Teen Treatment Programs Helping Teens Struggling with Anxiety

Teenage Anxiety Treatment

How Does Solstice East Help Teens with Anxiety?

An anxiety disorder is the most commonly diagnosed mental illness in the United States. Teenagers, due to current economic and social conditions, are at an increased risk of developing an anxiety disorder. Studies show that 1 in 4 teens will deal with an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Despite this, many teens fly under the radar, never getting treated for their disorder.

At Solstice East, we treat anxiety disorders in a healthy, holistic, and therapy-centered approach. We offer various therapeutic options, nutritious alternatives, physical fitness activities, and other holistic approaches such as journaling.

Solstice East emphasizes the impact parents have on a child with an anxiety disorder. We aim to educate parents on how to support a child with anxiety. Parents are encouraged to withhold judgment, and make their support known. We provide many options for parents and adolescents alike in the treatment of teenage anxiety.

What are the Causes of Teenage Anxiety?

The exact causes of anxiety in teenagers are unknown. However, researchers believe many observed or genetic tendencies lead to anxiety disorders. Most researchers believe that a predisposition towards timidity and nervousness is inborn. If one parent is naturally anxious, there’s a good chance that their child will also have anxious tendencies. At the same time, a parent’s own uneasiness is often communicated to the child, compounding the child’s natural sensitivity.

Teenagers holding on to a predisposition for nervousness have a much higher rate of anxiety becoming an unhealthy and unmanageable issue. Teenagers have to deal with many outside factors today that are catalysts for anxiety disorders. School is a large source of anxiety for many teenagers. Between dealing with an intense academic schedule, to participation in extracurricular activities, to maintaining friendships, and finally keeping up with extreme social media, teenagers are likely to develop anxiety from all the pressures they face on a daily basis.

Anxiety in teenagers is not limited to academic influence. For many young people, particularly those raised in abusive families or who live in neighborhoods besieged by poverty or violence, anxiety is a reaction to unstable, dangerous circumstances.

Therapeutic Programming Helping Girls Struggling with Anxiety

Solstice East, a residential program for teens struggling with anxiety, provides teens and their families with specialized therapeutic approaches to begin the healing process. Our experienced therapeutic staff are passionate about their work with students. 

Much of our therapeutic philosophy is based on a holistic approach – treating the entire individual (mind, body, and soul) rather than a “problem area.” Many challenges stem from core issues affecting the entire individual. We seek to uncover and target those challenges in order to help students heal and find an inner peace.

Another aspect of our therapeutic programming that makes us unique from other residential programs that help treat anxiety is our focus on building trusting relationships. Many of the students we help have found that their relationships with family members and peers have deteriorated over the years due to anxiety. A central part of our philosophy is “people before programs.” We do this by creating a positive community-focused campus and helping students rebuild their relationships with family members.

Throughout their time at Solstice East, students undergo a process of internal growth and change implemented by specific programming encouraging the development of positive values. During their therapeutic journey, students learn how to use these positive values to drive their choices and behaviors moving forward.

We also utilize experiential therapy, the process of growing through experiences, in addition to talk therapy. Many of these experiences may not seem therapeutic upon first glance, but can provide some of the most powerful healing experiences students take part in during their time with us. Some of these experiential approaches include: equine therapy, recreational activities and adventure therapy. Learn more about experiential therapy at Solstice East>>>

What are treatments for anxiety in teens?

Researchers have found that a combined treatment method of therapy and prescribed medication have helped in the care of anxiety in teenagers. Cognitive behavioral therapy combined with sertraline, or pill placebo is an effective method at treating teenage anxiety disorders. Severe anxiety can significantly impair children’s school, social, and family functioning, and if untreated, can increase the risk of depression, alcohol and substance abuse, and occupational difficulties in adulthood.

Solstice East focuses on cutting-edge therapeutic and psychiatric approaches in treating anxiety. Building trust and active relationships set the stage for teenagers being treated for anxiety. We focus on family-emphasized therapy, as well as: equine therapy, addiction therapy, group therapy, and academics. Daily journaling, lots of support, and unconditional love are ways that we help teenagers receive treatment from anxiety.

What are the signs and symptoms of teen anxiety?

Symptoms of teenage anxiety range from mental to physical reactions:
Excessive fears and worries
Restlessness
Hyper vigilant and concerned
Extremely stressed
Intense nervousness
Feeling uneasy in social settings
Experiencing unrealistic concerns
Tension and body cramps
Stomachaches
Headaches
Fatigue
Back pain/limb pain
Sweat/Flushed
Hyperventilate
Shaking/Cannot calm down

Family Focused Programming Builds Strong Family Relationships

When a teen is struggling with emotional and behavioral challenges like anxiety, it can affect the whole family system. That’s why therapeutic family interventions are at the heart of our program. Helping reestablish close, trusting relationships within the family helps teens continue the progress they’ve made at Solstice East long after they have graduated from our program. During their time at Solstice East, families are encouraged to participate in:

• Weekly family therapy calls over the phone
• Face-to-face family therapy sessions (if possible for the family)
• Multi-day family seminars on campus which include the entire family

As teens progress through their healing journey, families are encouraged to support and complete therapeutic work to help instill lasting changes in the entire family system. In order for the work completed at Solstice East to be successful, the entire family should be on board with making changes.

For more information about family programming at Solstice East, click here>>>

Resources for State Families Seeking Help

APA One of the leading psychological communities in the world, the American Psychological Association has more than 100,000 members representing all areas of the field working professionals, scientists, students, educators, and more. The American Psychological Association works to improve the qualifications of psychologists by implementing higher standards of ethics, education, conduct, and achievement.
Psychology Today A well-known psychology magazine, Psychology Today has been in print for half a century. The website builds on what made the magazine famous namely, a timely response to issues in the media, fun articles, and a high level of professionalism that makes even highly scientific material easy to grasp for a casual reader.

Recent Blogs