The Advantages of Experiential Therapy in Residential Treatment: When Traditional Talk Therapy is Ineffective for Teenagers Facing a Mental Health Crisis
Are you struggling to determine if it's time to move from outpatient therapy to a more immersive experience? In our latest episode, we address this challenge and explore key questions that can provide clarity. Is talk therapy effective? When should you consider Residential Treatment with experiential therapy, like Discovery Ranch South? Deciding on the right course of action for your mental health can be overwhelming, but our experts offer insightful guidance that will help ease your concerns and make the best decision possible. Join us on this journey towards improved mental well-being.
If your child has gone through talk therapy and hit a wall, we have a solution. At Discovery Ranch South, we offer personalized mental health treatment that enables teenagers to live a life filled with meaning and self-reliance. Our therapeutic program helps in creating life-changing experiences and building strong relationships. Start healing today. To learn more about our services, call us at 855-667-9388.
Introduction
Tiffany: Okay, welcome back everybody to our final episode in this podcast series. My name is Tiffany Herlin, a licensed clinical social worker. Today I'm interviewing from Discovery Ranch South residential program, Jennifer Hedrick, the Clinical Director who you guys got to hear from in our first episode that we started with in this series.
In this final episode, we will be diving into how do you know when talk therapy isn't working and when can residential treatment benefit your child. In particular, one that focuses on experiential therapy like Discovery Ranch South.
Jennifer: Awesome.
Tiffany: Welcome back.
Jennifer: I'm glad to be back.
Tiffany: Yeah. We love talking to you. You have a lot of great knowledge and insight. So we're excited to dive into helping parents figure out, you know, when do I need residential treatment?
Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Recognizing the Need for Residential Treatment
Tiffany: So how do you, you know, How do you know that talk therapy isn't working and you need to move forward with residential treatment? What does that look like for a parent?
Jennifer: Yeah. I mean, I think it looks different depending on the situation. I think we hit on it a little bit in the first episode where we sort of talked about how, you know, you see that maybe the student does well for a kid, does well for a little while but that their natural environment is what is reinforcing, right, some of the the maladaptive kind of coping skills that they have developed.
And so I think if you just, yeah, you don't see much change occurring like in their environments where the problems are occurring. So whether that be at home with the family, at school, with their peer group, you know, in sports, and you just continue to see, and maybe you're seeing things getting worse.
I think one of the things that I've talked to a lot of parents about is when, that their kid maybe like went to that next level of something that scared them, right? And so the parents get to that point where we're like, ooh, we're not ready to go there. And so that's when they make the decision.
Seeking Help and Resources for Parents
Jennifer: So I think it's varying levels of honestly, kind of fear and worry and anxiety that parents have that, you know, sort of forces them, their hand of like, we can't keep our child safe anymore. That's what it comes down to. We cannot keep our child safe anymore and we need to get them to be, we need them safe. That's our number one job.
Tiffany: So there's some type of crisis that's happened.
Jennifer: Right.
Tiffany: Their child is exhibiting risky, more risky behavior that is making them say, our child isn't safe. We can't provide enough support and safety and structure.
Jennifer: Absolutely.
Tiffany: I think another thing parents should also have on their radar is that like, they feel kind of, not kind of, they're exhausted and they feel like they've tried everything.
Jennifer: Well, they're constantly in crisis mode, right? Like if they're constantly in crisis mode, that's a problem.
Tiffany: Yeah. They don't feel safe and they don't feel like they can keep their kids safe and that they don't get to rest.
What resources are there for parents and finding a residential treatment program, because that's a daunting task, especially if you're in crisis and you're scared and overwhelmed.
Jennifer: Right. Yeah. I mean, I think that parents, you know, they rely on the internet a lot, obviously. And so I think, but that, it's sifting through, how do they sift through it? They're not the experts. They're the parents, right? That's their job. That's their role.
And so I think one of the great things that is an option out there is the role of an educational consultant, who is an individual who has made it their work, it's their expertise to help, you know, essentially kind of assess like the situation with the family, with the student and determine what level of care would be good for that kiddo. And so that, like I had encouraged lots of parents to, you know, to reach out, like get that off your plate, like give that to somebody else.
