What We Treat
Mental Health Disorders and Symptoms
Every client completes a comprehensive diagnostic assessment at admission. The assessment gives our clinical team a clearer picture of the client's diagnoses and clinical needs, as well as an awareness of client's history and background. We then use the results of the assessment to match our clients with an evidence-based treatment plan and a specialized team of professionals.
Adult Programs
Adolescent Programs
Depression
Adult clients in our residential treatment for depression and day treatment for depression programs benefit from a powerful mix of evidence-based treatment strategies, including medication, psychotherapy, exercise, and sleep regulation. When medication therapy for depression does not improve symptoms, our treatment team may recommend transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which is offered at Skyland Trail. Most adult clients with depression participate in our cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) recovery community. Specialized treatment is available for adults with depression and anxiety, depression and psychosis, depression and substance use, depression and PTSD, or depression and borderline personality disorder.
Bipolar Disorder
Medications are essential and effective in controlling bipolar disorder, including bipolar I, bipolar II, rapid cycling, or cyclothymia. As our clients' active symptoms are resolved through medication and psychotherapy, they can focus on developing the skills they need to manage mood episodes and prevent crises. In addition to applying specialized evidence-based therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), we provide support to help clients address their symptoms through proven strategies like routinely getting eight hours of sleep each night, engaging in cardiovascular exercise, improving nutrition, and participating in positive leisure and social activities.
Schizophrenia & Thought Disorders
Our first priority is to identify a medication strategy to control hallucinations and delusions. But medication is only the first step. We then help clients develop skills they need to manage their illness and feel safe and healthy in the world. As part of our residential treatment program for schizophrenia, clients receive support to manage their own hygiene and nutrition. A significant focus of individual and group therapy sessions is helping clients recognize and verbalize symptoms, develop coping and reality testing strategies, and build trusting relationships with providers, family, and peers. Clients with first episode psychosis, ongoing symptoms of psychosis, or active mania likely will be assigned to the psychosis and cognition specialized recovery community. All clients with psychosis participate in computer-based cognitive remediation training, and additional dual diagnosis programs are available for clients with schizophrenia and substance use.
Anxiety Disorders
Our residential treatment program for anxiety and our day treatment program for anxiety in Atlanta help clients adopt new strategies to cope with stress. Through personalized psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) groups, clients gradually learn to reframe their thoughts and adjust behaviors to prevent the disabling responses to stress that were causing them pain and disability. As part of a structured daily structure, clients with anxiety primarily participate in groups focused on CBT skills and also benefit from DBT groups focused on mindfulness and distress tolerance.
Borderline Personality Disorder
Adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD) likely will be assigned to our dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) program. Our DBT clients have symptoms that include impulsivity, self-injurious behaviors or frequent suicide attempts. Client who admit to our residential DBT program have not developed healthy coping skills for handling stress or emotional discomfort. Medications are generally ineffective for treating borderline personality disorder. DBT has been proven an effective therapeutic approach for helping individuals who struggle with BPD or emotional dysregulation manage their symptoms, feel validated and accepted, improve relationships, and live a life worth living.
Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorder
The dual diagnosis program at Skyland Trail is designed to treat clients with a primary mood, thought, or anxiety disorder who have a co-occurring substance misuse issue. Research shows that treating both problems at the same time leads to the best results. Skyland Trail is not appropriate for individuals with a primary substance use disorder and is not a detoxification facility. Dual Diagnosis clients meet in an additional daily group focused on understanding the addictive process, managing cravings, utilizing community supports and preventing relapse. Individual work with a primary counselor and a psychiatrist addresses both psychiatric and substance use challenges. Our experts give our clients the best chance for recovery through effective medications, therapy and connections to 12-step recovery programs. Recovery is not just about "giving things up." It is also about constructing a life that supports health and happiness in a sustainable way.
Co-Occurring Trauma-related Disorders
The model of care practiced at the Skyland Trail adult and adolescent treatment programs is “trauma-informed.” By helping trauma survivors first address symptoms of depression, anxiety, or borderline personality disorder, trauma-informed psychiatric treatment allows patients to develop insight and adopt healthy coping skills to handle difficult emotions before beginning the challenging work of processing their specific trauma.
Cutting and Self Harm Behaviors
Individuals who cut themselves or engage in other self-injurious behaviors often are using this unhealthy coping strategy to deal with emotional pain or confusion that they do not know how to process in any other way. Self harm behaviors can be successfully treated with evidence-based therapy.
Suicide Ideation
Residential treatment may be the right level of care for someone with frequent suicide attempts or who struggles with thoughts of suicide.
