Our Service Array
How We Treat Mental Health Challenges
Treatment through Stability
The first step is as important as the last. We have an interconnected array of services that work together each step along the way during the treatment process. Sarah’s story illustrates how our continuum of care works together to meet the needs of our kiddos for the right amount of time, in the right service, and in the right way.
The Relatives and Youth Focus in 2023
Sarah, a petite and feisty 11-year-old, came into our care through our Facility-Based Crisis Center (FBC) in Greensboro. It is a place where children who are struggling with thoughts of suicide can come to be stabilized and evaluated. While she was in treatment at the FBC, the team worked to determine a course of treatment for Sarah.
Sarah did not want to live anymore; she didn’t feel worthy of love and was struggling with depression and anxiety. She was running away from home and engaging in self-harm behaviors. She needed a level of supervision she could not get at home.
After three weeks at the FBC, Sarah began receiving services through our Intensive In-Home program (IIH). Although Sarah’s treatment team agreed that she needed a residential treatment program, there was not an open spot for her anywhere in North Carolina. The lack of appropriate beds for children needing residential care is a huge problem across the state. Our IIH team worked closely with Sarah and her family to keep her safe while at home and began working with her on her depressive moods. Sarah was stable, but she needed more around-the-clock care than her family or our IIH team could provide.
A spot opened in our Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) in Charlotte. This was the right move for Sarah as she began showing signs of improvement within the first few weeks. She began processing her feelings of self-loathing and unworthiness. She began learning through our trauma-informed approach of rhythmic, repetitive, rewarding and relational activities. Healing began for Sarah in a real way.
Through the family component woven into our services, Sarah’s parents also learned how to best support her needs in the most effective ways for their daughter. Alexander believes you need to work with the whole child, which includes families, schools, and other supports to create lasting change.
Picking up the pieces after they have been shattered is a process that requires time, effort, patience, and a willingness to accept change. But with determination and resilience, Alexander Youth Network can help your family overcome the challenge, and also emerge stronger and more resilient than before.