I think that, yeah, parents were already exhausted because of being in crisis mode and now they're out, you know, now they're saying I've got to find a program and so why not give that to somebody else?
And so I do think that there's, there's a lot of educational consultants out there that can, again, they look at what is going on, they assess, and then they can be the person that says, Hey, this is kind of the level of treatment that I think your kid would do best in and then here are the programs that I think, based on that kid's issues and what they're trying to manage in their lives, they give them a list of programs to start looking at.
Tiffany: Educational consultants are such a valuable resource to parents. It's adding another team member and support member to their team.
Jennifer: Yeah.
Tiffany: And giving expertise and taking time and effort off the parents plate, you know, that they just probably don't have.
Jennifer: Right.
Tiffany: And education consultants, for parents listening who don't know, like you said, their whole career and goal is to learn about these programs, learn about the resources, and know specifically what they offer, have relationships with the programs, the people at the programs, and can really point you in the right direction of what's best for your child.
Jennifer: Right.
Tiffany: They're just so worth your time and money to use.
Jennifer: Yes. Yeah, I agree a hundred percent.
Tiffany: Yeah. It's going to be more valuable than just going and Googling, you know, here's my child's problems and what residential program will work cause yeah, that's not going to give you such an individualized, you know, direction that your child needs.
Jennifer: Right. Exactly.
Addressing Concerns and Emotions of Parents
Tiffany: Okay. So parents realize that there's resources out there like an educational consultant to help find placement. They're out there looking, yet a lot of times parents that I've talked to, and I think you've talked to, feel hesitant and nervous and scared to send their loved ones to residential treatment. How is that, is that normal? How can families address these concerns?
Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah, I think it's totally normal. I don't know that I've ever, I've ever worked with a parent who didn't feel nervous about this at first. I mean, it's their child, right? Like it's their most precious cargo, their most precious thing in the world.
And they're kind of in a position of doing something that is not what they signed up for when they chose to be a parent, right? No one signs up for like, hey, I'm going to have kids and then when they become adolescents, I'm going to send them away, you know, and not have them live in my home, like I don't think that that's part of the normal sort of pathway that parents choose. And so of course they're nervous.
I also think that a lot of parents feel guilty because they feel relief when they do end up making that decision. And so that's really normal too, is that experience of like, you know, oh no, now I feel actually like I can rest, I mean, I can sleep. I don't have to worry about where my child is at night. And then they feel guilty about that and that's okay.
And one of our roles at Discovery Ranch South is working with those parents through their own process of having their child away at treatment. It is not just about the child, like we are here to help support, you know, the parents and we're here to help support their process, which is to manage their own emotions about this experience, which I've seen all the emotions, right? There's nothing normal. It's just, they're all there. Like they're sad. They're angry. They have grief. They you know, they are relieved. They feel guilty. Like it runs the spectrum of emotional experience and so we're here to, just to, to help them navigate that.
Tiffany: Which is so powerful because as a parent myself, putting myself in a parent's shoes who has to send your kid away, I mean, that's just.... Even sending, you know, my kid to kindergarten, you know, for the first time when they were little, it was like, are they going to be okay? They're going to be taken care of, you know? And so, yeah, knowing that you have a support team to help parents through these normal feelings and that it's not just about, you know, the child, it's about the family.
Jennifer: Right. Absolutely.
Tiffany: It's going to be so important.
Jennifer: Yeah. Yep. Absolutely.
Tiffany: This is such an incredibly difficult decision if you're at this point in listening to this podcast and contemplating residential treatment. Know that you're not alone and that it is scary and it's okay to feel grief. It's okay to feel even anger. It's okay to feel guilt. It's okay to feel relief. You are not alone. And if you've gotten to this point of the episode, then we want you to know that there's resources and help, so, and we're going to dive more into that.
Jennifer: Absolutely.
Supporting Parents Through the Decision
Tiffany: So, why should parents, when they're looking at programs, why would they want to choose, say, you know, Discovery Ranch South, where you focus on experiential therapy over, say, another program?
Jennifer: I, you know, I think one of the biggest things that I like to brag about, about Discovery Ranch South is just our team in general. I think when, you know, parents and consultants or anybody, you know, comes to visit us, that's one of the things that they point out is that. We have a team that is really cohesive, that we work together well, and one of the things too, that's noticeable is that we actually have a lot of fun in our work and I think that's incredibly important in, this is hard work. Like these are kids lives at stake, families lives at stake. And so we want to be able to do that really well and seriously, but at the same time, like we want to be able to have a relationship with each other where we know how to have fun.
