Streamlining Assessment, Reducing Bottlenecks, and Supporting Families in Crisis
In the fast-paced environment of hospital emergency departments and urgent care facilities, mental health crises among teens and young adults present unique challenges. While hospitals provide critical stabilization, many face significant bottlenecks when it comes to determining next steps for ongoing care. Case managers often work against the clock, balancing the need to free up acute beds for incoming patients while ensuring each family leaves with a clear, actionable plan. Maximizing Limited Bed Availability: Hospitals are navigating high demand for psychiatric beds while working to ensure each patient receives timely and appropriate placement. Coordinating Complex Disposition Planning: Case management teams are dedicated to finding the best next step for patients—whether inpatient, PHP, or IOP—and seek partnerships to help accelerate specialized mental health assessments. Guiding Families Through Uncertain Moments: Hospital teams work hard to provide clarity for parents and caregivers, while exploring ways to enhance post-discharge guidance and support. Managing High Volumes with Limited Behavioral Health Resources: Hospitals are balancing urgent needs with available staffing and are turning to trusted partners to expand capacity and maintain quality care. THE BASEPOINT SOLUTION: FAST PASS TO NEXT-STEP CARE BasePoint’s Fast Pass program was designed to address these challenges. Through partnerships with regional hospitals, we provide an expedited mental health assessment process for teens and young adults, often within 24 hours of referral. HOW THE FAST PASS WORKS: Immediate Referral: Hospital case management provide a Fast Pass to families to contact BasePoint to initiate the process. Same-Day or Next-Day Assessment: Conducted at one of our PHP/IOP clinics. Care Placement: Matching the patient to the right program for continuity of care. Family Support: Guidance on treatment plans, insurance, and what to expect. ADDED BENEFITS FOR HOSPITAL PARTNERS Same-day or walk-in complimentary assessments at all locations. Virtual and in-person options for assessments to accommodate hospital discharge planning and family availability. Clinicians have been added to our Assessment Center teams to provide clinical conversations when needed, supporting hospital case managers in complex situations. Clinical consultations and/or tours available for families who may be hesitant to move forward with assessment or avoidant of treatment—helping reduce barriers and build trust. In-network with major commercial insurances (BCBS, Aetna, Beacon, Cigna, UMR, Magellan, Optum, United). Complimentary transportation to and from BasePoint clinics by our transportation team. Clear hospital partner protocols for referrals before and after 6:00 PM. Accessible Locations: Forney, Arlington, McKinney, and Frisco. A COLLABORATIVE VISION FOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE Our shared mission with regional hospitals is simple: to reduce the strain on emergency departments while improving outcomes for young people in crisis. By streamlining the assessment and disposition process, BasePoint is helping hospitals maintain patient flow, improve resource allocation, and ensure families leave the hospital not just stabilized— but with a clear, supported path forward. If your hospital is ready to partner with BasePoint for faster assessments and improved patient transitions, contact our Outreach Team today to learn how the Fast Pass approach can benefit your case management team and the families you serve. ABOUT BASEPOINT BasePoint is a mental health day treatment provider based in Forney, TX with additional locations in Arlington, McKinney, and Frisco, TX and BasePoint Texas, a PHP & IOP Virtual Program. BasePoint operates as a PHP & IOP clinical center focusing on youth and young adult mental health conditions. We specialize in outpatient treatment for teenagers aged 11–18 and young adults 18-35 who are struggling with mental health and substance misuse issues. A complimentary assessment with a licensed clinician will provide you with a recommendation for the appropriate level of care for your teen struggling with mental health. We can also check your insurance coverage. Call us to schedule a complimentary same-day assessment at (972) 357-1749 or complete our inquiry form.
