need while they are with them. This could be a matter of asking questions about how their treatment may progress or talking about the best ways for them to work…
Read MoreHow Are Your Children Coping During Crisis?
As adults, we are at our best when we can calmly and systematically approach a challenge. Sometimes, however, the stress of a specific situation seems so overwhelming or threatening that it is hard to maintain a logical presence of mind. Your teen faces the same challenges. It can be equally as hard for them to…
Read MoreWhat Can Your Teen Bring to A Teen Treatment Center?
Leaving home and entering a residential treatment facility like Hillcrest Adolescent Treatment Center in Agoura Hills, California, can be a difficult, confusing, and stressful time for both the parents and the teen going to treatment. Before physically entering a residential treatment program, parents and teens will learn a lot about what to expect from their…
Read MoreHow Art Therapy Works
For many years, traditional psychotherapy techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and dialectical-behavioral therapy (among others) have been used successfully as part of evidence-based treatment programs. In recent years, alternative treatment models have become popular mainstream and complementary elements for many mental health and addiction treatment needs. This is not to say the traditional therapy techniques…
Read MoreWhen to Seek Treatment for Depression
According to data provided by the National Institutes of Mental Health, approximately seven percent of adults in the United States will experience symptoms of a major depressive disorder in any given year. Many of these individuals will only experience these symptoms once in their lives, typically directly related to a specific event. However, others with…
Read MoreFive Questions to Ask When Looking for a Teen Treatment Center
As a parent, there are few decisions that may be harder than those that directly impact your children. The decision to place your child in a residential treatment facility, away from your home, can be overwhelmingly challenging. At the end of 2017, there were nearly fourteen thousand teen treatment centers in the United States. The…
Read MoreWhat Bipolar Disorder is NOT
When people hear the words bipolar disorder, they often think it means someone who struggles with frequent mood swings. It is not uncommon to hear people say, “she is so bipolar” or “every day he acts differently…he must be bipolar or something.” People who struggle with bipolar disorder do go through phases of high energy…
Read MoreHow Do Medications Help Mental Illness?
Medications are a common component in mental health treatment plans. Well-rounded plans may also include psychotherapy sessions used in conjunction with medications. Selecting the right combination of treatment modalities requires considering the person’s individual needs as each person will respond differently to a treatment. When medications are used, it is crucial to understand how each…
Read MoreIs My Teen Depressed?
If your teenager seems moody and has been withdrawing from their daily life – including no longer doing things they enjoy – you might find yourself wondering “Is my teen depressed?”. Here at Hillcrest, we’d like to provide you with an easy guide to recognizing the symptoms that might plague your teen. Teen depression is…
Read MoreWhat Recovery Looks Like with Aftercare
Deciding to seek therapy for a mental health disorder can be a life-saving decision. Unfortunately, the successes of treatment can lose their impact without proper aftercare. Aftercare is an essential part of the recovery process, and, for long term success to be realized, the value of aftercare cannot be overlooked.
Read More