Benefits of Experiential Therapy at Discovery Ranch South
Jennifer: I think the other thing is that, so I've actually worked other places and this, so Discovery Ranch South is true treatment team driven program and what that means is that we have opportunity every week to talk about how our kids are, how these kids are doing in their treatment process from every departmental aspect and we don't skimp on it, you know, we actually spend the time. We're in our meeting for five and a half hours on Wednesday. We're like talking about what this student over here needs, what this student needs, and we're doing it from an academic perspective, a residential perspective, clinical, experiential, all of these things that are part of our program so that we have all, it's like kind of all in every day for every kid kind of thing from every perspective, like we don't want anyone flying under the radar. So that's one of the things that impresses me about Discovery Ranch South is our true treatment team driven program.
I think the other thing that's, you know, the reason I would choose it for my own child is that aspect of like, one of the reasons why parents are making this decision is that talk therapy isn't working anymore. So what do I need instead? We've talked a lot about experiential therapy and those opportunities to, to, you know, to sort of get unstuck, to access the whole body to find, you know, insights that you didn't know you had through experiential therapy and we have so much of that here. I mean, there is, you know, you turn a corner and there it is again, we have another opportunity for experiential therapy. So our experiential program is...
Tiffany: It's dynamic.
Jennifer: Honestly, it's the biggest part of what we do.
Tiffany: Yeah.
Jennifer: And so it is, you know, it's solid. We're constantly, you know, looking at ways of improving when it's already kind of one of the best things out there. And so yeah, it is a very, I mean, honestly, it's one of the things that excites me the most about what we do here.
Tiffany: And having worked with Discovery Ranch South and knowing your program for a while, I would agree that you have a dynamic team and a dynamic program and you've stayed true to the course of this experiential therapy and really helping your students grow and take it to the next level when talk therapy isn't working.
Jennifer: Yeah, exactly.
Ensuring Safety and Well-being of Children
Tiffany: I think a lot of parents are wondering, you know, how can a place like Discovery Ranch South ensure the safety and wellbeing of my child if I send them here? What does that look like?
Jennifer: Yeah, no, I think that's, I mean, I would worry about that as a parent as well. And it's interesting because even though their child isn't safe, right, like they're still like, but how are you going to guarantee that they are safe?
I think one of the things that, you know, I'll be honest about is that we are fully transparent about things that happen here. You know, like we are bound by, state regulations in terms of licensing. We also have, you know, a federal governmental kind of oversight with joint commissions, accreditation, and so, you know, we are bound by these kind of entities that we have to report to.
And then ultimately, you know, we are transparent with parents about issues that have occurred in the past, like issues that occur currently, and ultimately nothing, you know, I'm not saying like that, you know, all these scary things happen here, but kind of normal issues will come up that, that we will talk about, we'll talk to the parents about. And so, so we have, you know, the training of our, of our therapists, the training of our staff everyone is, sort of, you know, bound by this, the regulatory bodies to be fully transparent about about our program. And so there's a lot of oversight.
Transparency and Accountability in the Program
Tiffany: But it sounds like you have a lot of accountability, a lot of systems in place.
Jennifer: A lot of accountability. Uhhuh.
Tiffany: Yeah. Which is so important and I would just say to our listeners, if you're at the place where you're looking at residential, go tour the program. It's one thing to look on the website, it's one thing to hear about a program or see that they have great buildings are opportunities. It's another thing to meet the team, like you were talking about, and then to see, you know, things in action and to come here and that's going to help you as a parent, if you're unsure or feeling uneasy about your child's safety and wellbeing, go meet the people, go tour the program.
Jennifer: Absolutely and ask to talk to the students and ask to talk to the parents because that is definitely something that we do. We want them to talk to the students and we want them and we don't tell the students what to say. We're just like, just go be honest with these parents and they are, you know, they talk about what they hate and they talk about what they love and that's a normal adolescent experience.
