Teen mental health across Southern California, including the city of Santa Ana, is suffering. Mental health statistics for this area show increasing amounts of severe psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and suicidal behaviors among teens every year. Many adolescents living near Santa Ana are not receiving the mental health support they need.
If your child is experiencing distressing thoughts or poor mental health, getting them the right care is crucial. While everyone’s mental health needs vary, teen counseling in Santa Ana should provide comprehensive treatment tailored to your family.
Some factors to consider when researching teen counseling in Santa Ana include severity of symptoms, level of care needed, and coverage across multiple fronts of mental health. The best mental health support for your teen will improve their well-being, repair family relationships, and prevent mental health crises.
Key Takeaways
- Mental health statistics in Santa Ana and throughout California show an increase in depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among teens every year.
- If you think their teen needs mental health support, contact your family doctor or a mental health professional to explore the best options for mental healthcare in Orange County.
- The best level of care for your teen depends on the severity of symptoms and behaviors and can include outpatient, inpatient, or residential care.
- Teens can receive industry-leading, integrative care at Newport Academy’s outpatient and residential programs throughout southern California.
Santa Ana, CA Mental Health Statistics
According to a report published by Orange County Health Care Agency and HealthServices Research Center at the University of California in San Diego, Santa Ana mental health is declining steadily. The following statistics from the last few years show that teens in Orange County are at high risk for mental health issues, substance use, and suicide.
- Nearly one-third of 18-year-olds report needing help with mental health or substance abuse concerns.
- Overall, 10 percent of teens experienced regular severe psychological distress.
- 40 percent of LGBTQ+ adolescents experienced serious psychological distress.
- Latino adolescents had nearly twice the prevalence of serious psychological distress than non-Latino adolescents.
- Nearly 64 percent of children in Orange County who needed mental health treatment did not receive any.
- Substance-related deaths in teens and young people in Orange County jumped 165 percent between 2019 and 2020.
- Nationwide teen suicide rates increased by 25% from 2016 to 2019.
- California was one of the seven states with the largest increases in teen suicide rates.
How to Know if Teen Treatment Is Right for Your Child
Adolescence is often a difficult time for teens and their families. Hormones are fluctuating, the teen brain is still developing, and skills such as emotion processing and reasoning are not yet fully established.
How can you tell whether your teen is undergoing normal teen behaviors or needs support? Here are 15 signs your teen could benefit from Santa Ana mental health services.
- Drastic changes in behavior around family or friends, including abnormal levels of irritability, anger, sadness, or isolation
- Self-harm behaviors or signs of self-harm (such as burns, cuts, or strange marks on their body)
- Lower engagement in activities they used to enjoy
- Excessive worry, dread, or fear
- Panic attacks
- Intrusive or obsessive thoughts
- Substance use or abuse
- Increase in compulsive behaviors
- Violent or aggressive behavior, including physical or verbal abuse toward parents, peers, or animals
- Grief caused by any big life transition
- Impairments in ability to care for themselves (such as decrease in showering, hair washing, tooth brushing, and other basic hygiene practices)
- Problems with sleeping (such as insomnia, hypersomnia, nightmares, or fatigue)
- Decreased academic performance, including slipping grades, refusing to go to school, or changes in memory and concentration
- Disordered eating habits or eating disorders
- Unexplained health problems, including pain, headaches, rashes, and gastrointestinal issues
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Seeking mental health support for your teen is essential when the above symptoms last more than a few weeks, if they worsen over time, or if additional symptoms appear.
What to Do If Your Teen Is Resistant to Treatment
Sometimes adolescents are resistant to therapy. They may struggle with mental health but refuse treatment. Reasons they may be hesitant to try therapy include stigma, internalized shame, fear, or any number of other reasons.
If this is the case for your teen, listen to their concerns and try to understand their point of view. Avoid judgments or criticism, as this will likely cause a larger rift in communication. Talking to them about the potential benefits of therapy can be helpful. Having a third party present, such as a family doctor or another adult your child respects, may be valuable.
Bottom line: If you think your teen may need mental health help, don’t wait.
Research Santa Ana teen therapists, mental health clinics, and counseling options. Early intervention provides crucial support, prevents mental health crises, and can even save your teenager’s life. And if your teen is expressing suicidal thoughts, take them to the nearest ER or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 immediately.
Seeking Therapy for Young Adults and Teens
If and when you decide to seek Santa Ana mental health services for your teen, it may benefit you to research various mental health options. The following are some specific things to consider during the search for a teen therapist.
Know whether you’re looking for counseling or therapy.
A counselor is typically someone who provides short-term treatment for a specific issue. On the other hand, a therapist often treats patients for a longer period of time and delves into underlying patterns, traumas, and mental health issues. Educational background or specialty may also distinguish a counselor from a therapist. However, sometimes mental health professionals use these terms interchangeably. It’s always good to ask a potential therapist or program the types and levels of mental health issues they treat, regardless of whether they call themselves a counselor or a therapist.
