If your teenager has a mental health or substance use disorder, you may have considered residential treatment for them at some point in the past. If they have a mental health disorder such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, you understand that if they spend a period of time focusing solely on healing and recovery, they’ll receive more support – and likely make more progress – than they do in
If you’re a Santa Barbara resident – a parent, teen, or a professional who works with adolescents – the current data on substance use among high school students in your area may be of interest. The following information comes from the California Healthy Kids Survey. Officials administer the anonymous survey to every school district in California on an annual basis. The tables below show rates of substance use for high
In “A Conversation With Dr. Jessica Byrd-Olmstead, PhD: Part One” we talked about Dr. Byrd-Olmstead’s journey to private practice, and left off as she began to talk about the challenge – and excitement – of leaving a salaried job to focus on her own private practice full time. This article picks up the conversation right there. What happened after you decided you wanted to pursue your own private practice more
Dr. Jessica Byrd-Olmstead is a licensed psychologist in the Bay Area treating adolescents, adults, and their families. Currently, she’s president of the Santa Clara Psychological Association. In addition to psychotherapy, she provides training and consultation to organizations in both the public and private sectors. She advocates at state and federal levels for improved psychological services for the community. Her interests include the intersection of healthcare and technology, inspiring leaders, and
What are the rates of suicidal ideation for teens in Beverly Hills? What percentage of high school teens in Beverly Hills use drugs? We have the answers. Every year, the California Department of Education Coordinated School Health and Safety Office administers a survey to public school students in school districts across the state. This annual survey – the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) – is anonymous and confidential. The survey
Teens in the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) took a survey last year to gauge their rates of substance use and mental health issues. This survey, called the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS), asked public school students statewide about a number of different issues in their lives: family connectedness, safety and crime at school, bullying, academics, mental health, substance use, and more. Officials administered this anonymous, confidential survey to
Hannah Smith, fourteen years old, received waves of horrible, abusive messages on ASKfm, a social media site popular with teens. On August 6, 2013, she committed suicide. Her parents immediately blamed cyberbullies, until an investigation proved that the aggressive posts hadn’t come from peers: She wrote them herself. Self-Bullying Hannah is not the only one. A similar story happened in Texas to someone named Natalie. But it wasn’t on ASKfm.
You know you have depression. You might have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). But what happens when other people minimize or discount your depression? What if they don’t believe you at all? Friends, family, peers, or even strangers may tell you that your depression isn’t real. They might say most people with depression have it worse than you. They may claim that if you were really depressed you
Palo Alto has received considerable attention in recent years from media and mental health professionals concerned about its alarming rates of teen suicide. In this affluent Bay Area town, seven adolescents ended their own lives in the span of just ten years. And, over the past decade, there has been an unusual amount of teen suicide clusters. The first suicide cluster in Palo Alto was in 2009-2010, when six students
October 11 is National Coming Out Day in the United States. For people who have realized their gender identity or sexual orientation is not what others have assumed it to be, Coming Out Day can be a time to stand up with other brave people and share who they are. When someone comes out to you – even on a day dedicated to just that – it can still come
If your family is in crisis, we can expedite the admissions/intake process. We work to get you the help you need as soon as possible.
