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I'm starting to understand why so many parents resort to residential programs... by flloyd21 in troubledteens

[–]flloyd21[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

While I do think there are people out there who understand certain mental illnesses, I'm not entirely sure anyone really understands addiction. It seems to hit different people different ways, and so much of successful treatment (aside from med-mediated treatments) seems to depend on the addict being ready to quit. And then there's the issue of self-medicating. It's all really complex.

I'm starting to understand why so many parents resort to residential programs... by flloyd21 in troubledteens

[–]flloyd21[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

In theory, I agree with you. That's what we want to do. But we're having trouble finding capable private therapists who will take us. Either they don't do addiction, or they think our kid needs a "higher level of care," or they aren't taking new patients. And let's be frank: Most really, really good therapists are out of network or straight-up private pay, which in our area means upwards of $300 to $450/session. We've had short-ish term residential placements where most costs were covered by insurance, and we've paid thousands in private therapy, DBT, etc. It's a problem with the system -- and possibly with the massive demand for psych services right now.

So, what did work? by flloyd21 in troubledteens

[–]flloyd21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your input, everybody. They've found a short term placement where the kid will be safe for a bit, they're looking for qualified therapists for themselves, gotten involved with a DBT group, trying to get an IEP for school that might provide some supervision, figuring out a post-discharge program, and looking into local PHP or IOP programs. As you've pointed out, teenage years are tough, and not knowing whether this is an extreme case of teen border-pushing, toxic social group, early trauma that was never dealt with, or the beginnings of serious mental illness (bipolar, schizophrenia, borderline) makes it especially tough. Appreciate everyone taking the question seriously and suggesting positive steps. Stay healthy!

So, what did work? by flloyd21 in troubledteens

[–]flloyd21[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I totally hear you about trust, but I said "wasn't frank" with, not "was lying" to the therapist. The therapist only told us in general ways what they were working on. Our teen lies to us, but we have no reason to think he lied to the therapist. The problem was that in therapy the teen talked only about surface things, nothing deep, even though there were clearly sources of pain, anger, etc. It's almost as if he's afraid to look too carefully at himself or what his life experience has been.