Treatment for Clinically Depressed Teen
Hello,
In the last 6 months my 16 year old was diagnosed with moderate to severe clinical depression. They are constantly exhausted and sad, and have very low self esteem. This is not new, but has just gotten worse over the years since elementary school. SSRIs and an intensive partial hospitalization program for a few months have helped. But I worry about their capacity for independence in the future. They are not currently in therapy but recently said they were open to this.
Does anyone have a good recommendation for a therapist/coach who works with teens?
Also, has anyone had experience using Chinese Medicine to help a teen with depression and low energy?
OR has anyone tried treating depression with homeopathic medicine?
I feel like we have exhausted all options at Kaiser and now I need to try something else.
Parent Replies
I am so sorry your child & family are going through this. When one family member is depressed, it affects the family as a whole. I hope you are taking good care of yourself too. I don't have therapy recs, however, if they are not functioning and not going to school, I found a residential program that helped my son tremendously, Newport Academy. They can still attend school in the morning (on Newport's location), and are fully supported medically/therapeutically. Our insurance was able to cover his stay. He learned and practiced coping skills CBT/DBT. I think time away from home gave him some breathing room to figure stuff out. It gave me time to figure things out too. He was motivated to do the work (both academic & emotional) there after 2 weeks, since it takes time to acclimate. He was there for 3.5 months and is now back in school and doing significantly better. Wishing you and your family well.
It’s really hard to parent a teen with depression. I can highly recommend Bri Aitkenhead. She is a DBT therapist and highly experienced. She is located in Marin but well worth it! You can email her here BriAitkenheadLMFT [at] gmail.com (BriAitkenheadLMFT[at]gmail[dot]com)
We also used UCSF Osher Center for Integrated Health. They have doctors, acupuncturists, herbal medicine etc and it was very helpful for our teen.
There are also some other meds that can be affective. The psychiatrist we found most helpful is Dr Wycoff Montenegro in Walnut Creek but she does everything remotely!
I hope things improve!
Hi
I’m sorry your teen, you and your family are dealing with this. My teen found DBT therapy helpful. They went to Clearwater Clinic in Orinda. Part of the treatment is a skills class that parents take with their teen. That class was unbelievably helpful for me.
All the best
Hi, I am sorry you are going through this. We have a 14 year old in a very similar situation. Andrea Bronzo was a wonderful and insightful therapist, but I'm not sure whether she works with teens or only adolescents and children. She usually has a waiting list and does not accept insurance.
I am so sorry for what your 16 year old is going through. And, as a parent, feeling like you've run out of options for trying to help a troubled child is awful and frustrating. I sympathize. A couple of suggestions:
We had a lot of success getting help for our teen through Clearwater Clinic https://clearwaterclinic.com/, especially their teen/parent Dialectical Behavior Therapy classes. The classes were helpful not only for our kid, but for myself and my husband, providing us with valuable tools to manage the emotional weight of caring for a kid with complex mental health needs.
I also highly recommend Janet Thomson at Inspire Family & Pediatric Acupuncture of the East Bay. https://www.inspireacu.com/ Our child had a different prognosis than yours, so I can't speak directly to treating depression, but we definitely felt like acupuncture made a big difference in our kid's energy and outlook. Janet is amazing with kids of all ages and has a wonderful, calm, and empathetic demeanor, which is its own kind of therapy. For kids who don't like needles, she uses acupressure, so you don't need to worry about that. She is also very knowledgeable about Chinese Medicine and offers herbs, supplements and other therapies that might be useful. It's definitely worth a visit to get her thoughts about how she might be able to help your kid.
Good luck!