Mental Health FAQs
We understand that if you are considering treatment for yourself or a loved one, you’re sure to have many questions. Our frequently asked questions are designed to provide answers about us, our programs and mental health.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mental Health and More
How Do I Start Treatment?
For questions about mental health or our admissions process, please contact us directly.
When Are You Open?
This can vary between our mental health treatment centers. Please reach out to us to learn more.
How Long Do People Stay in Your Program?
How Do I Pay for Treatment?
Discovery Mood & Anxiety accepts most major insurance. Our admissions team will work closely with you to ensure that any roadblocks between you and a happier life are removed.
Can You Cure Me?
What Is Your Program Like?
Our curriculum focuses on insight and skills development using a measurement-based care approach (meaning, we assess you before, during and after treatment) and using evidence-based therapies. We serve adolescent and adult patients of all genders.
While our program is structured around improving behavior, it also allows the patient to process their feelings regarding what they are experiencing in treatment, as well as the issues that brought them into treatment in the first place.
What Is Mental Health Treatment?
Mental health treatment is a group of professional approaches that help people manage behavioral, emotional, and psychological changes. Mental health treatment can include:
• Talk therapy (psychotherapy)
• Lifestyle support
• Medication
And more.
What Types of Therapy Do You Use?
At Discovery Mood & Anxiety, we make use of different types of talk therapy, including but not limited to:
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT helps people identify and manage unhelpful thinking patterns.
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): DBT helps people manage intense emotions.
• Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy: ERP therapy gradually exposes people to something they fear so they can eventually respond with a better behavior.
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT helps people cope with the difficulties life throws their way.
What and Who Do You Treat?
We treat people who are experiencing mental health or substance abuse issues, such as
• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder
• Depression
• Reactive attachment disorder (RAD)
• Self-harm
• Trauma
Our programs treat both adults and adolescents. We also have a dedicated Stars and Stripes Program for veterans, active-duty military and first responders, as well as a School Support Program for school-aged patients in our residential centers.
How Do You Address the Needs of Transgender Patients?
We address our patients however they identify. We honor pronouns and recognize that those will sometimes change. We always ask for preferences. We follow guidelines that are laid out in support of transition and work to give transitioning patients a voice.
Discovery Mood & Anxiety cannot refuse to address patients as they identify, even if that goes against a parent’s request.
How Do You Handle School with Adolescent Patients?
For those patients who are in school, we offer an allotted time of school work per week, plus a liaison who works with both the parents and the school. We aim to help families navigate the education system, particularly if the school wants the child to disenroll.
Discovery collaborates with the school and the parents to find the best plan for the patient to receive schoolwork while in treatment. Our preference is to keep the student enrolled in their current school if at all possible; our treatment program is a short-term situation.
However, if that just isn’t possible, we do provide other options that we can access if necessary.
My Loved One is Resistant to Treatment. How Can You Help Them?
Most adolescents and many adults admit to being resistant to treatment. Some particularly dislike the idea of residential care. That’s why the staff works closely with patients in those first few days to help them get acclimated to the program and adjust to the treatment setting.
First and foremost, we encourage participation. Once we get patients to engage, we work with them to help them become more aware of their behavior and start to look at themselves. We aim to help them recognize what’s really going on and how they can make changes to become better.
It’s a process of building people up until they realize that they have the power to find wholeness, and recovery can be theirs.
How Do You Treat the Symptoms of Mental Health Disorders?
Treating mental health disorder symptoms requires a highly personal, measurement-based approach. Here’s a generalized view of how we treat various symptoms:
• Depression: Assessment is the important first piece to understanding what’s going on and to creating a plan for that individual. Getting to the root cause and making sure that the family and patient are on the same page is critical. Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) work well for depression.
• Anxiety: The aim in treating anxiety is to help patients integrate the skills that will help them relax and calm themselves in the moment. Meditation and deep breathing techniques are very useful, along with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT).
• Self-Harm: For this treatment, it really depends on why the patient is engaging in self-harming behaviors. An assessment helps us see what the underlying issue is and work from there. We help the patient build alternative skills they can adapt to use in the moment. Dialectical behavioral treatment (DBT) works well.
