Teen Daysia* was overwhelmed trying to juggle her grandmother’s recent death, bullying at school, and working part-time to help support her family. Feeling like things were spiraling out of control, she resorted to self-harming behavior.

She was already seeing an embedded Seneca therapist at school. The therapist began working with Daysia and her parents to provide a more holistic mental health program and consider enrollment in Seneca’s Partial Hospitalization Program.

The Partial Hospitalization Program offers intensive, in-person crisis support without requiring full inpatient hospitalization. For 10 weekdays, Daysia met with other teens who also were working to address self-harming behaviors. Together, they learned and practiced coping skills, and formed friendships that lasted after the program ended.

Daysia also regularly met with a Seneca psychiatrist who worked with her and her family to:

• Identify appropriate medication for anxiety treatment.
• Use grief counseling sessions to deal with her feelings over her grandmother.
• Meet with a clinician and create a custom safety plan to use when feeling overwhelmed.

At the same time, Seneca worked with Daysia’s school to make sure she stayed on top of her schoolwork and not fall behind.

Successfully discharged from the program, Daysia had a new toolkit of coping skills and several new friends who could relate to her situation. Along with scheduled update visits with her psychiatrist, her therapist connected her to community resources that allowed Daysia to reduce her hours at work — giving her more free time to practice self-care.

Finally, Daysia was introduced to Seneca’s Mobile Response Team which can be called upon 24/7 if she or her family needs advice or are feeling overwhelmed.

*Not her real name.