During a crisis in child and adolescent mental health, more families are suffering than ever before.  Across the country providers are struggling to keep pace with increased demand for services, often building new units and facilities to meet growing needs. 

1 in 7 children in the US experienced neglect or abuse in the past year. Additionally, more than 1,000 children and adolescents are treated in EDs every day for physical assault-related injuries, approaching 400,000 children per year.

We realized the huge potential of virtual intensive programs to address the national emergency in children’s behavioral health.

Why I REACH: An Interview With a Behavioral Health Specialist

A new school year can bring a variety of emotions and often prompts teens to need additional support. Here are 7 tips that all parents can do to smooth the transition into the school year. 

Knowing that one in five children experience behavioral health issues, the need for more treating clinicians in Florida is evident. That’s where our partnership with Bradley Hospital and its child and adolescent psychiatrists comes in.

Parenting is hard. Often the parenting you are providing is enough as long as you have built a healthy foundation of trust with your child.  Parenting is usually not as much about what I want my kids to do or who I want them to be, but who I want to be. 

The transition from childhood to adolescence is complicated on many levels, including from a parenting perspective.  Developmental changes including biological, psychological and social changes make parenting adolescents very different from parenting younger children. 

It is important to understand more about anxiety. We all face anxiety and it is not necessarily a negative experience.  Anxiety activates the fight or flight response and lets us know there is danger. It can help keep us alive.  It has a purpose.

At a time of national crisis in adolescent mental health, this emerging evidence about treatment programs that work provides a glimmer of optimism that there are things we can do to help teens and their families. With resources and high-quality care, things can get better. 

In reality though, the sun being out doesn’t mean that mental health challenges disappear. The good news is that summer can be an ideal time to address mental health challenges and set your teen up for success over the year ahead.

In July, we celebrate BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month. As we move between these two events, we should remember that they are connected: the legacy of slavery (and of colonialism) means that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Americans continue to experience inequity in mental health care.

Individuals on the autism spectrum are characterized by differences in social communication and interaction, and in restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests. Up to 35% of autistic youth identify as LGBTQIA+, making them an important part of the queer community. The National Autistic Society provides more information on the relationship between gender identity and autism.

June is Pride month. But from a mental health perspective, creating safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ people has to be something we focus on year-round. Written by our own Psychologist, Molly Hedrick.

Spending more than three hours per day on social media puts teens at double the risk of experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other negative mental health related outcomes. There may be an especially high risk for worsening mental health symptoms for teen girls and those who already struggle with their mental health when using social media.

One in five Americans has a mental illness, and the pandemic has dramatically increased depression and anxiety, but many are reluctant to seek help or don’t know where to turn for care. Symptoms of mental health and substance use problems can be difficult to detect. Friends and family members may find it hard to know when and how to step in.

It is hard to find, is strong evidence for the protective factors against suicide.  What are the traits, the mindset, and the patterns of action, for youth who may struggle with anxiety or even depression, but do not consider suicide at all?

When you tell someone that you are a nurse, most people think about bedside nursing in a medical hospital setting. Psychiatric nursing is different. When I tell people that I work at Bradley Hospital, I am usually asked, “What’s that like? What do you do?”

This team of providers meets daily to discuss all teens in our program.  All staff members run group therapies so everyone on the team know the participants in multiple settings.  Our team of providers truly love and enjoy our work and serve as a model for healthy relationships and communication