Adolescent Girls and Mental Health Treatment Centers

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It may be a sign of the times that an increasing number of adolescent girls require admission into various types of mental health treatment centers, yet this fact is undeniable. Fortunately mental health treatment centers for adolescent girls offer several programs. Some treatment centers specialize in one specific mental health issue. Others offer counseling for several disorders. The centers are highly confidential, compassionate and sensitive to the needs of these young women. Therapists are college or university educated and are typically certified.

Typical issues that adolescent girls struggle with include eating disorders, family dysfunction, drug addictions, behavioral problems and anger management, among others. These issues are disturbing yet surprisingly common.

There are many reasons why adolescent girls suffer from such serious disorders. Girls with eating disorders may be affected by media portrayals of women with unlikely figures that are thin yet bosomy. Adolescent girls fail to realize that such pictures are usually airbrushed to attain bodily perfection and they may not be aware that many of their role models themselves suffer from serious eating disorders.

Girls with anger management issues likely hail from abusive or neglectful households. The same holds true for girls with behavioral problems, drug addictions and low self-esteem. Families experiencing divorce, unemployment, poverty and racism also produce unhappy and dysfunctional adolescent girls.

Fortunately mental health treatment centers for adolescent girls are becoming increasingly common and are usually very effective. Their programs directly and openly address these issues, both in group therapy and in individual counseling, particularly for girls with severe problems. Often the girls’ families are invited for a number of therapy sessions, since they too suffer from various dysfunctions that need to be acknowledged and treated.

Many mental health treatment centers for adolescent girls are residential. The girls reside within the centers during the week but are often released to their families on weekends. Some mental health treatment centers also offer outpatient programs as an alternative for adolescent girls who are reluctant to live inside treatment centers.

All mental health treatment centers have a set of rules the girls must abide by. Most centers only permit a minimum age of 12 or 13 years old. The girls cannot have any legal problems that will restrict their participation in the program. The girls must abide by the center’s rules and they cannot have a history of excessive violence. Most centers rely upon schools, doctor reports and family in order to compile a girl’s psychological assessment before admission into the program is granted. These assessments may include information regarding educational, medical, psychiatric, physical conditions, trauma, sexual behaviors and neurological history.

Although it can be difficult for a family to make the decision to enter an adolescent girl into a mental health treatment center ultimately it is a wise route for a trouble child. The acknowledgment that a child is troubled and requires help is a a crucial first step towards her recovery. Many girls and their families experience immediate, positive benefits due to the programs offered in these centers. The programs tend to be highly beneficial to both the child and her family, helping to resolve or at least begin to work through the complex stages of adolescent development and family dysfunction.