BasePoint Expands Education & Vocational Services for Teens and Young Adults
At BasePoint, healing doesn’t stop with clinical care—it extends into the classroom, the workplace, and the long-term success of each client. This philosophy comes to life through the expansion of our Education and Vocational Services department, led by Kiala Albright, Director of Education and Vocational Services. With a background in school counseling and crisis intervention, Kiala brings deep insight into the unique challenges teens and young adults face during and after treatment. “We’re not just helping clients stabilize emotionally,” Kiala explains. “We’re equipping them—and their support systems—with tools to thrive academically and vocationally once they leave our care.” A key focus of Kiala’s team is building strong, individualized academic re-entry plans, a process that includes training and collaborating with school districts across Texas. BasePoint is actively investing in educators by offering tools and one-pagers that can be incorporated into 504 and IEP plans, helping bridge the gap between treatment and classroom reintegration. These resources include identifying stressors, accommodations, coping strategies, and supportive contact points—ensuring students return to school with the structure they need to succeed. This summer, the Arlington clinic launched a pilot of BasePoint’s vocational elective program for young adults, known as Launching My Life. Clients participate in career-mapping sessions, resume development, and interview prep. The program uses interest inventories to guide participants toward meaningful career paths, while also addressing mental health challenges that may hinder career confidence or readiness. Looking ahead, the department is exploring partnerships with local trade schools, colleges, and technical training programs to expand offerings for both adolescent and adult clients. The goal is to create individualized vocational plans that meet clients where they are—and grow with them over time. “Our work is deeply personal and tailored,” Kiala says. “Whether it’s a teen returning to high school or a young adult exploring career opportunities, we want them to feel seen, supported, and set up for what’s next.” At BasePoint, we’re not just treating mental health—we’re helping clients build their futures.
Client Advocacy at BasePoint Academy
BasePoint Academy has created a dynamic program to address the multifaceted and complex challenges teenagers face today. Families who discover that their teen is misusing addictive substances often don’t know where to turn. Which treatment program is the right one? What level of care is appropriate? Will my insurance provider cover the cost? The BasePoint team is ready to help with any questions families may have. Thanh Le is an LPC associate, supervised by LaToya Smith, LPC-S. Part of her job involves “translating clinical notes in client files and charts” and helping with insurance issues. Many clients who arrive at BasePoint are not in-network. “We are advocating for the clients to get the best care they possibly can,” says Thanh Le. “This is where I can really make a difference for clients and help them get to where they need to be.” CLIENT ADVOCACY CONTINUES DURING THE ENTIRE TREATMENT PERIOD When clients first arrive at BasePoint, Thanh Le helps establish their specific needs. “This client may present with this problem, so we initially ask for an appropriate treatment period that could be six, ten, or fifteen days. If it’s six days for example, I will be looking at their chart again after six days to see what symptoms they are exhibiting at that point and if they can use more days with us. That just continues and continues until we feel like they’re ready to step down to intensive outpatient care. Then we advocate for that IOP care and help them transition to their outpatient provider.” AT BASEPOINT CLIENTS COME FIRST “We collaborate a lot with the on-site teams,” explains Kadijah White, LMSW, who is also part of BasePoint’s client advocacy efforts. “Maybe if there’s something we feel we should be pushing for or maybe we’ll say, ‘Hey, if you really need more time for this client, then these are the things that we would need to see.’ We’re collaborating with our teammates to make sure we advocate for these kids so they get the appropriate time in treatment—on all levels of care. We’re doing a lot of that behind-the-scenes.” Sometimes, advocating for the right treatment modalities may also mean pushing for stepping up the level of care instead of stepping down. “Recently, we had a client who presented with symptoms requiring more than intensive outpatient care but was rather meeting the criteria for partial hospitalization,” recalls Thanh Le. “We explained the reasons why we believed that and asked whether we can get those partial hospitalization treatment days for the client so they could get the care needed at the right level.” COMMUNICATING WITH FAMILIES When advocating for clients, the BasePoint team also closely works with their families. They meet with a therapist once a week during the first 4–5 weeks of treatment. “We talk about communication, how to express your feelings in front of other people appropriately,” explains program therapist India Bradley, LCSW. “We talk about what is needed in the home from parents. What they need from their child.” “We’re involved with family communication whenever the on-site team informs us that parents want to know their discharge day or they have a letter from the insurance and they would like to understand a little more,” says Kadijah White. “Sometimes, parents report difficulties at home and we want to know a little bit more about that to help this kid out, so we may come up with a plan for more family sessions to resolve this,” explains Thanh Le. “I feel like my main job is to help clients get the treatment days they need and the professional care required to achieve a positive outcome.” GET THE HELP YOUR CHILD NEEDS BasePoint’s expert team of therapists is here to help. They ensure transparency about costs, including how much therapy and outpatient mental health services may cost, as well as the partial hospitalization program cost. They provide clarity on the cost of intensive outpatient program (IOP) with insurance in Texas and assist in navigating insurance coverage, including UMR, Aetna, United Healthcare, Cigna, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, for services such as ADHD testing. Explore BasePoint services to find teen and young adult treatment near you and take the first step toward healing. Call to schedule a complimentary same-day assessment at 469-629-6355 or complete our inquiry form.
