BCBSRI, Bradley offering Mindful Teen Program

PROVIDENCE – Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) is supporting a new behavioral care model promoting alternatives to inpatient hospitalization for children and teens facing mental illness. Programs focused on early intervention and better managed care support young people before behavioral health problems escalate and interfere with other developmental needs. A local program that highlights the value of this model is the Mindful Teen Program offered by Bradley Hospital.

“Adolescents can often experience different mental health symptoms than adults. Some teens find they have little control over intense and rapidly changing moods, creating confusion for them and their parents,” said Rena Sheehan, LICSW, managing director of behavioral health at BCBSRI. “Programs that respond early and effectively to these crises, such as Bradley Hospital’s Mindful Teen program, are critical in preventing the escalation of symptoms. When left untreated these symptoms can lead to hospitalizations or even harm to oneself or others.”

In Rhode Island, one in five children (ages 6 to 17) has a diagnosable mental health issue, creating a growing need for evidence-based, adolescent-focused mental health solutions. An estimated 34 percent of Rhode Island children who needed mental health treatment or counseling in the past 12 months did not receive it, according to the most recent RI KidsCount fact book.

By prioritizing innovative approaches to healthcare delivery, such as the bundling of services and programs available to patients in an attempt to mitigate cost-sharing barriers, BCBSRI helps adolescents get the right care, at the right time, in the right place. Reducing typical care barriers leads to better continuity of care and, ultimately, better outcomes.

Bradley Hospital’s Mindful Teen Program is a six-month evidence-based Dialectical Behavior Therapy treatment for adolescents (DBT-A) ages 13 to 18 years old. The program provides individual ther- apy, family therapy sessions as needed, 24-hour access to phone coaching for both adolescents and their caregivers, and a weekly DBT-A multi-family skills group. DBT-A is a collaborative therapy that focuses on eliminating risk behaviors, while learning and generalizing more effective coping in the areas of mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and teen-caregiver relationships.

The program helps teens manage their emotional experiences and behaviors in order to live healthier, more satisfying lives, and avoid crises that might lead to inpatient care or partial hospitalization.

“The Mindful Teen Program recognizes that youth living with significant emotional and behavioral problems are living painful lives,” said Karyn Horowitz, M.D., director of outpatient child psychiatry and behavioral health services at Lifespan. “The treatment team partners with these teens to help them develop the skills necessary to create a life worth living. By involving caregivers in the treatment, it improves their relationships and strengthens their support system. When families share in the treatment and ‘speak the same language,’ it makes it more likely for them to successfully generalize their skills.”

BCBSRI recognizes that the program works best if it can make access to the care easier and more affordable. That’s why BCBSRI has simplified authorization requirements and has instituted a single monthly co-pay for Mindful Teen’s intensive outpatient treatment. The partnership between BCBSRI and Bradley Hospital reduces the barriers that might prevent a family from accessing the care their teen needs.

For more information on accessing adolescent mental and behavioral health services, call the BCBSRI behavioral health line at 1-800-274-2958, or stop by a Your Blue Store location to consult with an on-site nurse case manager. For more information on Bradley Hospital’s Mindful Teen program, visit www.bradleyhospital.org.