day treatment

When your child is out of control and you are at your wits end, consider day treatment. Depending on your insurance, it could be totally covered. Our child was running away from school, threatening peers, getting into fights, threatening to harm herself, soiling herself, refusing to eat in public and just generally unable to handle her own feelings. Those were the issues listed for her acceptance into the program.

For anyone who does not know: day treatment is a school like setting that your child will be sent to where they will have some classes with teachers from the school district, but they will also be in a therapeutic setting with a fairly even ratio of adults to children. The non-school staff there have all been trained in mental/behavioral health skills. Your children will return to your home at the end of the day just like they do after school.

My oldest went through day treatment two times. Both times were a great experience for us as parents and for her. She loved attending day treatment because she felt like she was understood, cared for and safe. Things she does not feel in the world in general. The transition back to traditional school was difficult each time.

Over the summer, they continue with mostly fun activities and a couple classes just to keep the structure similar for the kids. My daughter went to see a therapy llama farm a couple times, traveled to the zoo, went bowling, and golfed. It was a fun summer for her.

Day treatment has therapy sessions for your child, a group session for the children and sessions for the family. We also had sessions for just us parents because we were mostly brainstorming what resources she will need and how to find services. They also have medication providers. We only used one at the first center we went through. The second time we were able to keep our current provider. At our second treatment center, she was also assigned to a skills trainer who also had personal sessions with her each week.

Day treatment stays can vary depending on your insurance and the severity of your children’s issues. The first time, insurance pulled us after forty days when she was admitted for self harm and suicidal ideation, but only accepted private insurance. The second time she was there for about 14 months. That intake included all her other behavioral health issues, but they only accepted state insurance.

It has been over a year since she has finished with day treatment. I do not believe there will be any additional stays. She credits day treatment for why she is doing so well now. She has friends for the first time in her life. She has had a steady boyfriend, which before she only ever had one for about two weeks at a time. The soiling seems to finally have stopped this school year. Things have really been looking up for her. I hope she can continue down this path.

Day treatment was an unknown resource to me when this all started. If this is your first time hearing about it, search and find what is available in your area. It really makes the difference in really difficult cases. Outpatient therapy is just a drop in the bucket compared to what day treatment can accomplish. It also allowed us to relax as parents. The constant stream of phone calls from the school stopped. The driving to and from multiple appointments a week stopped. She was calmer and they prioritized defusing her emotions before she was sent home. They really pushed her to utilize coping skills and improve her relationship with us. They taught her the importance of verbalizing her problems and accepting that sometimes we cannot fix things. Day treatment can really do wonders if insurance will just let it run its course.