Young People May Be More Vulnerable to Nicotine Addiction Than the Middle Aged
Cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence “causes significant health problems among young people, including an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness, and potential effects on lung growth and function,” warns the American Lung Association. “Most importantly, this is when an addiction to smoking takes hold, often lasting into and sometimes throughout adulthood. Among adults who have ever smoked daily, 87 percent had tried their first cigarette by the time they were 18 years of age, and 95 percent had by age 21.” A new study from the Penn State Department of Biobehavioral Health suggests that young adults may actually be more vulnerable to nicotine addiction than middle-aged people. The results provide evidence that the effects of drugs on the body—both medication and misused substances—change over the lifespan in ways that clinicians and researchers need to consider when developing and prescribing treatments, the researchers said. The researchers demonstrated that nicotine lowers the body temperature of young-adult mice more quickly and reduces their movement more significantly than it does in middle-aged mice. According to the researchers, the results indicate how nicotine’s effects change as people age. Doctoral student Carlos Novoa and his adviser, Thomas Gould, Jean Phillips Shibley Professor of Biobehavioral Health and head of the department, led the study. According to a PSU press release, “Gould’s prior research has illustrated the differential effects of nicotine in children, adolescents, and young adults. The current study demonstrated that those effects differ even among those considered adults: young adult mice—aged two months—respond more acutely to a nicotine dose of the same strength relative to their body size than middle-aged mice—aged eight months.” Adolescence is a time of growing independence, exploration, and risk-taking. “Teens may experiment with nicotine via cigarettes or vaping, alcohol, and marijuana, at a time when exposure to these substances can have a significant impact on brain development,” warns the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Early use of alcohol and other substances can increase the likelihood of going on to use other drugs and of developing a substance use disorder.” “Sometimes, people think of development as something that occurs until we reach a certain age—like 18 or 25—and then stops,” Professor Gould said. “But people continue to develop and change across their entire lifespan, and this affects how our bodies respond to medications and other chemicals, including nicotine. This research adds one piece to the puzzle of all the factors — age, biological sex, genetics and many others—needed to create effective medical treatments and policies for all people.” In this study, both young adult and middle-aged study subjects displayed decreased movement after receiving nicotine, but young adults reduced their movements more than middle-aged subjects. This indicates that the young adult subjects experienced the effects of nicotine more intensely, according to the researchers. “Since we know that young adults are more likely to smoke or vape for the hedonic sensation—as opposed to older nicotine users who are more likely to use because they are addicted or to manage stress—this larger response matters,” said Novoa, the first author of the study. “The younger you are, the more acute your response to nicotine. This has implications both for prevention messages and for supporting young nicotine users who want to quit.” The PSU study and others like it may help design interventions that make quitting more successful. Currently, fewer than 10 percent of attempts to quit smoking succeed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The results demonstrate that young adults are more susceptible to the impact of nicotine,” Novoa said. “This puts them at greater risk for developing addiction to the drug, which has implications for both prevention programs and treatments. The legal age to buy tobacco products is 21, but the risk for a 21-year-old individual is higher than it is for a 45-year-old. We need to understand how nicotine affects people based on their individual characteristics so that we can better prevent smoking and help people quit.” GET THE HELP YOUR CHILD NEEDS BasePoint Academy is a mental health care provider based in Forney, TX, with additional locations in Arlington, TX, and McKinney, TX. BasePoint operates as a clinical center focusing on youth mental health conditions. We specialize in outpatient treatment for teenagers aged 11–18 who are struggling with mental health and substance misuse issues. To improve mental healthcare in Texas, BasePoint is adding another facility in Frisco, TX, this year. BreakThrough is BasePoint’s outpatient treatment option for 18 to 35-year-olds struggling with mental health and substance use disorders. The program offers partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) options for young adults. BasePoint’s expert team of therapists is here to help. Explore BasePoint services to find teen and young adult treatment near you and take the first step toward healing. Call to schedule a complimentary same-day assessment at 469-629-6355 or complete our inquiry form.
