Adolescent mental health and substance use disorders affect entire families. Turnbridge incorporates extensive family programming to restore relationship, encourage healing, and help family members support their loved one’s good mental health and recovery.
Parents, siblings, and other family members are profoundly affected when a young loved one experiences mental health and substance use disorders. The symptoms of these disorders can make loved ones feel afraid, scared, and confused. Living with someone experiencing these illnesses can expose family and friends to traumatic events, depression and anxiety, and legal and financial problems. Parents, especially, often experience feelings of guilt or shame.
The mental health of adolescents, parents, and other family members is interconnected — successfully treating young people requires understanding and addressing the health and well-being of the entire family system. Turnbridge educates clients and families to demystify these conditions and understand how to manage them. Turnbridge support groups and family liaisons encourage families to learn from others of shared experience. Integrated family therapy helps family members learn to play a supportive and appropriate role in the management of their loved one’s mental healthcare.
Helping parents and loved ones become part of the healing process.
Parents and family members empowered by education, training, and support they feel less worried and become powerful allies in maintaining good mental health.
Understanding the mental health conditions our children are experiencing allows us to make informed decisions and play an active role in supporting their well-being. Mental health conditions are complex disorders, and every person experiences the symptoms of these conditions differently. Turnbridge clinicians and family therapists inform family members about these conditions, how to effectively manage them, and how to help their loved one stay well.
The Turnbridge care team helps parents learn how to appropriately manage their child’s ongoing care. While it is normal for parents to take the lead in supervising prescription refills and transportation to and from medical appointments, learning to take an active role in their care can be a positive learning opportunity for adolescent patients. Helping young people engage in taking good care of their mental health establishes a positive trajectory and is a skill that will serve them throughout their lives. It is also crucial for parents and loved ones to be trained to identify signs that symptoms may be changing or worsening so that this information can be shared with care providers and evaluated.
