Depression Treatment Centers For Teens

Depression treatment centers for teens help teens who struggle with depression build the coping tools they need to work through their struggles with depression. If your teen is struggling with depression, you may consider Solstice West as a therapeutic option. Our professionals have years of experience working with teens and understand the unique developmental needs of adolescents with depression regarding how they respond to treatment. Getting treatment for adolescent depression is essential for learning coping skills that they will carry with them through adulthood.

The guide is meant to be comprehensive, but as such, not every section will be applicable to everyone. Instead, we invite you to click on the links in the table of contents to jump to the sections that most interest you.

How Does Solstice RTC Help Teens with Depression?

Solstice West takes a whole-person perspective when it comes to helping teens with depression. We utilize two of the most effective therapies for depression: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). These therapies can be used in tandem to work on shifting the underlying core beliefs (CBT) while also practicing effective coping skills (DBT).

This combination is very successful at improving their mood and challenging negative self-talk. Solstice West also offers adventure therapy to help students gain self-esteem and gets students moving and having fun! The mind-body connection is another important consideration when treating depression. Our daily mindfulness practices and weekly yoga improve self-awareness and work to decrease depressive symptoms.

What are the Effects of Bullying on Teens?

All types of bullying can feel just as painful and can have a traumatic effect on one’s self esteem and relationships. Like other stressful life events, the details of the situation don’t necessarily predict the way your child will respond to their experience of being bullied. Some people are more sensitive to the effects of bullying if they already struggle with mental health issues or feelings of loneliness, while others care less about what others think of them. 

• Low Self Esteem. Bullying and social rejection also lead to internalizing the message that “something is wrong with me.”

• Social Struggles. Many teens who have been bullied have a hard time making friends and opening up to people. Relational bullying can be traumatic as it is a breach of trust by people who are supposed to be there for you. After realizing they can’t trust people around them who have played a role in shaping their identity, many teens question if they can trust who they thought they were as they begin to see themselves as a victim. 

• Depression. As social support is a protective factor against isolating effects of depression, teens with fewer close friends that they can trust to talk about their emotions and have fun with are more at risk for developing depression. 

• School Refusal. Unlike truancy, school refusal refers to an aversion to school itself based on negative past experiences and anxiety related to going to school. 

Why Does My Teen Need Depression Treatment?

Sadly, 60% of adolescents do not get the depression treatment they need. Of those that do, treatment falls into two categories: therapy or medication (or a combination of the two). However, these are not the only options. Solstice West uses a variety of evidence-based approaches when working with teens that struggle with depression. By using our multidisciplinary treatment team, we have an attuned understanding of how your child is showing up emotionally, academically, socially, and physically.

It is important to consider all aspects of their wellbeing, because depression can interfere with an  individual’s ability to manage daily tasks, making certain self care practices crucial to treating depression effectively. As mentioned above, Solstice West uses both CBT and DBT, as well as adventure therapy to ensure a whole person approach to growth and healing.

Why are residential treatment centers a popular treatment option for teens with depression?

Compared to inpatient hospitalization that may help depressed teens struggling with suicidal ideation, residential treatment centers offer more opportunities for teens to make lasting changes in their lives in a more normalized environment. With a longer length of stay, teens have time to develop a strong support system of staff and peers and participate in our accredited academic program so they don’t fall behind in school. There is also a larger family component, as therapists work closely with parents through a parallel therapeutic process that includes weekly family therapy and quarterly family workshops.

Recreation activities also help break up the weekly schedule by offering a “normalized” weekend schedule. When students transition home, they may continue to integrate healthy social activities, like hiking, biking, or water sports, into their weekend plans over choosing unhealthy activities, like using substances. Recreation therapy teaches teens with depression that it is possible to have fun in constructive ways and to take healthy risks that challenge themselves but don’t put them in danger.

What makes Solstice West different in treating teens with depression?

Solstice West provides a truly relationship-based program aimed at whole-person care. Your child is more than their diagnosis and deserves to be in a compassionate, supportive environment that offers a strengths-based approach to care. By focusing on building healthy, trusting relationships, we begin to help their experientially heal unhealthy past relationships. We can help our students understand and practice trust, while building their self-worth and ability to self-regulate.

By developing trusting relationships, students feel safe and comfortable exploring underlying core beliefs related to their depression. This deep self-work is sometimes difficult, and students need to work with people they trust in order to access these areas of themselves.  

Solstice West believes that every person needs love, acceptance, and a sense of self-efficacy in order to heal and thrive. We focus on principles and values to access intrinsic change and motivation. By understanding students on this deeper level, we are able to work on changes that will be long-lasting and exist even after the structure of being at Solstice West is removed. Though this approach takes more time and investment, it is one we believe in and feel is worth it.  

At Solstice West, we take a holistic approach to the wellbeing of our students. This means that we approach change from the belief that humans are complex, interconnected beings with a variety of needs (social, emotional, familia, mental, physical). Therefore we strive to integrate as many components of our program as possible in an effort to create overall health and well-being. Our multidisciplinary treatment team is a wonderful example of this approach in action, as we have integrated professionals from every aspect and setting of your teen’s world at Solstice West in order to further their treatment goals, which includes working on your teen’s depression. The treatment team meets weekly to provide treatment updates, discuss appropriate interventions, and assess phase progression. Learn more about the Solstice Difference>>>