FAQs for Teen Mental Health Treatment

A PHP is a Partial Hospitalization Program. This is our extended-hours treatment program offering an attentive level of care without requiring teens to stay on-site. They will receive comprehensive and consistent daily treatment with the freedom to sleep at home and maintain healthy relationships.

As a teen-focused treatment provider, we’re committed to ensuring academic pursuits don’t suffer during treatment. It’s important to maintain education while receiving necessary treatment. We have an established partnership with the local school systems and academic counselors to ensure students don’t fall behind in their studies. 

An IOP is an Intensive Outpatient Program that is a lower level of care than a PHP program for those teens that have developed a strong sense of personal autonomy and are ready for more freedom in their schedule. Teen IOP treatment includes group therapy sessions, individual therapy, family therapy, psychoeducation, and psychiatry for medication management and testing as needed.

Our teen Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) takes place Monday-Friday 8:30-3:30 pm. Our teen Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is Monday – Friday, 9:00 am-12:00 pm. The length of the programs is determined by your teen’s level of participation and the progress they make. Please keep in mind that program days will vary based on individual needs.

Behavioral therapy focuses on modifying unhelpful thought patterns and actions to improve overall emotional health. Key modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) address the connection between thoughts, feelings, and actions, while Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotional regulation and distress tolerance skills. Together, these evidence-based techniques empower adolescents to cultivate healthy coping mechanisms for long-term personal transformation.

Psychiatric services deliver comprehensive medical evaluations and specialized mental health care to diagnose, treat, and prevent complex conditions. Board-certified practitioners combine clinical expertise with compassionate care, utilizing personalized treatment plans and precise medication management to stabilize mood, alleviate distressing symptoms, and foster lasting mental health stability.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and multiple other sources report that approximately 50% of all lifetime cases of mental health disorders are present by age 14.

We’ve developed a comprehensive but streamlined process to ensure your child remains on track in their education. Your child will spend 2 hours a day with our academic counselor. This counselor contacts and coordinates all school assignments and tutoring needs while your child is attending a BasePoint Academy mental health treatment program. Any special accommodations, such as 504 or IEP, will be facilitated by our staff.

In many cases, private insurance will cover the majority of mental health outpatient treatment programs. Any out-of-pocket treatment costs will be discussed prior to admission, and customized payment solutions can be determined based on your family’s needs. The most important element to consider is that your teen receives the help they need.

We know that shuttling your children to various school and extracurricular activities is a full-time job on its own. BasePoint Academy is a comprehensive teen recovery program, and as such, we have transportation options available. Ask us how it works. Contact BasePoint Academy.

Prominent pediatric medical studies emphasize that major depression manifests uniquely across individual teenagers, typically requiring a cluster of concurrent indicators over a 2-week span for an accurate diagnosis. Recognizing these subtle shifts in mood, demeanor, and physical well-being remains essential for timely support and lasting relief.

• Persistent Emotional Heavy-Heartedness: Unrelenting sadness, intense despair, or unwarranted guilt that lingers through daily activities
• Negative Self-Perception: Diminished self-worth, chronic feelings of inadequacy, and severe self-criticism
• Social and Behavioral Withdrawal: A sudden detachment from cherished hobbies, personal passions, and close interpersonal connections
• Physical and Cognitive Shifts: Disruptions in sleep cycles, sudden appetite changes, noticeable exhaustion, and difficulty maintaining focus

When a teenager voices a desire to cease living or exhibits self-harming behavior, immediate action is paramount. Expressed thoughts of ending one’s life or previous survival following a intentional self-harm event demand urgent professional intervention to ensure safety and specialized care.

We know this journey involves the whole family, and we’re prepared to provide a multi-layer approach to care so you can stay informed. Aside from being an integral part of our mental health assessment, your child is assigned a therapist who will be available by phone for inquiries, updates, or concerns.

Our program consists of individual therapy, group therapy, psychoeducation, academic blocks, and psychiatry for medication management. There may also be additional testing as needed. Group therapy will consist of various topics that teach coping skills, mindfulness, healthy boundaries, emotional regulation, resilience, and more, while individual psychotherapy facilitates valuable one-on-one time between your child and their dedicated therapist.

Your child’s specific treatment plan and its corresponding modalities and acitivities will be reviewed alongside your input prior to initiating any care.

World Health Organization (WHO) findings reveal that depression, anxiety disorders, and behavioral conditions rank among the primary drivers of illness and long-term disability among youth. Addressing these widespread challenges early ensures adolescents receive the dedicated support required to thrive emotionally and socially.

The first step in suicide prevention is awareness — knowing when someone is in crisis. it’s often not obvious, because many teens suffer in silence or give no sign they might harm themselves. As a family member, friend, neighbor, or colleague, you can make a difference by using the Columbia Protocol.

This protocol, also known as the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), an evidence-based assessment tool to determine when someone is at risk for suicide and how to help.

Assertive Community is a skills group specific to BasePoint Academy programming. This group comprises all community members: teens and BasePoint staff. The ongoing development and maintenance of this community is the foundation of teaching appropriate boundaries and our core values.

The community exists within the offices, group and community rooms, clinic grounds, and even transportation vans where teens will interact with other Assertive Community Group members. The specific processes and interventions used in the group are tailored to help teens identify new ways to activate their innate capacity to heal.

Evaluating your teen’s needs helps determine the precise degree of clinical support required for their safety and growth. Transitions between distinct settings, or “levels of care”, allow mental health support to adjust seamlessly, increasing intensity during severe distress or reducing it as personal stability develops. 

The continuum of care, or the continuous, integrated system of healthcare services that adjusts to a patient’s changing needs over time, looks like this:

• Inpatient Hospitalization: Immediate, short-term crisis stabilization (typically 3–5 days) providing maximum supervision when safety remains a priority.
• Residential Care: 24-hour onsite treatment delivering comprehensive therapeutic support in a less restrictive living setting.
• Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP): Intensive daytime treatment running several hours daily, 5 days a week, for complex mental health symptoms.
• Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP): Flexible care meeting 3–5 days weekly for targeted skill-building and step-down mental health support.
• Psychiatric Services: Specialized medical consultations focused on accurate diagnosis, symptom monitoring, and precise medication management.
• Traditional Outpatient Talk Therapy: Outpatient individual, group, or family therapy delivering consistent therapeutic support while teens continue their normal daily routines.

Discharge marks the end of an adolescent’s episode of care and is the point at which the treatment team, teen, and family come together to finalize the aftercare plan. During this process, everyone is educated on the importance of continuing care and following the care plan to support sustainable recovery. 

The aftercare plan should include specific referrals indicative of the patient’s next level of treatment needs. The goal is to anticipate changes in treatment needs and provide continuity of care between treatment providers.