BasePoint Expands Access to Mental Healthcare With New Location in Frisco, TX
This article mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call, text, or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. BasePoint is a leading mental health treatment provider for adolescents and young adults in Texas. BasePoint is based in Forney, TX, with additional locations in Arlington, TX, McKinney, TX, and now in Frisco, TX as well. It is the fourth in-person clinic providing partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient programming (IOP) for young clients. The new Frisco location strengthens BasePoint’s mission to provide best-in-class mental health treatment while continuing its statewide virtual IOP programming to ensure accessible care across the state of Texas. For BasePoint Founders Roy and Blake Serpa, this expansion is deeply personal. “Frisco is home. I grew up in Frisco,” explains Blake Serpa. “My sister’s mental health struggles started here at age ten. By 18, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and shortly after, we lost her to suicide,” says Serpa. “BasePoint was built for families who don’t know where to turn but want the best possible care for their loved ones. Every decision we make is guided by one simple question: ‘What would you want for your own family?’” The opening of BasePoint Frisco is a significant step toward the organization’s long-term vision of improving mental health access across Texas. “This clinic opening drives us toward our BHAG—our ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal’—of moving Texas from last place to the top five in mental healthcare access by 2030,” Serpa adds. EXPANDING ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTHCARE IN TEXAS Texas ranks among the lowest in the country for mental healthcare access, and BasePoint is tackling the crisis head-on by investing in high-quality treatment in one of the state’s fastest-growing communities. Mental health issues are among the leading public health challenges in the Lone Star State and a main contributor to disability and death, especially among adolescent Texans. “Compounded by historic underservice, Texas has faced an uphill battle when it comes to providing sufficient mental health resources to its growing population, but state leaders …are committed to turning the tide,” wrote UT System Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs John Zerwas, MD, and UT System Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer David Lakey, MD in an op-ed published in the Dallas Morning News last year. Committed to strategic and thoughtful growth, BasePoint ensures that each of its expansions is supported by a strong corporate infrastructure, designed to maintain the highest standard of clinical excellence and operational efficiency. With plans to launch 2–3 new clinics in Texan metro areas by 2026-2027, this deliberate approach allows BasePoint to expand access to compassionate, evidence-based mental health treatment for teens and young adults. “BasePoint is addressing the current mental health crisis in Texas head-on by investing in quality PHP and IOP treatment options now conveniently located in Frisco, one of Texas’s fastest growing areas,” says Shara McClure, BasePoint board member, and former divisional vice president of Texas Health Care Delivery for BlueCross BlueShield. “The thriving Frisco business community should have peace of mind knowing that BasePoint is there, expanding access to treatment for their families when they need it. BasePoint Frisco is now open and accepts new clients for its PHP and IOP options. For more information or to schedule a complimentary same-day assessment, visit www.basepointacademy.com.
Improving Mental Health Services in Texas
This article mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call, text, or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Mental health issues are among the leading public health challenges in Texas and a main contributor to disability and death, especially among adolescent Texans. “Compounded by historic underservice, Texas has faced an uphill battle when it comes to providing sufficient mental health resources to its growing population, but state leaders …are committed to turning the tide,” wrote UT System Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs John Zerwas, MD, and UT System Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer David Lakey, MD in an op-ed published in the Dallas Morning News last year. “Texas, among all states, is grappling with a rise in the percentage of youth who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year without treatment—a staggering 73.1 percent according to Mental Health America. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth in Texas, according to the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. UT Southwestern Medical Center recently conducted a study of 1,000 young Texans, aged 8 to 20, who are being treated for depression, and found that nearly half of them reported at least one suicide attempt during their lifetime,” wrote Zerwas and Lakey. The need for mental health services in the Lone Star State is rising. “Texas 988 centers in 2021 answered 60,000 calls, a 92 percent increase compared to 2018,” reported Stephen Simpson in the Texas Tribune in December 2023. “The average state call line receives 3,300 calls per month; Texas gets 14,000 calls per month. In May [2023], the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline answered 11,502 total contacts from Texas. According to a 2021 survey by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 8.22 percent of Texans 18 or older had a major depressive episode, 5.33 percent had serious thoughts of suicide, and 1.78 percent made suicide plans in the past year.” Simpson described the case of 13-year-old Orlando from El Paso, who mentioned suicide during a virtual class in 2020, sending his mother into a desperate search for an in-patient mental health facility. None of the four nearest in-patient psychiatric facilities had a bed for her son. “In every