• Suicidal Ideation: This symptom may come from a lot of different sources. We’re always careful to do a full assessment that will get to the root of your difficulties. The understanding we gain helps us identify and develop an appropriate treatment plan on an individual basis. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often a good choice for addressing SI.
• Aggression: While we are not designed to support physical aggression in treatment, we do accept patients with a history of aggression in the family. Typical treatment options include anger management, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and a focus on communication skills.
• Mood Disorders: The treatment of mood disorders requires that we assess the patient and come up with an individualized plan. We want to make sure we address the specific needs of each patient. Treatment likely involves the use of clinical behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), relationship and communication skills, and self-esteem groups.
• School Refusal: Oftentimes, we put a level system in place that involves some rewards when school is completed. However, more often than not, there’s an underlying issue that has led to school refusal in the first place. Once that obstacle is identified, we can focus on addressing this issue directly. With treatment, the refusal can be lessened or eliminated.
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD): Our program is not structured to support ODD as a sole diagnosis. However, we are equipped to address ODD as a secondary concern along with a separate primary condition. To address ODD, we implement behavioral modification techniques as much as possible, and we provide a structured environment.
What is Measurement-Based Care?
One of the ways our programs are unique is our measurement-based care approach. It involves carefully measuring 27 distinct wellness indicators, including lifestyle, substance use, physical health and more.
This approach helps us create a perfectly-tailored treatment program that adapts and grows with you or your loved one during care.
Do You Offer Treatment for Trauma?
Discovery Mood & Anxiety Program specializes in trauma-focused therapy.
At some locations, we offer trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and/or eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR). These two approaches are proven to be very effective in treating trauma. In addition, we offer dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and teach CBT trauma-based skills.
By employing these modalities and interventions, we focus on a trauma narrative and timeline that allows the patient to process the experience in a safe setting.
Is Your Staff Experienced?
Our staff includes specialists with various areas of expertise. The minimum requirement for all staff is a bachelor’s degree and/or previous experience working in the mental health or recovery field. We employ interns who are working toward master’s degrees with a focus on mental health. We have many licensed clinicians on staff, as well as psychiatrists who are medical doctors.
We pride ourselves on hiring and training every employee to meet the highest standards of care in all our facilities.
Do You Supervise Your Residential Patients Overnight?
What Makes You Different from Other Treatment Centers?
At Discovery Mood & Anxiety, our focus is on treating the patient as an individual, meeting each person right where they are when they come to us. We do not offer a one-size-fits-all approach to recovery.
As part of that approach, we don’t offer mixed environments. What that means is that an adolescent, for example, will be in a center with other adolescents dealing with similar conditions. Also, adults are treated alongside other adults. This way, patients are allowed to be in a group setting with peers who are struggling with the same issues.
Family resources and family programming are a big part of what we do. We know that family plays a large role in the patient’s recovery, both during treatment and after discharge from the center.
At all Discovery Mood & Anxiety locations, we offer dietary support. It’s part of our commitment to treating the whole person and not just the diagnosis. You see, nutrition plays an important role in mood, behavior, and overall well-being. So, we include education about diet in every one of our programs.
If a patient is in school, we offer school time each week. However, our focus is on addressing the underlying issues that are keeping the patient from participating in school now. We want each patient to be successful in school, and we know that won’t happen until those issues are addressed. It’s just another part of our whole-person approach to treatment.
Another way we’re different here is the amount of structure we provide as well as our focus on the development of coping skills. Our clinical staff is quite varied in its interventions and conceptualization, so we can assess and provide varying approaches as needed. We work to ensure that the patient is held accountable and supported through their treatment work in a setting conducive to improvement.
The ultimate goal? Mental health management that extends well beyond a stay with us. We work toward genuine healing and success. Because nothing is as important as the rest of your life.
Treatment Can Start Now
Our safe and compassionate treatment program gives you the tools you need to manage a mental health disorder. Get in touch with us and start your journey to a fulfilling life.
Your Journey to Mental Wellness Starts Today
Take the first step toward lasting mental health management with Discovery. Our admissions team is available 24/7 to answer your questions and verify your insurance coverage.