Our Mission at Center for Teens
At Center for Teens, we are on a mission to lead the mental health industry in providing evidence-based care specifically for adolescents. Our founders looked out into their community and saw the nation’s adolescent mental health crisis unfolding right here in Houston. Center for Teens is their answer to the desperate cries to address this crisis – to address the needs of one of our most valuable and vulnerable populations – teenagers. They’ve answered boldly, with thoughtfully designed curriculum and programming rooted solidly in those therapies that are scientifically proven to be most effective in combatting adolescents’ mental health challenges.
The Adolescent Mental Health Crisis
A 2023 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted that more than 40% of high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the previous year. This percentage marks a continued increase from previous years, indicating that the mental health crisis among teens is ongoing and worsening.
A 2023 report by The Trevor Project found that 45% of LGBTQ+ teens seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, with 14% attempting suicide. LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide compared to their heterosexual peers, highlighting the severe mental health challenges faced by this group due to stigma, discrimination, and lack of support.
Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) shows that in Harris County, suicide was the second leading cause of death among adolescents aged 15-19 in 2021. The suicide rate among this age group has increased by nearly 40% over the past decade.
A 2023 survey by the Houston Behavioral Health and Suicide Prevention Task Force found that nearly 60% of adolescents in Houston who needed mental health care did not receive it. This is due to various barriers, including cost, stigma, and a shortage of mental health professionals in the area.
What Makes Center for Teens Different?
Evidence Based Care
Providing scientifically proven therapies for adolescents.
Adolescent Centered
Dedicated solely to addressing teenage mental health
Trauma Informed Care
Recognizing the pervasive impacts of trauma, we therefore, create a safe, supportive environment that fosters trust, empowerment, and healing.
Measurement Based Care
Is quickly becoming the gold standard throughout the behavioral health field.
We're a Training Facility
We ensure all our clinical staff are thoroughly trained in those therapies that support our mission.
Family Involvement
We value and include Family. Indeed, the most important influence in teenagers lives.
The treatment modalities we have used to build our programming have all been rigorously tested and proven to help adolescents with a wide range of mental health struggles. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) inform our curriculum and every interaction our staff have with your teen. We are so dedicated to doing what works best for adolescents that even our non-clinical support staff are versed in the treatments we adhere to!
We are entirely devoted to adolescent treatment. Our treatment modalities are proven to be effective in adolescent populations, our facilities were built and designed to serve teens, and all our staff specialize in adolescent care. We don’t just have a child and adolescent wing in our center; we treat only adolescents every hour of every day we are open.
At CFT, we specialize in the treatment of pediatric mental health diagnoses including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar, ADHD, and trauma related disorders. Although we recognize that teens with these diagnoses often use and misuse substances and we are equipped to deal with substance use issues, we are not a substance use disorder treatment facility. We don’t offer detox or rehab; our focus is all mental health, all the time.
Recognizing the pervasive impacts of trauma, we create a safe, supportive environment that fosters trust, empowerment, and healing.
Commitment to Measurement Based Care
Measurement based care is quickly becoming the gold standard throughout the behavioral health field. We measure treatment effectiveness in real time by using standardized assessments throughout the course of your teen’s treatment. Having this data allows us to make changes in treatment when needed. This might involve changing the type or intensity of therapy, adjusting medication, or exploring alternative interventions.
One study highlighted that measurement based care’s integration into adolescent PHPs led to substantial improvements in treatment outcomes. A significant reduction in symptom severity was observed in over 70% of patients, with more than 50% achieving clinically significant improvements within the first few weeks of treatment. Moreover, programs that consistently utilized MBC reported higher rates of patient and family satisfaction, as the continuous feedback loop fostered more personalized and effective care.
Center for Teens Training Facility
We ensure all our clinical staff are thoroughly trained in those therapies that support our mission. For example, each provider receives at least 30 hours per year of DBT and CBT training from the scientific leaders in our industry. We don’t stop there, though. Our mission is not only to see the teens who walk through our doors receive the standard of care they deserve; we’d like all teens to find healing and have hope for a brighter future. To that end, we offer monthly continuing education for clinicians who want to hone their skills and grow their talent for working with adolescents. We also partner with esteemed universities to give graduate students in psychology and counseling the training and experience they will need to address the adolescent mental health needs of the generations to come.
Family Involvement
We value and include families. We recognize that though our impact with the teens we treat will be great, their families are the most important influences in their lives. In our PHP and IOP, families attend family groups and/ or family therapy. Families are introduced to the same skills teens are learning in DBT so that they can model and encourage their teens as they implement these new ways of coping outside of CFT. Parents and caregivers usually find knowledge and implementation of these skills useful in their own lives, too!
Research shows that adolescents who receive family-based interventions have significantly lower hospitalization rates. One study found that family therapy reduced the need for hospitalization by 50% in adolescents with severe mental health issues compared to those who received individual therapy .- Fortune, Sinclair, and Hawkin
.– Fortune, Sinclair, and Hawkin
Reach Out Today
Have hope, help is on the way!