And then we often, we always offer like here's a list of parents, you know, call these people, like talk to them about their experience. And the same thing. Our parents do, our former parents talk about like, Oh, I was so frustrated with this, but here's all the great things, right? Like they tell the real story.
Tiffany: Yeah. They're unbiased and going to help you provide support to you as a parent, as you're navigating these really tricky and scary tumultuous times.
Jennifer: Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
Expectations in Treatment
Tiffany: So what should parents expect in treatment? That's a big question, I guess, you know give us your reader's digest of kind of the top three or four things that parents should expect.
Jennifer: Yeah. I'll say one of the things that they maybe don't want to hear, but it's true, well, one thing to expect right off initially is their kid and their child telling them that they don't like it here.
Tiffany: What? They're going to call home on the weekend.
Jennifer: They're going to call home and say, this is terrible. The food's terrible. I hate everything, you know.
Tiffany: They love to, what I like to say, I would talk to parents about is they like to send out white rabbits for you to chase and also send off emotional bombs. So they know you feel guilty for sending them away. They're going to, you know, do whatever they can because they don't want to change. They don't want to be out of their comfort zone, even if they weren't safe or doing, you know, they were doing maladaptive things that were harmful that at least they know what to expect. Right.
Jennifer: Yes, exactly.
Tiffany: So yeah, they're going to challenge you, especially in those first month, yeah, you know, especially on that weekend phone call home when there's not a therapist present, you know, and they get to speak freely.
Jennifer: Right. Yeah.
Tiffany: Be aware of that parents. That's huge.
Jennifer: Yeah, and so one of the things that we'll do, though, that I'll say that they can also expect as parents is that we'll help them navigate that. We're not just going to leave them to, you know, to that experience and say, well, good luck when your kid calls home and they say that. We're going to help coach them on how do you deal with that, because it is going to happen. And it probably will happen for a while and so we really want them to be prepared of like, you know, your kid knows you well, and they're going to know where to push to make you kind of go, oh no, like did we make the wrong decision? So that's our, you know, rely on us for, for help around that.
Jennifer: I think another thing that they can expect is, is work for themselves. So one of the things that we are, we have a very strong parent component to our program and, you know, we want to treat the whole system, that, like, this is not just about the kid being here, their kid being here and doing the work themselves. We are really expecting parents to take a look at, you know, ultimately, what do you want to get out of this, too? And like, it's not about pointing fingers or saying, oh, this is so and so's fault or this is so and so's fault, but the end of the day, what we want to happen is we want kids to transition and go home and succeed and the only way they're going to succeed is if we make change outside of here too.
Importance of Family System in Treatment
Jennifer: And so we really take a deep look into, like what needs to change in the family system, what needs to change in the environmental system as well. So that's one thing they can expect is we're going to deep dive because we want success. We want their money to be worth it. We want their investment to be worth long term change.
Tiffany: I love that because if you're a parent and as me being a parent myself, we get into these patterns and systems that sometimes we don't even realize contribute to our kids that can be enabling or contribute to their negative behaviors.
And so helping, it's just doing therapy, right, you know, but for the whole system, right. And which is so essential because otherwise there's times where if the family system isn't willing to change, or at least the parents to be able to look at themselves and reevaluate their parenting and what they can do differently, then oftentimes kids go back home and they go back to the same exact behavior that they were in because there's not accountability, there's not change in the whole system, you know, even if they've learned all these great skills and want to change, it makes it hard for them.
Jennifer: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think another thing they can expect is a lot of stops and starts. We're playing a longterm game here, right? So our average length of stay is 10 and a half to 12 months. And so they're going to see, you know, they're going to see their child, like do really well for a little while and then have a setback and we're going to help them navigate the setback of like, that's a good thing. We want to see all the things, essentially, not, like not necessarily behaviorally exactly the same way, like we don't necessarily want to say, oh, we want to see your kids self harm here. I'm not saying that.
But we definitely want to see some of the patterns that were occurring while their child was at home here, because that's how we can help better, right. We don't want a student, we don't want their child to come here and be, you know, meet some expectation of like, I have to be good. And so what we expect and what we want them to know is that there's going to be a lot of stops and starts. There's going to be setbacks and we want to sort of use a setback to mine therapeutic gold at that point, right, because it's going to be more therapeutic opportunity for insight when we do see setbacks.
