Everything You Need To Know About Teen and Child Psychiatry & Psychologists in Dallas, Texas
Did You Know?
Did you know that the American Psychology Association reports that 42% of teens say that they’re not doing enough to manage their stress? And more than 13% said they never allocated time to address or manage their stress levels.[1]
Did you know that they also reported that mental health issues in adolescents had increased significantly over the last decade? In some cases, as much as 71%.[2]
Did you know that according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 11.7% of U.S. adolescents experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year?[3]
Hope And Healing Are On The Other Side Of Help
As a parent, you care deeply about the well-being of your child. The everyday life of your teen presents increasingly complex challenges – physically, biologically, emotionally, and socially. They’re acting out in new ways, and you’re just not sure how to help them. You’re worried about their present state and their future potential. Where can you turn?
Our teens are tired of feeling alone, unseen, and misunderstood. They face genuine challenges every day – body issues, social obstacles, academic pressure, and home conflicts. And none of those things reflect the presence of mental health concerns or a dual diagnosis. They just need a little extra support.
BasePoint Academy In Dallas, Texas, is here to help area teens and families navigate difficult behavioral health challenges, mental health diagnoses, and complex life transitions. We’re here to ensure teens get the treatment and guidance they need to achieve greater levels of success and autonomy in life.
Personal resilience and holistic healing begin here.
What Is Child Psychiatry / Psychology and Teen Mental Health Treatment?
Traditional psychology studies the mind as it relates to resulting behaviors in adults. But today’s teens exist in an ambiguous middle stage of life that is neither child-like nor adult-like, and this presents new and complex challenges.
Adolescent psychology and other forms of mental health treatment are designed to specifically address the unique needs and obstacles that teens face on a daily basis. As they undergo rapidly changing brain and body development, these changes impact their functioning levels and their behavior.
At BasePoint Academy, our teen behavioral health services and mental health treatments aim to address the well-being of the patient from the inside out. From talk therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to play therapy and Psychopharmacology, each patient will require a unique approach.
Guided by our Chief Clinical Officer (LPC) and our Chief Medical Officer (MD, double board certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as well as Adult Psychiatry), our team of clinicians, physicians, nurses, LCSWs, and LMSWs employ a myriad of therapies targeted to address each patient’s needs.
Teen Psychology vs. Psychiatry: What’s The Difference?
While both are within the adolescent mental health care field, the primary difference between psychiatry and psychology is in practice. Psychology is the study of the functions of the mind and how they impact the patient’s emotions and behavior. A teen psychologist will work with the patient to heal from past abuse or traumatic events and improve their mental health.
Psychiatry focuses on identifying, diagnosing, and treating mental health conditions. A psychiatrist is a medical physician qualified to prescribe psychiatric medications, whereas a psychologist holds a doctorate degree but will pursue other therapies instead of medications.
At BasePoint Academy, our Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Kimberly Dobbins, board certified in the field of Child, Adolescent, and Adult psychiatry. We believe that for most patients, the best path to healing incorporates elements of counseling, child therapy, and psychiatry.
Here’s How Teen Therapy and Behavioral Health Treatment Can Help Your Family
Navigating pediatric & adolescent behavioral health challenges and/or a mental health diagnosis can dramatically affect their home, social, and academic life. Whether they’re struggling with anger management, difficult life transitions, Autism, ADHD, anxiety, depression, or a dual diagnosis, everyday life can be more difficult now than it ever was before.
Teen-focused treatment helps teens identify and understand their inner thought processes and emotions and how they impact their actions, both positively and negatively. They will develop practical coping skills and interpersonal effectiveness.
Seeking mental health treatment is also beneficial for the whole family when leveraged through family therapy sessions. Together, you can navigate relationship issues, build one another’s self-esteem, and pursue personal wellness individually and for the unit as a whole.
BasePoint Academy Patient Outcomes
We’re driven by results. We aim to see every patient leave our outpatient care better than when they entered it. The proof is in the data.