facility, every clinic, and even the main hospital in town, the answer was always the same. No availability and not enough providers,” she told the Texas Tribune. Home to almost eight million children, “Texas tops the list as the worst state for mental healthcare for the second time in two years due to a combination of factors that create significant barriers to accessing treatment,” Jason Metz, the lead insurance editor at Forbes Advisor, told Healthline. “The state has a high rate of uninsured adults with mental health illness, 21.4 percent, the second highest in the US. Additionally, nearly 75 percent of youth with depression do not receive mental health services, and 19.4 percent of youth with private insurance lack coverage for mental health problems,” Metz told Healthline. “Texas has a limited mental health infrastructure, ranking the third lowest in the number of treatment centers, with only 8.4 per 10,000 businesses. Overall, two-thirds (62.3 percent) of adults with mental illness in Texas go untreated, highlighting the state’s challenges in mental healthcare.” IMPROVING ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES BasePoint wants to help change all that. Kimberly Dobbins, MD, is the chief medical officer at BasePoint, bringing over a decade of experience as a double board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist. Dr. Dobbins treats a broad range of mental health conditions at BasePoint. “There’s a great deal of depression and anxiety,” she says—a lot of it driven by social media. “I think social media plays a big role in what we’re seeing in a lot of kids. There’s school anxiety and bullying, and the bullying can lead to depression and anxiety, even suicidal thoughts.” Treating depression, anxiety disorders, trauma, and substance use disorder requires time and patience. “It’s important to have the time to meet with clients, spend time with them, get to know them, and see what they’re dealing with,” says Dr. Dobbins. “Being able to ask questions and taking the time to get to know them, so I can be their advocate as well for their parents, or other guardians. At BasePoint, we have weeks to see them, so I can offer the most important thing on the first day, or maybe the second visit, and then use the time getting to know what else they might need. I have time to start them, watch them, and see them throughout the week.” The BasePoint team believes that providing the highest quality of care possible means utilizing evidence-based clinical and medical models, integrating patient outcomes to make active treatment decisions, and partnering with teens and their families to inform the therapeutic process. “For years, BasePoint has been known as a provider for 11 to 18-year-olds, and we became known in the community for providing excellence in day treatment programming,” says Blake Serpa, the founder and CEO of BasePoint Health Management. In 2024, BasePoint responded to the increase need of young adult mental health treatment with the launch of BasePoint BreakThrough, an outpatient treatment option for 18 to 35-year-olds struggling with mental health and substance use disorders. The program offers partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) options for young adults. It was a natural step to expand and work with a patient population that hasn’t received the attention it requires. “If you don’t focus on your mental health needs right now, your relationships, your schoolwork, your job—all of those things are at risk,“ says Jordan Anselma, LPC, the executive director for BasePoint in Arlington, TX. “We want to support you and guide you so that you can get back to the things that are important to you in life.” BasePoint is a mental healthcare provider based in Forney, TX, with additional locations in
BreakThrough Happens Here
Young people moving from adolescence into adulthood are experiencing an important transitional stage of their life. Many encounter new challenges such as moving away from their families, becoming independent, and learning to handle more complex relationships. Making this transition with mental health issues may lead to an existing issue getting worse or could trigger new problems. Preparing adolescents and emerging adults for this transition has become more daunting for parents than ever before. “With so much rapid-fire change in the world, the job of preparing our young people for the future has become increasingly daunting,” wrote education expert Betty Ray in 2019. “The Institute of the Future issued a report in 2017 declaring “that 85 percent of the jobs in 2030—when today’s second-graders will graduate high school—have not been invented yet.” Many emerging adults struggle with the transition into adulthood and other stressors in their lives. BasePoint BreakThrough is an outpatient treatment program for 18 to 35-year-olds struggling with mental health and substance use disorder (SUD). The program offers partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) options for young adults. Two-thirds of young adults with anxiety or depression don’t seek treatment. BasePoint saw a need to bridge the gap for mental health treatment from adolescence to young adulthood, thus, BasePoint BreakThrough was born. BreakThrough primary therapist Elizabeth Moberg, LCSW, sees a lot of clients who had to drop out of college because of the struggles they are experiencing. “A lot of things that come up in therapy are core values that were established in childhood and the mental frameworks that have been created as a result. There’s a lot of shame and guilt that comes with it, too. Often, they are trying to find your way—sometimes not as fast as others.” Clients frequently reveal that they struggle with the adjustments and having to come to treatment. Motivation is key for the age group. “They’re not minors any more, parents can’t keep them here,” says Moberg. “They are at BreakThrough on their own accord. They stay here because they want to work on themselves and see progress.” DUAL DIAGNOSIS Many patients in the program struggle with multiple issues that