Check relevant qualifications and credentials.
Whether you’re searching for a therapist or an outpatient or residential program, find out more about the mental health providers’ backgrounds. Key qualifications to check for include appropriate education, certification, clinical experience, licensure, and training. Ideally, therapists should have an advanced degree in counseling or social work, such as a Licensed Master of Social Work or a Master’s in Counseling Psychology. Additionally, teen therapists should specialize in adolescent treatment and family therapy.
Look for the right level of care for your teen’s needs.
Depending on the severity of your teen’s behaviors and symptoms, the best mental health treatment option may require more support or structure than a teen therapist can offer. Your child may benefit more from outpatient or residential treatment. If this is the case, look for treatment centers that include multidisciplinary support such as group counseling, family therapy, experiential therapy, and other modalities meant to best support your teen in their healing.
Make sure the therapist or program is a good fit.
Before you choose a therapist or a treatment program in Santa Ana, make sure it’s a good fit for your child and family. Request a consult call with the therapist and ask them what their experience is with the concerns you’re facing. If you’re looking at a more in-depth program, tour the treatment center. You can meet the mental health professionals and ensure the environment feels right. Professionals will always encourage you to ask questions in order to make sure you’re getting the right treatment.
Our Teen Treatment Programs Near Santa Ana
Newport Academy’s teen treatment near Santa Ana, CA, treats adolescent mental health issues like anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicidal ideation, and underlying trauma. Our counseling in Santa Ana also covers co-occurring disorders, such as eating disorders and substance use disorders.
All of our adolescent residential and outpatient treatment centers in Southern California are staffed by mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, nurses, doctors, therapists, and more. Furthermore, a multidisciplinary care team tailors treatment for each adolescent and their family.
Every teen’s customized treatment plan includes:
- Psychiatric care, ongoing evaluation, and medication management from our psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses
- Age-appropriate psychoeducation for adolescents and families to better understand specific concerns
- Individual talk therapy to process past trauma and build self-awareness. We use modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, and Motivational Interviewing.
- Experiential activities like art therapy, music therapy, yoga, and outdoor Adventure Therapy in Southern California’s coastal parks, beaches, and canyons
- Attachment-Based Family Therapy to address and heal parent-child relationship concerns
- Counseling that supports teens in learning healthy coping strategies, stress management techniques, life skills, and positive behavioral changes to boost mental and physical health
Our Residential Teen Programs for Behavioral Health in Santa Ana, CA
Residential treatment is appropriate for teens who are struggling with severe mental health symptoms and need a fully immersive therapeutic experience to heal. This level of care provides round-the-clock staffing and support, as well as a full schedule of various methods of healing for adolescents dealing with severe symptoms and behaviors. These include talk therapy, experiential activities, academics, and group support.
The Newport Academy Southern California residential treatment centers are located in scenic and peaceful areas throughout Southern California. Beautiful and soothing, our residential facilities provide ample natural lighting, comfortable and home-like living areas, and tranquil outdoor spaces. In Orange County and Santa Ana, our teen treatment centers are close to plentiful nature in parks and coastal areas.
Our programs provide integrated care and sustainable healing for your child and your whole family. And our research reveals the impact of our treatment. Newport Academy’s industry-leading success rates show a 75 percent reduction in teen suicide plans following Newport treatment.
Our Santa Ana Mental Health Clinics for Outpatient Treatment
Newport’s outpatient treatment centers serve teens who need more than weekly therapy to address their mental health concerns but don’t qualify for residential programming. Depending on the type of outpatient program, patients spend some time at home and may or may not continue to attend school. Outpatient care is also appropriate for teens who are leaving residential care and need ongoing support to reintegrate into their home life and community.
Newport Academy’s outpatient treatment centers for behavioral health in Orange County offer three types of outpatient mental health services:
Levels of Care in Southern California
- Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): Our PHP program provides full-day clinical and complete academic programming five days a week.
- Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP): Our IOP program offers afternoon or evening clinical programming for three to five days per week, depending on your family’s needs. This provides ongoing community support and care, as well as regular check-ins, for teens who continue to attend school.
- Outpatient services: Our teen outpatient program provides ongoing support and therapy sessions as needed, typically one to three days per week. As the lowest level of patient care, this provides continuing care and discharge planning to clients who are transitioning out of more intensive programs.
Our Residential Addresses Near Santa Ana and Throughout Southern CA
Get Started Today
Contact Newport Academy to access a mental health assessment, at no charge, by phone or in person at one of our teen treatment centers near Santa Ana. Our experts can assess your teen’s mental health symptoms and recommend the best behavioral health services for your child and family members.
If Newport’s mental healthcare services near Santa Ana aren’t appropriate for your teen or family for any reason, we’ll help you find an option that will work. Our goal is to support young people and families from Southern California and around the country to access the highest-quality treatment to support a fulfilling life.
Here’s how to start the healing journey.