So those are the big things, yeah.
Tiffany: Yeah, those are all great and that's how normal therapy progression goes.
Jennifer: Right.
Tiffany: There's times where, and I've had friends and myself leave therapy sessions feel like, Whoa, I feel like I just got hit by a truck. That was really hard, emotional. Sometimes I have to get myself grounded and, you know, our friends are like, man, therapy's really hard and, and feel like I've taken two steps forward and one step back. That's the process. That's why change is challenging. It doesn't happen in comfort. Growth happens when we're challenged and so you're going to see that with your kid. And actually as a therapist, when I see a breakthrough or maybe even a step back, I actually know we're headed in the right direction or I see maybe, manipulation or them get angrier, you know, finally start to show some real emotion or break down and cry, not that I want my clients all crying, but it shows like, okay, we're now we're getting somewhere. Here's a genuine feelings that are coming through and they're not just masking it and what do we do with this? We don't just let them sit there and we're going to push through and help them process it and gain deeper insight and move forward from it.
Therapy Progression and Struggles
Tiffany: So I love that. Those are all three great points to help parents realize because therapy is not easy. It's not for the faint of heart. Yet, if you're willing to do the work and work with your child, you're going to see lasting changes.
Jennifer: Absolutely. I would add one more thing actually that I was just thinking about because it is sort of a, I stole this saying from, from a therapist that my son had years ago when he actually went to wilderness as well.
So I've had this experience of being the parent of a kid who went to treatment, but he said this and I will never forget it and I still say this to this day is that we're trying to teach the families and these kids how to struggle better and so they're not, like they're always, we're humans, so we struggle.
And so it's kind of like, it's not the point, you know, when do we know they're ready to go home? It's not when they're not struggling. It's when they're struggling better. And so that's what we're kind of always looking for is like, how do you navigate things and your struggles in a better way and not in a way that is always a crisis.
And so I really try to tell parents like, we're not trying to get rid of like, anxiety. We're not trying to get rid of, anxiety, like moments of like, I might be depressed here and there, but like, how do you navigate that in a better way? And I think that that's a more realistic, like, you know, a lot of parents will say, I just want my kid to be happy and it's like, well, so do I and we can't, they're not always going to be happy. And that's actually a setup. So let's figure out how you can, like kind of navigate the, I want them to struggle, actually. I just want them to do it in a better and more healthy way.
Tiffany: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if we wanted them to be happy and Disneyland was the answer, I would send my kids in a heartbeat there every day, you know, but it's not, and life can be challenging and so helping equip those, our kids with the skills needed to get through those challenges and feel like they can is gonna be so beneficial.
Education and Aftercare Support
Tiffany: I think this is a next important question that parents are going to ask, but will their child go to school while they're with you or does the school get put on hold?
Jennifer: Yeah, they go to school. They actually go to school from three to eight o'clock in the evening, which is probably very different than what they're used to, but we have found that it, the way that we have our schedule set up, it's actually a great time for teenagers to go to school. I mean, their brain is, operating at maximum, you know, there are sort of optimal capacity at that point in the afternoon, but it would say it allows us to fit in the therapeutic activities in the beginning of the day.
Tiffany: So they won't fall behind in school.
Jennifer: They will not fall behind. I mean, well, I guess we can't guarantee that, but they have opportunity to go to school. They work at their own pace. They have teacher led classroom and then they, you know, they can actually catch up if they're behind school and come to us. So yeah.
Tiffany: What kind of aftercare support is provided to families at the end of their residential treatment stay?
Jennifer: So, yeah, so we do provide an aftercare program for them, which is essentially continued calls with their therapist and then the therapist will make a trip out to the home and do whatever work is kind of needed to finalize the transition.
Tiffany: So there's support.
Jennifer: It's kind of wraps, wraparound support, yeah. We typically involve the home therapist and anybody else who's involved. We just did an aftercare in Seattle. We worked with the school district. We went and met with the school system, like the school that was involved with our kid that left here so that we could all be kind of on the same page.
Tiffany: That's awesome. So parents can know that, you know, they're not just going to be left to deal with that scary transition. Okay, now my kid's coming home. What do I do?
Jennifer: Right.
Tiffany: You're going to have this wraparound support.
