Evidence Based Therapy that Helps

 This is terrifying for parents.  Seeing the marks of self inflicted cuts on your child's body creates panic and anxiety.  Teens who pull their hair to the point of bald spots  (trichotillomania), skin picking (dermatillomania) can be excruciating to watch as a parent.  We work with these issues with a combination of therapy, medication, CBT, and DBT. 

 Parents are at a loss when they see their once engaged child withdrawn, shut down, and sad and angry as they are struggling with depression.  Between raging hormones and stress from living in today's society, teens are  overwhelming and teens often shut down and detach from their families an in general.  All of the feelings become top much so the mind goes to depression as a default. Often you hear that people are "depressed" as a feeling.  Depression is actually the lack of all emotion.  The treatment includes unpacking those layers of defenses that have been built up so the teen can be their truest selves again.   

The rate of Eating Disorders in teens is increasing rapidly.  Covid-19 and virtual learning did not help matters.  Eating Disorders and disordered eating are often about control.  Calorie restriction, binge eating, bulimia, excessive exercise, laxative abuse, and an obsession with the scale are all attempts to feel "in control" of something.  We acknowledge the symptom, but focus on what is underneath the surface.  If a child is medically compromised and their weight is at a dangerously low place our therapists will collaborate with their pediatrician/medical doctor for their safety so they can watch them closely.    

 The parents of our ODD teens are at the end of their ropes by the time they find us.  They are sleep deprived, worried about their teens safety, and are angry at their teen.  they have lost the connection with their teen that they once had because of the frequent impulsive behavior and parents punishing and shaming their teens behavior as they are not aware of any other way.  Joyce and Lynne will give parents the tools to calm them down and come up with a plan for consequences of behavior and perhaps create a "Family Contract" with rules/guidelines and consequences.  Our team is highly skilled in working with these kids and gaining a strong enough bond to be able take the parents out of the "bad guy" position.  We move that "bad guy" position onto us as therapists . Once this shift happens and the parent are out  of the "bad guy" position their relationship can begin to repair.  If impulsivity and angry outbursts are a issue, medication may be recommended by the therapist.  As parents, it is ultimately your decision as to whether medication is an option for your teen.  If you choose to give medication a try, we can get you in touch with our team of psychiatrists in Newtown, PA.   There are many medications that helps lessen the impulsivity and anger but do not flatten the affect and shut their kids down.  

 In the last 5 years we have seen an increase with middle and highschoolers not wanting to go to school each day.  Often this is a result of anxiety that is not treated.  With Covid-19 and Virtual Schooling kids are very afraid to go back to school at this time.  Most of our socially anxious teens actually loved virtual schooling as they could hide behind the zoom screen and not have to see their peers in person day in and day out.  However, this Fall they have to go back to school.  Parents come to us to help them develop the skills to overcome this fear and walk back into the school.  

 Parents you may have suspected for some time that your child has symptoms of ADD or ADHD.  Virtual Schooling,  parents were able to watch their teen up close and personal all day attempting to do their school work.  Parents being home in quarantine and noticing their children's behavior created a rise in parents getting their kids tested for ADDA and ADHD.  Parents were seeing first hand what the teachers see every day. The inability to focus, the inability to begin and finish assignments, the inability to organize their homework, and their constant fidgeting and bouncing their knee when they sit.  Oftentimes parents are very frustrated and misinterpreting the ADD & ADHD behavior as lazy.   If parents are interested in medication for their child, a psychiatric consult can be arranged by the therapist.  Our therapists collaborate and work closely with our team of psychiatrists in Newtown, PA. 

 Ellen Cuthrell is our Educational Psychotherapist who works with middle school, high school and college aged students on executive functioning skills and organization.  Parents are fed up from begging their teens to do school work, stay on top of assignments, and write term papers.  Ellen steps in to take parents out of that bad guy position and place herself in that role.  Ellen is also the liaison/advocate with teachers and guidance counselors for the child and parents.   When parents want school accommodations for their teens, neuropsychological testing may be an option and Ellen can connect the parents., This would be for un-timed testing, asking for a safe space for the child to go during the day when anxious, or getting the child a pass to leave the classroom when overwhelmed. 

 When a family feels it is time for a teen to go to an inpatient setting and the teen is refusing to go we can assist this process.  Lynne Welsh is a Nationally Certified Adolescent Interventionist who works together with the family in an intervention to help your child to see the value of going inpatient.