CREDENTIALS/DISCIPLINE: Dedicated Adolescent Eating Disorder Program with additional supportive services for Families. Treatment includes a multidisciplinary team consisting of licensed and experienced providers including Therapists, Registered Dietitians, Medical Services, and Psychiatric Medication Services.
BOARD CERTIFIED: Yes
Number of years treating patients with eating disorders: 7+ years
Number of patients with eating disorders we treat annually: 50+
EDUCATION, TRAINING, and EXPERTISE: Multidisciplinary Team in areas of Therapy, Nutritional Services, Medicine and Psychiatry. 75+ years of expertise within multidisciplinary team.
TREATMENT PHILOSOPHY:
Eating disorders create significant challenges for teens and their families in all aspects of their lives. Sometimes these challenges require intensive treatment. Through our multidisciplinary approach, we address physical, emotional, and nutritional health, academic functioning, and family and peer relationships. Our goal is to provide holistic care that supports adolescents and their families in finding new and healthy ways of living.
So often, teens with eating disorders and their families feel isolated and alone. Our program provides structure and support. It gives clients a chance to connect, relate and problem solve with others that struggle with similar issues. We help guide families in supporting their loved ones in a safe and caring way.
WHY ADOLESCENT ONLY TREATMENT?
The Healthy Teen Project believes a teenager-only therapeutic environment is important when treating teens with eating disorders. Teens have specific needs that are different than those of adults:
Family support
With teens, family support and therapy is an integral component, both for nutritional rehabilitation and to explore other challenges of adolescence and mental health.
Group therapy and support from their peers
Group therapy allows teenagers to find a place where they can open up and be honest and real about their struggles, relate to others, and receive much needed support. Teenagers are at very different places in life than adults and it is other teenagers that provide the validation and support they require.
Greater focus on behavioral and experiential opportunities vs. cognitive/verbal skills
Teenagers get more out of “doing” rather than “talking about doing”. At HTP, teenagers are actively engaged in experiential opportunities and behavioral approaches, such as art therapy, yoga therapy, meal preparation and restaurant exposures.
Additionally, HTP provides a teen-oriented environment (from self-expressive activities to teen-oriented meals/snack choices) where teens can feel safe, nurtured and hopeful. By not treating adolescents alongside adult peers, HTP is able to provide the interventions specific to teens with eating disorders.
OUR PROGRAMS
Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
PHP provides clients the opportunity to receive intensive day treatment while remaining in familiar surroundings at home and with family. PHP is a period of treatment between acute hospitalization and/or residential treatment and lower levels of care, such as an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) or outpatient care. The program consists of six and a half hours of treatment Monday through Thursday from 11:30 am – 6:00 pm, and 11:30am – 5:00pm Fridays.
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
IOP is designed to meet the needs of clients who require more physical, emotional and nutritional support than the outpatient setting provides. The program also provides step- down care from Partial Hospitalization Programs or Residential Treatment. The hours of our IOP (4 hours a day, 5 days a week) allow for more intensive treatment while maintaining active participation in school and other daily activities.
Outpatient
Through our affiliated outpatient arm, The Community Health Collaborative, located in the same building as our Los Altos program, we offer specialized medical, psychiatric, therapy (individual and family based therapy), and nutritional services for eating disorder clients. We recognize that not everyone is a candidate for our PHP and IOP programs so please feel free to call us for referrals to outpatient providers within, or apart from, The Community Health Collaborative.
FEES: In network with Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, HealthNet, Marin County, Multiplan, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and Alameda County. Additionally, we work with Cigna through Single Case Agreements.