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Adolescence is often a period full of difficulties and transitions. As children transition into adolescence they attempt to define themselves and establish their own identities. It is during this period that adolescents can suffer from a variety of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.

Adolescents may also struggle to cope with their other issues by using drugs. These difficulties, especially substance use and abuse, do not occur outside the context of other life difficulties. Often, mental health issues or substance use are concerns within a constellation of challenges that could affect an adolescent’s well-being within other life domains such as family, school, social, or emotional problems.

The life difficulties have influence upon, and are influenced by, the severity and duration of other mental health problems. With this in mind, adolescent mental health treatment strives to help adolescents examine their life and develop a plan to use personal strengths to help reduce the negative impact of whatever mental health difficulties they struggle with. Adolescent behaviors are driven by valid reasons, and self-destructive behaviors often are inappropriate expressions of thoughts and feelings, or used as a coping strategy for seemingly insurmountable problems.

In order to promote healthy adolescent development, preventing and/or reducing the high-risk behaviors is a key goal. In addition to this goal, the long term objective of mental health treatment is to help youth develop into adults that are productive, balanced and self-confident contributors to society.

With adolescents it is particularly important to meet each teen where they are at. By collaboratively looking at the life of the young person and identifying areas for change, the mental health provider seeks to align his or her efforts with the needs and priorities of youth. Privacy and confidentiality are stressed and protected, and information is shared only with the consent of the legal guardian and knowledge of the youth, except where the law supersedes.

Adolescents seeking treatment may range from those first experiencing mental health symptoms or those first experimenting with substance use to youth who have more serious problems with mental health issues, alcohol dependence or drug addiction. A thorough assessment is necessary to fully evaluate the severity of a teens mental health issues and possible substance use and other bio-psychosocial areas that include (but are not limited to) psychological problems, medical status, family issues, and legal concerns.

An initial mental health assessment is needed to determine the intensity of treatment, which is often referred to as the level of care. Levels of care include outpatient therapy and residential rehabilitation. These decisions are based on level of need and vary from adolescent to adolescent.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides adolescent mental health treatment as part of our commitment to integrated behavioral healthcare in youth alcohol and drug treatment. If you would like more information, please call us now at 888-777-8565 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.