need to be addressed concurrently. “A lot of the times patients are not coming in with just one thing,” confirms Moberg. “A lot of it revolves around co-occurring substance use. We utilize a substance use curriculum where people can break down what has been going on. We explore what started the substance misuse; most of the time, it’s not just substance use, we’re trying to cope from other things that started before the substance use. Unfortunately, a lot of times that starts when kids are eleven or twelve years old and then just keeps escalating. So we see it across all age groups that we work with.” Struggling with mental health and substance use disorders can create significant roadblocks on the journey to adulthood. “If you’re looking for a job and you’re struggling with anxiety and depression, how can we make your goals fit what you’re looking for when you leave here,” says Moberg. “Our goal is for you to be functioning outside of here, not just acquire a few coping skills and then go on your merry way. We want clients to be able to thrive and succeed once they leave the BreakThrough program.” EMPOWERMENT To that end, BreakThrough also uses a novel empowerment curriculum that was developed with the program’s young adult clients in mind. t is an integral part of the BreakThrough clinical/medical approach to treatment providing an immersive experience where young adults are taught how to bounce back from life’s biggest challenges. BasePoint BreakThrough is equipping young adults with the capacity to prepare for adversity. BreakThrough is at the forefront of innovation, delivering therapeutic approaches specifically for younger generations. Our dynamic outpatient program tackles the multifaceted challenges faced by young adults, helping them transition into successful, healthy adulthood. Recognizing the diverse life circumstances of our clients, BasePoint BreakThrough is committed to providing comprehensive, individualized care. The program addresses the heightened stress levels reported by young adults today. By offering tailored support, BreakThrough aims to empower them toward a future of stability and well-being. When you call BasePoint BreakThrough, the admission specialist can schedule a complimentary, same-day evaluation from a licensed clinician to determine the appropriate level of care to treat your condition.
Group Dynamics and Peer Support in Therapy
Group therapy is an effective, evidence-based treatment option for teenagers with mental health conditions and substance use disorders. When teenagers are struggling, group therapy can help. “Depending on the nature of your problem, group therapy can be an ideal choice for addressing your concerns and making positive changes in your life,” explains a webpage of the American Psychological Association (APA). Benefits That Individual Therapy May Not “Joining a group of strangers may sound intimidating at first, but group therapy provides benefits that individual therapy may not,” says the APA. Psychologists find that “group members are almost always surprised by how rewarding the group experience can be.” “A lot of the kids who get here don’t have much of a background with group therapy, so it is a bit of a struggle when they first get here,” says BasePoint therapist Elizabeth Moberg, LMSW. “It takes a while to get more comfortable with the format but after a week clients begin to open up and start to engage with one another providing feedback and support,” says Moberg. “It’s one thing if the advice comes from a therapist but feedback from another client who says ‘Hey, I’ve been through the same thing, this is what I did,’ goes that much further. Hearing from someone their own age goes a long way instead of a therapist telling them ‘You need to do this’ or” Why don’t you try that?’ Clients know we’re here to provide that support for them but once you have a group of kids together who can support each other, the long-term success rate is much higher.” A Support Network And A Sounding Board Groups can act as a support network and a sounding board. Other group members often help you come up with specific ideas for improving a difficult situation or life challenge and hold you accountable along the way. Moberg recently had a new client in her group who struggled to speak about some of the things she was dealing with. “A peer in the group took it upon herself to just say ‘Hey, it’s okay. This is a great group with a great therapist’ and now that peer who helped the new clients has started to process herself more than she’s ever processed and disclosed some things that she never disclosed before. It’s interesting to see new clients arrive who are scared but then they have someone else come in behind them who’s also scared and they take that step up to be more confident and start their healing journey right there.” While the input of peers is helpful, it is important that therapists make sure the discussion is going in the right direction. “It’s very important for the group dynamic to have structure,” says Moberg. “If there’s a lack of structure, it can be hard for clients to get the full benefit out of everything. The way the BasePoint Academy curriculum is structured makes sure clients get the support they need, so they can apply what they learn successfully when they are moving forward.” BasePoint serves communities in Dallas, TX, and surrounding areas, including Irving, Arlington, Fort Worth, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Richardson, Forney, Rockwall, Frisco, Prosper, Grapevine, Midlothian, Mansfield, Mesquite, and Garland. The Academy’s partial hospitalization program (PHP) and intensive outpatient program (IOP) were designed to address the specific mental health challenges and substance use issues today’s teenagers are facing. That’s why BasePoint created a dynamic program to address the multifaceted and complex teen experience that is unlike any generation before it. Call BasePoint Academy today at (469) 283-5145 to learn more about how mental health therapy can make a real difference in your and your adolescent’s lives.
