Medical Experts From Across Westchester County Express Support For North Castle Adolescent Mental Health Facility

NORTH CASTLE, N.Y., March 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Medical experts from across Westchester County today expressed support for a proposed adolescent mental health facility in North Castle, New York. 

Paradigm Treatment Centers is a leading provider of adolescent residential treatment for anxiety and depression for kids between the ages of 12-17.

For years, families from places like Scarsdale, Chappaqua, and Rye have traveled across the country for help at Paradigm's facilities in California. These families repeatedly asked, "Why isn't there a place like this closer to home? Why do we have to go so far away?" That sentiment is the genesis for the proposed facility.

Many Westchester students are gifted, talented, high-achieving youth who are also dealing with complex family dynamics, depression, anxiety and other emotional health issues for which they need and deserve support.

Medical experts agree.

"As a school psychologist and private practitioner for 20 plus years in Westchester, I see that there is clearly a vacuum in terms of providing support to adolescents dealing with anxiety and depression," said Dr. Debra Green, board member of Westchester County Psychological Association (WCPA) and member of the New York Association of School Psychologists (NYASP). "Parents and our schools have been working for a long time to maintain kids while in school through therapeutic support programs, but some kids require more in-depth treatment and attention."

"It would be so fortunate for Paradigm to come to North Castle, NY. This program has proven to be successful in Malibu, California, and is very much needed within the Westchester community. Mental health has been neglected throughout all age groups, and it is evident in the medical community that adequate resources for the mentally ill are seriously limited. We must start to fix that problem," said Doretta Tarangioli, Administrative Nurse Manager at Montefiore Hospital Medical Center.

"I am a child psychiatrist in Westchester County, and over the years I have seen that there is a great need for residential treatment options for kids with anxiety and depression," said Dr. Gurjeet Dhallu, M.D., a board-certified child psychiatrist in Westchester. "A residential facility can provide medication management, DBT, CBT and family therapy, and will also work with schools to help the kids get back to their normal life. Hospital settings are more for acute management -- the family piece and school piece of therapy needs more time and collaborative work, which would be best served by a residential setting as there will be no rush to discharge patients." 

"There is a lack of mental health residential programs for adolescents in Westchester County. Families are having to leave the state in order to get treatment for their children," said John Walkup, M.D., Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

"Day in and day out, we are seeing and feeling the immense pressure that children are facing. Kids are becoming stressed just from everyday life. It causes problems at home, problems at school, problems with sports and problems with emotional well-being. Adolescents and teenagers really need a place to go to get the help they require. That's why it is so important that a program opens in New York to help these kids," said Monica Getz, President of National Coalition for Family Justice.

"There is a desperate need for this kind of treatment center in Westchester County, as there is in many parts of the country," said Laura Smith, a clinical outreach specialist in Westchester County and Manhattan. "And unfortunately, one of the most difficult roadblocks for opening a facility for treating anxiety and depression is community denial of the issues at hand."

"Opening a teen treatment center for anxiety and depression in Westchester would be a benefit to the community, as the area and population is underserved in addressing these issues," said Nicholas Lessa, Inter-Care, Ltd. Executive Director. "There should be a larger focus on meeting the needs of our young people struggling with depression, anxiety or other complex behavioral health issues."

Notably, one-third of clients in Paradigm's California mental health-focused facilities are from New York. That totals around 70 families who fly 3000 miles to California because they are in need of residential treatment for their children that they currently cannot find in New York.

"Paradigm gave my son a strong foundation for dealing with the anxiety and depression issues that he was facing as a teenager," said Kir Henrici, a parent from Orange County. "Thanks to Paradigm, my son continues to mature and manage his life and emotional well-being. He returned to playing sports and is graduating high school due in large part to what he learned at Paradigm in Malibu. If a similar New York program opened, he would have a closer network for aftercare."

"If it weren't for my sister living in California, I would have never known about Paradigm. I can speak with experience as to how this program saved my son's life and the lives of my entire family. Now that I am in tune with teen depression and anxiety, I see it all around me. I strongly support a New York facility. It is a much needed program in our area," said Heather Cammann, Croton-on-Hudson resident and mother of a former Paradigm patient.

"Our 16-year-old needed help. Most of the facilities nearby were like psychiatric wards. Finally, we found Paradigm in Malibu. Now, my daughter is 18 and goes to New York University. She talks about Paradigm often. They taught her a lot of valuable things she can lean on throughout her life. It can only benefit New York families to have it in Westchester," said Young Eun Lee, New York City resident and mother of a former Paradigm patient.

"We had to seek residential mental health treatment outside of New York for our teenage daughter who was suffering from depression and anxiety. The treatment at Paradigm allowed her to gain a deep understanding of why she was suffering and how best to heal. We would be enormously grateful to receive continued care in Westchester if Paradigm opens in New York," said Randi Wender, a Manhattan resident and mother of a former Paradigm patient.

All of Paradigm Treatment Centers' facilities are accredited by The Joint Commission, the highest standard in the country that provides impartial evidence of the quality of care and treatment services delivered to individuals in a health care organization.

SOURCE Paradigm Treatment Centers