Depression
Many adolescents with major depressive disorder experience persistent sadness and/or irritability, lose interest in activities and relationships, and often isolate from family and friends. Our treatment model for teens with depression includes specialized medication therapy when necessary and evidence-based psychotherapy including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), behavioral activation (BA), and and ecological systems theory (EST) to help teens develop broader healthy coping skills and start to feel better.
Bipolar Disorder
Adolescents with bipolar disorder, also called manic depression, may exhibit extreme behavior changes or shifts in mood. These changes may also affect a teen's sleep patterns, energy levels and ability to think clearly. As part of the Skyland Trail treatment program for teen bipolar disorder, young people work with a dedicated psychiatrist to establish an effective medication strategy. Adolescent clients also learn skills to prevent and cope with symptoms. Residential treatment helps teens reset with a healthy sleep routine and structured daily schedule.
Anxiety Disorders
Adolescents with an anxiety disorder often experience fear, panic attacks, and physical symptoms like stomachaches and headaches. Teens with anxiety tend to avoid situations or places that induce stress and withdraw from activities they used to enjoy. Adolescent clients work with our dedicated psychiatrist to learn how to use medications appropriately. Teens build resilience through evidence-based skill-building sessions using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), behavioral activation (BA), and ecological systems theory (EST).
Emerging Borderline Personality Disorder
The Skyland Trail adolescent program includes an intensively trained dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) team.
Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, is an evidence-based modality appropriate for adolescents with emerging borderline personality disorder traits.
DBT may be appropriate for adolescents experiencing emotional dysregulation, patterns of impulsive or maladaptive behaviors including self harm, unstable relationships, or instability in their sense of self or identity.
The Skyland Trail intensively trained adolescent DBT treatment team meets weekly to discuss complex client cases and to develop comprehensive strategies to help clients progress. Across the organization, the multidisciplinary treatment team, including residential staff members, receive ongoing training on how to support DBT clients.
The Skyland Trail adolescent residential treatment program adheres to the DBT model created by Dr. Marsha Linehan and Behavioral Tech, with some adaptations for adolescent residential program delivery. As part of the DBT model, residential counselors provide 24/7 in-person DBT skill support, and clients have access to DBT phone coaching 24/7 from clinical on-call staff.
Co-occurring PTSD & Trauma-related Disorders
The Skyland Trail residential adolescent mental health treatment program is a trauma-informed program that offers an additional layer of support for some adolescents with a history of trauma. Trained therapists offer individual prolonged exposure therapy (PE) for teens who meet clinical criteria.
Prolonged exposure therapy may be particularly helpful for clients who have trauma-related symptoms that prevent them from fully engaging in foundational CBT or DBT therapeutic work. PE may be most appropriate for patients with a history of trauma experiencing:
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- distressing memories, nightmares, or flashbacks
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- avoidance
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- negative thoughts about self, exaggerated blame of self or others,
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- irritability or angry outbursts
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- self-destructive behaviors
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- overly watchful or suspicious behaviors
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- problems with concentration or sleep
PE involves a series of 8 to 12 individual 90-minute sessions. Sessions with the therapist involve talking about the memory, recording the memory, listening to the recording, journaling, and other techniques.
The goal of each session is to reduce the power of the memory of the traumatic event over time. With less potency, the memory becomes less disruptive, and the patient is better able to tolerate discomfort. The client is then able to engage more fully in treatment to address other psychiatric symptoms and improve coping and interpersonal skills.
Residential treatment is an ideal environment to deliver prolonged exposure therapy. As clients work through the gradual exposures, they receive support from a multidisciplinary team of experts 24/7.
Co-occurring Mild to Moderate Substance Use
Skyland Trail offers an additional layer of support for adolescent clients with co-occurring mild to moderate substance use. Teens who meet clinical criteria participate in an additional dual diagnosis group twice each week.
Clients in dual diagnosis groups gain a deeper understanding of the impact of their substance use on their mental health. Motivational interviewing is employed as an evidence-based modality.
In dual diagnosis groups, clients learn to replace patterns of substance use or experimentation with healthy coping skills. Through psychoeducation, dual diagnosis groups also empower clients to make healthy choices as they navigate their teenage years and move into adulthood.
Holistic Path to Wellness
At Skyland Trail, we build a treatment plan around a person, not a diagnosis. The impact of living with a mental illness goes far beyond a set of clinical symptoms. We treat the whole person in addition to the brain.
As a unique mental health community, we provide a safe and nurturing place to recover. Through our holistic and integrated program, clients are given the opportunity to:
- solidify an effective medication strategy
- learn coping mechanisms
- practice independent living skills
- set goals for work and relationships
- develop outlets for creative expression
- explore their spirituality, and
- improve physical fitness and nutrition
While each of our clients determines his or her own recovery goals, our overarching goal for all clients is that they leave Skyland Trail better equipped to live in the world.