Qualifications of Therapists and Staff
Tiffany: What qualifications do therapists and staff members have at Discovery Ranch South for parents to know about?
Jennifer: Yeah. So the clinical team are all licensed therapists at, you know, varying levels of licensure.
And there is, you know a lot of oversight by myself and the associate clinical director, and actually just, we have, you know, seasoned therapists that have been here for seven plus years. And so if there's a newer therapist, you know, they have, actually, I often tell parents or sometimes a newer therapist is great because you get all the older therapists kind of like, you know, helping with that, with your treatment and so yeah, so everyone is licensed on the clinical team.
The residential staff basically go through multiple background checks plus a week long orientation process. Plus I think a two month long shadowing process where they're training, yeah, where they are actually observing, they're working in the residential department, but they're sort of not yet, you know, kind of an official mentor. So they get to see a lot of role modeling. They get to, you know, just kind of see the process and how it works.
So there is, yeah, there's a lot of training involved.
Tiffany: Yeah, and like we talked about before, ensuring that safety of the students sounds like you have a lot of, again, accountability and things in place, systems in place to ensure that the staff and the therapists you have on board are going to provide that safety for the students to help parents rest a little easier at night, that if they have had to make this decision.
Jennifer: Yes, Yes.
Hope and Success Stories
Tiffany: Let's end with a success story and, ultimately is there hope for parents who are listening to this podcast? I mean, they're in crisis, they may be scared, unsure the next decision, they've done, exhausted their resources. Is there hope and can you end with a success story for us?
Jennifer: Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, one of the things I would just kind of point out, I guess, is that I have a lot of parents, you know, sort of want to have hope and they say they're hopeful. And then I'll sort of challenge that and say, well, hope's not really a strategy. Like, let's talk a little bit more about what strategy, like you can be hopeful, but you got to kind of put something in place there, put it into action, right, like, and so.
But yeah, I mean, one of the things that I know for myself is that I still have contact with teenagers that I worked with who are now parents themselves. And so, you know, and there's challenges along the way, but, you know, there's not one specific story. I think we all have a lot of them and I think that's sort of, you know, I think that's the key for me is that like, I still hear from, you know, the first young person that I ever worked with is in his thirties now and has a family of his own and to this day will, you know, message me every once in a while and say, I remember when you said this to me. And so it's like we are planting so many seeds for these young people's lives that we, I think, all have stories of the cultivation that occurs over time and still impacts these young adults in a positive way.
Tiffany: Don't you guys have an alumni group that comes and meets?
Jennifer: We do, yeah and actually every parent seminar. So we have three parents seminars a year. We have an alumni family and student come back and share their story, talk about what went well, what the challenges were because parents want to know the real stuff, right? And so, yeah, so every year we have that and we do have a pretty active alumni group that is led by some of the therapists here and then alumni students and their families.
Tiffany: Yeah, and if you're a parent listening please know that there is hope. Having worked in residential treatment centers for many years and both of us together, I can personally say that I've seen so much success with so many, like you said, there's not just one story that stands out to my mind, but you're not alone.
If you're listening to this podcast and you're at this crossroad of talk therapy, just hasn't done enough and I'm now looking at residential treatments, there's hope, there's healing, there's opportunity for a second chance for your child ahead that may not feel like there is much hope and you feel very discouraged. Yet we're here to say that we've seen so many of those students come through our programs and succeed and go on and not live a, you know, like you said, challenge free life. They're going to have a challenge, but they're going to be equipped more with the tools to face those challenges better and not go back to these maladaptive behaviors that they came in with.
Jennifer: Yeah. It's well said.
Conclusion
Tiffany: Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us and we are grateful for the parents who have listened through this series. I love this topic personally, experiential therapy, and it's been such an honor to be able to talk about it with you and your team and really grateful for you joining us today.
Jennifer: Thank you so much.
You are not alone
Tiffany:I’m Tiffany Herlin, a licensed clinical social worker, and today we have a rather unique podcast where we will be interviewing a few experts on this topic from Discovery Ranch South, a residential program for teenage girls, and youth-assigned female at birth.
In this first episode, I am interviewing Discovery Ranch Souths, Clinical Director Jennifer Hedrick and we will be addressing the limitations of outpatient therapy and further exploring the benefits of experiential therapy.