A Letter from our Director of Clinical Development, Dr. Trevor Small

Hello everyone,
I hope that this finds you all taking good care and healthy.
Our clinical team continues to work closely with your teens to help provide teen mental health support and encouragement during these unusual times in our world. At Insight, we know that in-person treatment is the most effective intervention for mental health and substance abuse issues which is why we continue to have in-person treatment at all our facilities.
In our world today, questions about the future can feel overwhelming for teens and we are here to help to provide a safe space to explore these concerns and skills to be able to see the pathway through them. In addition, parenting during these uncertain times can be very challenging and the community is here for you to provide support, encouragement, and validation in the weekly parent group and through interactions with each other within the community and in family therapy.  For those families that are unable to come into the program in-person due to health issues and are working remotely, please know that we are here for any questions or concerns that may be coming up at home.
Long story short, we are here, in-person, for you and your family!
A few updates and thoughts to share:
  • Facility wide meetings via zoom that I held last week were very helpful in illuminating areas of concern and providing a forum for discussion for how, as a community, we could increase an overall feeling of safety during these times. I would like to offer these meetings every two weeks to all families so that we can discuss any areas of concern. I will send out a link to each facility with enough notice for all that wish to attend to be able to attend.
  • Our team continues to work overtime to create a clean and safe facility that exceeds the protocols outlined for essential businesses. Along those lines, we continue to:
    • emphasize the face mask mandate at all of our programs for staff and clients
    • be active in motivating social distancing between clients
    • take the temperatures of all upon arrival to the program
    • emphasize hand washing during the treatment day.
  • In addition, after speaking with some families at different programs, we have made sure to phase out the wearing of any of the remaining face shields and have replaced them with the clear nose/mouth coverings
  • We have continued our popular outreach to local schools to help parents that may not know about available resources for their teens. If you feel your school could benefit from this resource, please let us know and Eddie can reach out to them.
  • Our COVID protocols in case of exposure to a COVID positive individual exist to help all members of our community stay safe. Along those lines, please reach out to your clinical director if you have any questions or a member of the family is experiencing or has tested positive for COVID.
  • Try to set aside a time each morning and evening for a family walk together. 20 minutes outside allows for connection and a reset for the day.
  • Set a daily intention as a family and end the day with a check-in about how much progress was made toward that intention. For those families that are working remotely, we need you to drug test your teen at home. The insight will provide the test collection units and your counselor can help you with any details or questions.
  • Finally, if you have not tried it before, meditation can be incredibly useful in regulating mood and anxiety. There are a number of apps (e.g. Headspace, Calm, and Buddhify) that are easy to use and can be downloaded onto your phone or tablet, and can be used anywhere and anytime.
So, in summary, we are here for you during this time, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can help in any way. Until then, be well and take good care.
Dr. Trevor Small
Director of Clinical Development