February 29, 2024
Parenting teens in 2024 is no easy feat. With the problems of the world on their shoulders, the fallout from the pandemic, social pressures, and preparing for their futures, many teens are struggling and so is their mental health. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 49.5% of adolescents have had a mental health disorder at some point in their lives.
Wintertime gray skies and cold weather can also make a difficult situation worse. It’s during this time that problems at school and at home become more obvious. You may notice an increase in anxiety or worsening symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation, or self-harm, which can often be accompanied by the use of substances to cope. It can affect a young person’s friendships and school performance, and it can lead to a loss of interest in activities that they used to enjoy.
Parents, rest assured, we have your family’s back.
McCall’s Adolescent Services program has been successful in helping teens from 13 to 18 navigate their challenges. We offer teens two levels of care: an intensive outpatient program (IOP) and outpatient care. The level of care is based on the needs of each client.
“In addition to our intensive outpatient program, we offer a standard outpatient level of care, and that level of care meets only once a week for an hour,” notes Laura Cummings, LCSW, CCDP‑D, Director of Adolescent Services. “For both levels of care, we create personalized treatment plans with each teen and their family. This helps to make sure the goals are appropriate, attainable, and are important to everyone.”
IOP. What does that mean exactly?
Intensive outpatient programs are just that – all the benefits of counseling, just more frequently for longer sessions. At McCall, your teen would meet with our highly trained clinicians three afternoons a week for up to three hours at a time. They will meet in a group setting and will have an individual session every other week. Family sessions are offered once a month to help the family move together as a unit. Medication management is also available if needed.
Through the program, teens are given skills to help them cope with stressors, change behaviors and thinking patterns, build up their social networks, and identify healthy coping activities. We also care for the whole person and look for different ways to engage with your teen. We paint, work with clay, play games, and include yoga to help the youth learn different ways to heal and cope. To help young people learn, we have other agencies and other speakers come in and talk about different topics. We even offer snacks and fidget toys.
Accessing services for your teen is easy.
For a family entering treatment, it can feel overwhelming. Our compassionate staff is here to welcome you and make the process as easy as possible.
First, the parent or guardian should call our main office number, 860.496.2100. We will take some basic information and schedule an intake appointment with one of our clinicians.
At that intake appointment, the parent or guardian will sign consent and release forms, and your teen will submit a urine sample for a drug screen. Caregivers are then asked to complete a survey and your teen will be asked to explain why they are there for treatment. Once this is done, our clinicians create a comprehensive biopsychosocial history. Together with the parents or guardians, we will make a treatment plan and decide how to move forward as a unit.
Asking for help is a courageous act and it is never too early to receive services. If you have concerns about your child, help is a phone call away.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Visit our pressroom to hear Laura Cummings, LCSW, CCDP‑D, McCall’s Director of Adolescent Services, discuss how teens can build coping skills to help them navigate their way through challenges they may be facing.
Click on the image to listen to the full FM 97.3 WZBG interview.