Over the last several years, patients have been admitted into our programs with more acute symptoms than is traditionally common and later discharged with change scores that were 2x better than other providers and treatment centers.
What It Looks Like To Work With Teen-Focused Providers At BasePoint Academy in Dallas, Texas
Each of our patients will undergo a detailed initial evaluation from one of our teen healthcare providers. We will develop a comprehensive treatment plan incorporating sessions with a licensed professional counselor (LPC), LCSW (licensed clinical social worker), or the right therapist for each individual.
BPA’s outpatient treatment program in Dallas includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), group therapy, experiential therapy, and talk therapy, such as Motivational Interviewing. Our teen and child therapists, counselors, and clinicians are driven by a passion for positive outcomes and patient success.
Meet The BasePoint Academy Treatment Team
From our executive leadership and medical directors to our medical assistants, licensed therapists, and office personnel, we have created a team of qualified and compassionate providers. Each one works hard to facilitate recovery, healing, and personal resilience in our teen patients.
FAQs Related To Teen, Pediatric and Child PSYCHIATRY AND Psychology.
Each teen’s personal journey is unique, but there are a few common traits to look out for that are perfectly natural. They may revert to childish behaviors, such as outbursts of tears, stomping away from conflict, or slamming drawers and doors.
They may struggle with their personal identity and be obsessed with how they look, but it’s natural to feel some level of awkwardness about their changing physical appearance. They may exhibit situational swings from overconfidence to low self-esteem and rely heavily on the influence of their friend group for style, behavior, and hobbies.
Perhaps the most common trait is that they will find fault with authority figures, especially teachers and parents, as they are learning to think for themselves. These are all natural progressions of the adolescent experience and personal growth.
Teen depression is often dismissed as moodiness, but it’s critical to accurately identify potential warning signs and seek behavioral health treatment in Dallas right away.
- Unexplained sadness and crying episodes
- Frustration unequal to the circumstances
- Expressing feelings of hopelessness
- Chronic irritability
- Fixated with their past failures
- Exaggerated guilt or worthlessness
- Loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy
- Conflict with friends and family
- Increased need for reassurance
- Difficulty concentrating, thinking, and reduced memory
- Difficulty making decisions, big or small
- Ongoing sense that life is grim and the future is bleak
- Preoccupation with death or thoughts of suicide
If you or your teen are struggling with one or more of these warning signs, don’t wait until they intensify. Reach out to our team of compassionate professionals and get the help you need today.
Everyone experiences anxiety at some level and anxiety in a teenager will look very similar to what an adult experiences. In general, they may suffer from excessive fears, continual nervousness, severe stress, and unfounded worry. It could also present as inner restlessness, paranoia, panic attacks, and a tendency to be excessively wary or on alert.
They may withdraw from their usual activities or require additional support to do them. They may appear restrained and emotional without any apparent reason. They may develop unrealistic fears about people, surroundings, circumstances, or their future.
Whatever shape it takes, anxiety in teens can be debilitating. They may lose friends, have conflicts with family members, or fall behind in school. If you or your teen are struggling with one or more of the above signs of anxiety, don’t wait until they become too much to bear. Contact our compassionate and professional team today and get the help you need immediately.
A therapist is a generic title that could refer to a licensed professional counselor or a clinical teen psychologist. Both of these certifications will be qualified to treat adolescent behavioral and mental health disorders without medications, whereas a child psychiatrist can prescribe any treatment-related medications.
Establish Resiliency and Healing With The Help Of A Teen Treatment Center in Dallas, Texas
At BasePoint Academy, we offer teen-focused mental health treatment to build resiliency and establish healthier behaviors. We’re here to help facilitate healing, recovery, and hope. We’re proud to serve the families and teens in the greater Dallas area with locations in Forney, Arlington, and McKinney.
Sources
- American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Teen stress rivals that of adults. Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved December 30, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/teen-stress
- American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Mental health issues increased significantly in young adults over last decade. American Psychological Association. Retrieved December 30, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/03/mental-health-adults
- American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA offers new guidance for treating depression. Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved December 30, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/09/ce-corner-depression#