Taking the Time to Treat Teen Mental Health Issues
Mental health challenges are now the leading cause of disability and poor life outcomes in young Americans. Unfortunately, in recent years, the United States has seen significant increases in certain mental health disorders in youth, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Many factors shape the mental health of young people, from individual to societal level forces. In December 2021, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on the youth mental health crisis: “Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread,” Dr. Murthy wrote. “We know that mental health is shaped by many factors, from our genes and brain chemistry to our relationships with family and friends, neighborhood conditions, and larger social forces and policies. We also know that, too often, young people are bombarded with messages through the media and popular culture that erode their sense of self-worth—telling them they are not good-looking enough, popular enough, smart enough, or rich enough.” Kimberly Dobbins, MD, is the chief medical officer at BasePoint, bringing over a decade of experience as a double board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist. Dr. Dobbins treats a broad range of mental health conditions at BasePoint. “There’s a great deal of depression and anxiety.” She feels a lot of that is driven by kids comparing themselves to others on social media. “I don’t think social media belongs in everyone’s home or everyone’s phone or device. I think social media plays a big role in what we’re seeing in a lot of kids. There’s school anxiety and bullying and the bullying can lead to depression and anxiety, even suicidal thoughts.” There are also other factors—genetics and possible childhood trauma. And there is the lingering experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our clients have to deal with a lot, but depression and anxiety are the most common conditions.” Young people with depression and anxiety are often tempted to self-medicate their symptoms with drugs and alcohol. Teenage substance misuse is strongly correlated with the mental health crisis among young people. “Teenagers who use cannabis, alcohol, and nicotine are more likely to have underlying psychiatric symptoms, and worse symptoms, than their peers who are not regularly using substances, new research has found,” reported Matt Richtel in the New York Times in January. “The research […] found that such substances are linked to an array of symptoms and conditions, including anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, and suicidal ideation. “ “I would say that substance use is pretty significant,” confirms Dobbins. “Marijuana use is significant. Kids don’t realize how potent cannabis has become because it’s all synthetic. What they’re using is synthetic most of the time. Even the bioform is synthetic these days, but they don’t think that it can harm them.” Treating depression, anxiety disorders, trauma, and substance use disorder requires time and patience. “It’s important to have the time to meet with clients, spend time with them, get to know them, and see what they’re dealing with,” says Dr. Dobbins. “Being able to ask questions and taking the time to get to know them, so I can be their advocate as well for their parents, or other guardians. At BasePoint, we have weeks to see them, so I can offer the most important thing on the first day, or maybe the second visit, and then use the time getting to know what else they might need. I have time to start them, watch them, and see them throughout the week.” BasePoint Academy is a mental health treatment center provider based in Forney, TX with a second location in Arlington, TX, and a third location in McKinney, TX. BasePoint Academy operates as a clinical center focusing on youth mental health conditions. We specialize in outpatient treatment for teenagers aged 11–18 who are struggling with mental health and substance misuse issues. The partial hospitalization program (PHP) and intensive outpatient program (IOP) were designed to address the specific mental health challenges today’s teens are facing. That’s why we’ve created a dynamic program to address the multifaceted and complex teen experience that is unlike any generation before it. A complimentary assessment with a licensed clinician will provide you with a recommendation for the appropriate level of care for your teen struggling with mental health. We can also check your insurance coverage. Call us to schedule a complimentary same-day assessment at (469) 629-6355 or complete our inquiry form.
