It is 7am, and Sue has been awake for hours after waking from a nightmare. At Youth Focus’ Residential Treatment Center, she is supervised around the clock by specially trained staff. For the first time in her life she doesn’t feel alone when she wakes up with night terrors.
Sue is challenged with severe depression and bipolar disorder. Her chronic self-harming behavior, which included cutting her arms and legs, along with violent behavior towards her teachers and peers at school, led her to the RTC for supervised treatment. She has been to several group homes and different schools, and at her last group home she attempted suicide, and had to be physically restrained. A more intensive treatment program was required to meet her needs.
Sue looks forward to breakfast at RTC, she rarely ate well-rounded meals. Her daily medication is then given by the staff nurse, and she attends the center’s in-house school until lunchtime. After lunch, she heads to group activities, such as therapeutic yoga, diversity group, or peer government. She also makes her daily call to her mom to check in and say hello. After some quiet time, either reading or watching a movie, dinner is served. Chores are a mandatory part of living at RTC, and she spends some time folding towels before heading to her room to tidy up and get ready for bed. This kind of routine gives Sue stability and predictability, both of which decrease her anxiety and mood swings tremendously.
Sue’s behavior upon arrival to the RTC was combative, defiant, and unpredictable. She experienced extreme highs and lows due to her bipolar disorder, and the lows led to depressive and suicidal thoughts and ideation.
Within the first month arriving at the center, her incidents of suicidal behavior decreased significantly; Sue has not had an incident in weeks.
Her anticipated stay at RTC is six to ten months, at which time she hopes to be reunited with her family rather than moving to a group home. This would not have been possible before beginning treatment at RTC.
In addition to her decrease in suicidal thoughts and behavior, Sue has also become more sociable and now participates in group activities with enthusiasm. Her history with peers in the past was almost always defensive, or even aggressive, in nature stemming from her sense of abandonment relating to her troubled home life. When first arriving at the center, she isolated herself by sitting alone, refusing to participate in activities, and starting fights with other clients. Recently, however, she has been observed laughing and chatting with other clients during free time.
While every client’s story is different, and every treatment plan is customized for their particular needs, our hope is that all of our clients experience a level of success while under our care.
This is one of many success stories stemming from various programs offered by Youth Focus. The Residential Treatment Center is our most intensive program, and clients live there during their treatment. These clients need the highest level of supervision and care.
The Youth Focus’ Residential Center is a 12 bed psychiatric residential treatment facility for male and female adolescents age 13 to 17. This program helps young people who suffer from severe emotional and/or behavioral problems and cannot be treated successfully through outpatient counseling, group home placement or other, non-secure methods. Offering an on-site classroom and intensive individual, group and family therapy, Youth Focus’ Residential Center treats young people with depression, anxiety, severe stress, self-defeating behaviors, disorganized thinking, oppositional defiant behavior as well as other behavior and psychological issues. If you feel that a child you know might benefit from our services, click here to learn more.
*Names and details have been changed to protect the anonymity of our clients.
