Adolescent Services
For more information, please download our Adolescent Services Handbook.
Fairfax provides services for adolescents ages 13 to 17 with psychological, emotional and behavioral problems. We approach the adolescent’s treatment through consideration of their social, academic and family environments. We value and explore perceptions of the patient, family, treating physician, school and community professionals. Our professionals will then target those areas that are going to be critical in the stabilization process such as:
- Poor school performance or truancy
- Running away or other self-harmful behavior
- Abuse of alcohol or other drugs
- Explosiveness or aggression
- Disruptive or oppositional defiant behavior
- Withdrawal or isolation from peers
- Anti-social behavior
- Suicidal thoughts
These behaviors, along with failures in other levels of care such as outpatient or partial hospitalization, may lead to the necessity of a structured program that may be on a voluntary or involuntary basis.
Inpatient Treatment
Our clinical program staff works closely with the patient, family, and community professionals to plan an aggressive course of treatment which allows transition into a less restrictive level of treatment as quickly as possible. Our therapeutic programming includes medication evaluation and management, group therapy, family involvement, and individual counseling as indicated, with emphasis on:
- Crisis stabilization
- Problem solving
- Anger management
- Abuse issues
- Stress management
- Ability to relate successfully with others
- Drug and alcohol assessment and education
Developmental and Systems Aproach (DSA) model and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills training are key elements of treatment. Therapeutic activities include animal-assisted therapy, drama therapy, art therapy and recreation therapy in the indoor gymnasium.
Partial Hospitalization
An adolescent who requires intensive support and structure but does not require 24-hour supervision may be appropriate for partial hospitalization, an intensive day hospital program. This level of care may be appropriate when outpatient treatment is not sufficient to meet the level of acuity, or as a transition from inpatient treatment to help reintegrate the individual into a home environment. Resolution and stabilization of acute illness are provided while allowing the patient to live at home. Patients participate in the inpatient hospital program during daytime hours, Monday through Friday.