Anxiety Treatment Center in Pittsburgh

If your child is suffering from anxiety, we are here to help. Located near Pittsburgh, PA, Southwood offers leading anxiety treatment for children and adolescents.

Anxiety Treatment

Learn more about anxiety treatment at Southwood Psychiatric Hospital near Pittsburgh, PA

Anxiety, a general term for a group of disorders that cause a person to experience nervousness, fear, and worry, can affect how a child or adolescent feels and behaves. While mild anxiety can be unsettling, extreme anxiety can be debilitating and severely impact a young person on a daily basis. Anxiety is a treatable condition and by seeking treatment these young people can learn to overcome their anxiety and receive care for the existence of any co-occurring mental health conditions that could be exacerbating their anxiety. Southwood Psychiatric Hospital is a leading provider of mental health services for young people and includes specialized programming that aims to treat youth who are battling emotional, behavioral, and cognitive disturbances. The methods used at this hospital are proven to effectively help young people battling such concerns so that they can achieve the happy and healthy life they deserve.

Why Consider Treatment

Why consider treatment for anxiety at Southwood Psychiatric Hospital near Pittsburgh, PA

When a young person has anxiety, it can do much more than make him or her worry. It can lead to the development of, or worsen, other mental health conditions like depression or substance abuse. Furthermore, anxiety can lead to a number of physical health conditions, make it hard for a person to sleep, cause digestive problems, and cause headaches. It can also cause a person to become extremely fatigued, experience body aches, and will lead to overall reduced functioning. If continued to be left untreated, anxiety can make it extremely difficult for a young person to excel academically, complete daily responsibilities, and establish or maintain personal relationships. Over time, the inability to make and keep friends can result in social isolation. In severe cases those with untreated anxiety will begin to engage in self-harming behaviors or will begin to have thoughts of suicide.

How to Help a Loved One

Helping a loved one get treatment for anxiety

As a parent, having a child who struggles with anxiety can be heartbreaking as you watch them face a variety of challenges on a daily basis. You know you need to be there for your child, but being a strong support system is not always easy. It can be especially challenging if you are not quite sure what you can do to help your child manage his or her anxiety. If you are looking for a place to start, the first thing you should do is take the time to educate yourself about anxiety because without knowing anything about a disorder it is going to be very difficult to understand what your child is going through. Some additional things that you can do for your child include:

  • When you notice your child becoming anxious, encourage them to talk about how he or she is feeling or suggesting that he or she write it down if he or she prefers. This may help him or her realize some of the triggers for his or her anxiety.
  • If your child’s anxiety is making it difficult for him or her to function on a daily basis, placing your child in a treatment program where he or she will learn coping skills that will help him or her better manage his or her anxiety can make a huge difference. Take the time to research different treatment programs so that you can be sure that the program you choose will be able to address all of your child’s individual needs.
  • Continue to offer your child encouragement and support throughout the recovery process. Ensure your child that you love him or her and that you will always be there for support.

Types of Treatment

Types of anxiety treatment offered at Southwood Psychiatric Hospital near Pittsburgh, PA

As a foremost provider of child and adolescent mental healthcare, Southwood Psychiatric Hospital is devoted to providing the most effective mental health treatment, education, and assisted living services to youth who are battling emotional, behavioral, and cognitive concerns that are unique to young people. We believe that it is necessary to address and care for every need for each of our patients so that the most favorable treatment outcomes are the result. We believe all people are capable of change and possess the capacity to learn new skills and abilities that can serve well for a lifetime. Based on this belief, we facilitate a therapeutic environment that is conducive to healing and change so that each youth entrusted into our care has the opportunity to gain insight about his or her own life and develop positive skills for healthy functioning.

The methods for care utilized at Southwood Psychiatric Hospital include cognitive-behavioral approaches that implement crisis and reality theories. We believe that these approaches, coupled with a structured setting, produce lasting healing and promote interpersonal growth. Cornerstone to the care supplied by Southwood Psychiatric Hospital is individualized treatment planning within a therapeutic milieu that incorporates these approaches within several therapeutic methods. We also encourage each patient’s family to be involved in the therapeutic process so that every child and adolescent reaps the benefits of having ample support while bettering him or herself.

The following treatment methods are those that are provided within the programming offered at Southwood Psychiatric Hospital, methods that are proven to improve the lives of the population we serve:

Medication management: The need for medication is assessed by a psychiatrist who can then prescribe, monitor, and adjust medication(s) if it is deemed necessary for a youth’s care. Additionally, medical personnel, such as nurse practitioners and nurses, assist in the supervision of medication management so that the most effective dosage of a given medication produces the most favorable results. These professionals have contact with patients on a daily basis.

Individual therapy: Held every other day on the inpatient units, individual therapy sessions are a time where patients can meet one-on-one with a mental health professional who can help each youth process their emotions and monitor their treatment goals. Additionally, during these meetings a young person can talk about possible triggers for their anxiety and explore areas for improvement.

Family therapy: The involvement of each patient’s family is integral to the treatment at Southwood Psychiatric Hospital. We facilitate family therapy sessions at least one to two times over the course of a youth’s treatment. During family sessions, youth, caregivers, and other loved ones can work through familial conflicts, improve communication, and learn how to work as a team in ensuring lasting recovery from mental health concerns, such as anxiety. Additionally, we put forth every effort to make sure each young person in our care is able to have contact with his or her family at least once a day.

Group therapy: A myriad of groups are part of the treatment feature in our inpatient programming. Groups allow patients to practice new skills that have been learned, receive additional support from our staff as well as peers, and learn new methods for managing emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. Groups are held four times a day and are led by Master’s level clinicians, nurses, and other experienced professionals. Topics covered within these groups include the following and are based on the cognitive-behavioral therapeutic approach:

  • Diagnosis education
  • Stress management techniques
  • Social skill development
  • Effective methods for coping
  • Teamwork and team building skills
  • The importance of and how to follow directions
  • Recreation groups
  • Anger management
  • Medication education

Experiential therapy: In order to encourage creative expression and stress the benefits of physical activity, Southwood Psychiatric Hospital incorporates numerous experiential therapies into its inpatient programming. The following are examples of the experiential therapies patients are able to participate in during the course of treatment:

  • Music
  • Gym
  • Opportunities for recreation outside
  • Art
  • Yoga

Continuing Care

Continuing care and levels of treatment for anxiety

While the programming offered within Southwood Psychiatric Hospital is focused on patients being able to achieve their treatment goals, we remain dedicated to helping those who come to our hospital for care in succeeding once they have completed their treatment. From the moment a youth is admitted into one of our programs, our staff begins formulating aftercare recommendations that will meet the child or adolescent’s needs. Inpatient treatment, by nature, is designed to stabilize a youth so that the therapeutic process can continue at a lower level of care. Therefore, we conduct an ongoing assessment of needs in order to ensure that referrals to another treatment provider will help a patient continue his or her success long after leaving Southwood Psychiatric Hospital.

Our staff of compassionate and caring professionals will work in collaboration with each youth and his or her family to establish how the youth will retain skills learned and which services in the community will refine and build upon those skills.

Whatever your child or adolescent’s mental health needs may be, let Southwood Psychiatric Hospital be your treatment provider of choice when trying to help your child achieve the life that he or she deserves.

I give Southwood a big thanks — they were the help that I have been looking for. The staff was wonderful!

– Former client