Having talked to Casie Fariello (Other Parents Like Me) on the podcast last week about her son’s mental health struggle and their experience with his inpatient treatment, followed by a Substack post about getting insurance to pay for residential treatment—I realized I still had more to say on this topic.

So, on today’s episode, I explain that sending your teen away from home for treatment for their mental health and/or behavior should only be considered as a last resort, with the biggest consideration being their safety or the safety of others.

According to the prevailing opinion in the child and adolescent mental health field, kids and teens should be kept at home and all other treatment options should be exhausted before considering residential treatment, wilderness, a therapeutic boarding school, etc.

In this episode, I also argue that parents must take a hard look at their parenting practices and their mental health to insure they are not exacerbating their teen's mental health or behavior problems, before making this big decision.

Today's Substack post takes the topic even further as I discuss how to prevent fear (often caused by the "troubled teen industry") from driving your decision to send your teen away from home for treatment.

Access TRANSCRIPT here.

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