When people first come to us at Lightfully for an assessment, many teens can’t imagine what would happen if they took several weeks or months away from school, their social life and other responsibilities. When will I have time to make up my schoolwork? What will people think if I’m gone for weeks or months of treatment? How will I feel later on if I miss out on important milestones?

When you’re struggling with your mental health on a daily basis, there’s usually a point when it becomes clear that you need help. There are many reasons why people hesitate to seek out treatment at this critical moment. One of the biggest barriers to treatment today is the idea that you’ll have to put your life on hold to get the help you need.

Symptoms of depression or anxiety may not keep you from taking care of your basic needs or your daily responsibilities. If you’re feeling distressed more often than not, you deserve relief just as much as a person whose symptoms keep them from functioning. If outpatient therapy isn’t meeting all your needs, there may be a way to receive more comprehensive mental health treatment without taking an extended leave. The best options for you will depend on several factors, including your symptoms, the progress you make in treatment and your schedule.

The following are six reasons why you may not need to pause your life to get help with your mental health:

• Your mental health is foundational to a balanced life — Even if you’re managing to keep up with your responsibilities, having significant mental health symptoms brings down the quality of your life. When you look at it this way, it’s your condition that’s interfering, not your treatment. Treatment is a means of reconnecting with yourself so you can be more present and do the things that give your life meaning.
• Your treatment should be personalized — The best treatment plan for you will be personalized to fit your needs and your schedule. Your clinical team should begin with an in-depth assessment over the phone. This will help them determine the right level of treatment to start with and what types of therapy will be most helpful.
• Your loved ones can get involved to help support you — During family therapy sessions, your closest loved ones will learn about your condition and what you’re working on in treatment. They’ll also learn how to communicate and support you in ways that align with your treatment process. You might need some new systems for managing household chores or some new communication skills. Each of our programs includes a weekly family therapy session. 
• You’ll need to apply your treatment to life situations — Being in an intensive treatment program can feel like being in a little bubble. As you transition to lower levels of treatment, you get more time to apply your new outlook and skills to everyday life. Our Intensive Outpatient Program balances partial days of treatment with your usual routines at home, at work or at school. 
• Comprehensive treatment doesn’t always take a lot of time — The length of your daily sessions and your total treatment time will depend on several factors. Your progress is the number one consideration, along with the symptoms you’re experiencing and the types of therapy you receive. We offer a Short-Term Option for people who want to take advantage of breaks from school.
• You have flexible treatment options — There’s a way to make your mental health treatment work in the time you have. At Lightfully, we offer three levels of treatment for teens. The Short-Term Option applies to all of them. We’ll work with you to get the treatment you need and transition to an outpatient therapist and psychiatrist.

Find treatment that supports your life at Lightfully

Being physically present and going through the motions isn’t the same as feeling grounded and secure in your day-to-day life. If you feel like your responsibilities are controlling you, not the other way around, that’s a sign that now is a good time to take a step back and regroup. Your state of being is just as important as the things you do. That is, you are more than your productivity — and you can’t perform at your best when your needs are unmet.

Treatment helps you live mindfully and intentionally so you can feel fully present. The following levels of treatment for teens are flexible to accommodate your life and your schedule:

• Partial Hospitalization Program — Commute to a Lightfully location near you for full days in treatment and stay home at night. Uninterrupted time to focus on your mental health will help you build a foundation for long-term wellness.
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) — Attend three- to six-hour sessions up to five days a week and balance treatment with your daily routine. Apply the work you’ve been doing to real-life situations.

Are you ready to make a change? Let’s talk about what treatment might look like for you. Contact us or reach out to our Admissions Concierge Team today.