What Can I Expect From Mental Health Treatment?

Living and thriving with a mental health disorder, or psychiatric disorder, is possible. However, when you first start exhibiting symptoms and behavioral changes from a developing psychiatric disorder, it can be hard to imagine living with one. For stability, understanding your disorder, and how to live with it, mental health treatment is out there.

What Is Mental Health Treatment?

At Alter Behavioral Health, psychiatric disorders are defined as “a [type] of disorder that primarily affects one’s thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.” Being burdened with thoughts and emotions can cause your behavior to feel out of control. When you get to that point, it that can signify the need for an intervention.

Mental health treatment is like an intervention or an interruption of thoughts or behavior. In a treatment program, you will attend group and individual therapy. These groups range in topics and depend on the group’s needs but tend to focus on skill building. With the help of peers and therapists, you work through problems as they immediately come. You also work through past experiences and hear peers talk about their own experiences.

By hearing group members share, you can come to understand that there are others out there who are also working through similar experiences or thoughts as you. You may not feel so alone or like something is wrong with you. Learning new social skills and putting coping skills into practice is another benefit. Peers can help inspire you but also provide strength and encouragement. Treatment can be important to help you learn certain skills and truths about life.

What to Expect When You Attend Mental Health Treatment

In a mental health treatment program, you will learn about your disorder and how to cope with it. Whatever your disorder may be, you can also find positivity and strength in it. Through different therapies, you also learn to regulate and cope with the emotions that come along. Treatment can be a hard process but one that is ultimately rewarding.

Learn With the Help of Therapy

A person with a psychiatric disorder will experience distorted thoughts and false belief patterns about themselves and life. Due to this, therapy is the main way that professionals have found to help psychiatric disorders. Combined with appropriate medications, therapy can help a person have a successful life. The two main therapy modalities used are: 

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): This type of therapy focuses on the relationship between thoughts, cognition, behavior, and emotions. With the help of CBT, a person learns strategies and skills to regulate, process, and feel emotions and thoughts, which influences appropriate behavior.
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): Self-driven DBT focuses on emotional regulation, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance. DBT tries to build on existing skills and knowledge to successfully navigate feelings, other people, and stress.

There are other therapies, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) or acceptance therapy. However, you and a therapist will decide what will work for you and your psychiatric needs.

Mental Health Treatment Programs at Alter Behavioral Health

It can be hard to confide in others about your mental health. Alter Behavioral Health puts every effort into responding to your individual needs. This includes your therapeutic needs, financial, medical, or legal needs. Starting with a thorough assessment, Alter Behavioral Health offers treatment for different time restraints, different disorders, or co-occurring disorders.

Residential Treatment Programs

Some people need more intense, prolonged, or integrative mental health treatment. Residential treatment can be the start of your treatment journey. Located in Irvine, the home you stay in is curated and decorated with safety and peace kept in mind. Rather than having to worry about establishing a place to live that supports your well-being, you can live and focus on healing.

Residential treatment is designed to support you throughout your day as you live in the treatment facility. There, you participate in group therapy, individual therapy, and psychoeducational groups to fill your day. A person does not have to stress, as there are breaks and time in between to take in the beautiful scenery, rest, or work on treatment goals independently.

Outpatient Programs

Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) or partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) are the two outpatient programs available. Outpatient is an in-between step between residential and weekly therapy sessions. In outpatient, a person is able to live at home, do what they need to do, and still attend mental health treatment. Depending on work, school, family, or other needs, outpatient treatment is between six to 30 hours a week of therapeutic treatment. Whereas you follow a schedule and time constraints in residential, you are in charge of your timeline in outpatient.

Crisis Stabilization

Some people can struggle with severe, immediate, intensified emotions, experiences, or concerns. This can cause a mental crisis, where a person cannot function as they normally would. If this is the case, crisis stabilization is available for immediate, short-term stabilization. This helps a person get into the right head-space for further treatment. It can also be a way to help a person function in their lives again. 

Leaving home to participate in a therapy program can be scary. Having to sit with strangers and talk about personal feelings and life experiences sounds intimidating. Have you been struggling with these feelings? Alter Behavioral Health prioritizes your healing and treatment, so you get to engage in treatment at your pace. With different therapies, whatever your disorder or disorders, you will find a treatment program that tackles your concern thoughts, behaviors, or concerns. Seeking treatment does not need to only be scary but can become empowering. You deserve to be successful in life and proud of yourself. Contact us today at (866) 691-4386 to learn how to improve your outlook on life.