Why Family Engagement is Crucial
PARENTING DEFIANT TEENS WITH MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE ISSUES AT BASEPOINT Parenting is hard. Parenting defiant teens with mental health and substance use issues can be even harder, especially in our fast-paced society. When kids start going to treatment at BasePoint Academy, it is often the first opportunity in quite some time for their parents to feel a sense of hope. “Before finding treatment for their kids, families are often confused and scared,” says BasePoint Academy lead therapist India Bradley, LCSW. “They are highly concerned and don’t know where to turn.” Parents and other family members have many questions. “Is treatment appropriate or is it too much? What about medications? There is a lot of conflicting information out there and the mental health profession often only comes into the picture once they know they need help.” Parents also often fear being blamed for their child’s condition or behavior. They wonder what they could have done differently—whether the crisis of their child is their fault. Once they work with BasePoint Academy, their outlook tends to improve. India Bradley shares from her own experience what parents are going through. “They ask ‘What’s going to happen in group therapy? Do we need to do medication? What are the possible side effects?’ Some questions they hesitate to ask, fearing what we may think of them if they do.” Bradley disclosed she had the same fears when her child needed help. “I had worked in this field, but I was still afraid that I did something wrong,” she remembers. “There was a big fear inside of me when my kid went to treatment. I was in pain when I felt I had to go to family sessions. I think a lot of parents feel that way.” Of course, along the way I trusted the process and knew my child receiving help was best regardless of how it impacted me”. Bradley usually meets with families right at the start of treatment, and shares “A lot of the parents break down crying in the room, but I intend to provide space for them to feel safe and remind them that kids don’t come with an instruction manual. I assure them that whatever they did was the best they knew how to do and now they will get more information to do something different”. COMMUNICATION AND PATIENCE At BasePoint Academy, families meet with a therapist once a week during the first 4-5 weeks of treatment. “We talk about communication, how to express your feelings in front of other people appropriately,” explains Bradley. “We talk about what is needed in the home from parents- What they need from their child.” After our teenage clients step down to intensive outpatient care, families have weekly check-ins with the BasePoint Academy team. “We talk about what’s going on, what’s going well at home,” says Bradley. “I usually start with what’s going well first, let’s make sure that we can see change and we don’t just focus on ‘problems’ because sometimes that gets so much in the way that we forget what is going well.” She likes to tell parents to hold on to the good things they see. “I remind them that this is not linear and that they have to fall back sometimes to be able to use the skills they learned in treatment. It’s not going to be perfect every time.” Bradley often compares the process to baseball or basketball: “Nobody hits it out of the park or makes a dunk every single time.” She utilizes a smart method to de-escalate confrontations in family therapy. “When we realize things are getting out of hand, they use a safe word. We like to make it as funny and ridiculous as possible so that everybody laughs and walks away but agrees on a time to come back. They have time to think about what they were saying, how they said it, and what they can do differently to make the conversation go better. They have to come back, though. You can’t walk away and not come back soon but we have to cool down first and then address it differently so that everyone can be understood and heard.” Bradley reminds family members that most people “cannot hear past of what they see. If you have this angry outward appearance, they can’t hear the emotions behind your words. All they see is your aggressive body movements and the anger in that.” In such a case, participants move away for about 30 minutes to think about what they look like to others, how they feel, and how they can express their feelings better when they come back. “I’ve had success with that with a lot of families where kids and parents were yelling and sometimes even throwing things,” she says. “One family used apple as their safe word and everybody started laughing when the mother got so mad and shouted ‘apple, apple, apple!’ They couldn’t believe she actually used it. When they came back, they were still laughing but they also talked about the errors they made and they wanted to do things better.” Sometimes this process is so complicated that participants ask for more time. If a BasePoint Academy therapist is available, we will allow additional sessions if appropriate. “Most therapists will gladly make that happen,” says Bradley. “We are very passionate about our kids and their families.” At BasePoint Academy, we understand how vital family is to our teenage clients and how vital a strong home base is for each one of our kids. “We’re compassionate and understanding,” says Bradley. “We help our families to know how important they are to their kids and the kids understand how important their families are to them and we give them the space to be vulnerable and we offer compassion consistently. Our therapists really connect with the families to make them understand we are here for them—we don’t judge. Nine times out of ten we walk away at discharge saying ‘I’m going to