1. Mental Health Trends in Children and Adolescents
Jackie Rhew LCPC
Gregory Ammon, LCPC

2. What we are…
Jackie

3. What we are not…..
Jackie

4. Treatment Programming
Different treatment levels within the AMITA Health Treatment Framework
Acute Inpatient
Partial Hospital Programs (PHP)
Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP)
Outpatient Therapy
Different types of treatment for different conditions
Adult and Adolescent Mental Health
Mental Health
Substance Use
Anxiety
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders
Self-Injury
Eating Disorders
School Anxiety/Refusal
Child Programming

5. Treatment Programming: UNIFIED PROTOCOL
We are using The AMITA Health Treatment Framework adapted from Barlow’s Unified Protocol which is a behavioral approach that takes the best of ERP, CBT, ACT, DBT, and intensive family work to teach kids and parents the skills to better manage their emotions and behaviors. We use this Framework at all levels of care so we are all on the same therapeutic page and using the same language.

6. Emotional and Cognitive Development
Assessing discrepancy between emotional and cognitive levels of development
Understanding different stages of emotional development
Considering emotional development when formulating expectations
Fostering emotional maturity

8. Comfort and Growth Zones
escalator clip

9. Building Resilience
“Bounce Back!” is an acronym for some of the foundational principles of resilience, specifically:
B – Bad times don’t last, and things get better.
O – Other people can only help if you share with them.
U – Unhelpful thinking only makes you feel worse.
N – Nobody is perfect – not you, not your friends, not your family, not anybody!
C – Concentrate on the good things in life, no matter how small.
E – Everybody suffers, everybody feels pain and experiences setbacks; they are a normal part of life.
B – Blame fairly – negative events are often a combination of things you did, things others did, and plain bad luck.
A – Accept what you can’t change and try to change what you can.
C – Catastrophizing makes things worse – don’t fall prey to believing in the worst interpretation.
K – Keep things in perspective. Even the worst moment is but one moment in life.

10. Barriers to Resilience
Difficulties with…
Managing feelings of discomfort
Experiencing disappointment
Applying conflict resolution skills
Communicating needs effectively to parents, peers, and/or school staff

11. How Do I Communicate Effectively?
Provide student with choices
Language such as “It is your choice” vs. “You have to”
“What do you think you could do” vs. “You’ll be ok”
Look for teaching opportunities that work towards goal attainment
Timing is important
Less is more

12. Family Engagement Strategies
Develop connections by establishing rapport with parents or guardians to form relationships and define mutual goals
Help parents identify obstacles and goals (Hierarchy)
It is important to initiate and maintain communication between school personnel and parents on the student’s progress and expectations. Sending a written weekly report home to parents provides consistent dialogue between home and school of the student’s progress.
Provide resources for family (community resource packet with therapist, adolescent groups, community mental health center, etc.)
List of how to respond when child is struggling (i.e. less talking, clearly defined expectations, etc)

13. Family Therapy Overview
Family Systems Perspective
Purposeful parenting vs. emotional reactive parenting
Goals for parenting that are aligned with family values
Healthy and unhealthy patterns of communication
Language development

14. Verbal Communication Provide child with choices
Language such as “It is your choice” vs. “You have to”
“What do you think you could do” vs. “you’ll be ok”
Look for teaching opportunities that work towards goal attainment
Use language that is purposeful
Less is more

15. Ways to bring up sensitive topics
Build rapport and trust with student and family members
Empathy
Recommend skills and tools that may be useful
Avoid judgments and channel frustrations
Provide resources

16. Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital
Contact
Jackie Rhew MA, CADC, LCPC
Clinical Liaison
Gregory Ammon MS, NCC, LPC, CMPE
Administrative Director of Operations, Outpatient Programs
Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital
1650 Moon Lake Boulevard
Hoffman Estates, IL
(847)