What We Treat

Mental Health & Substance Use Treatment 

We treat adolescents ages 12-17 struggling with mental health and/or substance use disorders. In many cases, we treat adolescents with one or the other: a mental health disorder or a substance use disorder. However, we’re also a dual diagnosis treatment center, which means our clinicians have the training, expertise, and experience required to treat and support adolescents with both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder.  

What are Co-Occurring Disorders? 

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Disorders are considered co-occurring when they happen together, at the same time. Mental health and substance use disorders are often co-occurring, with mental health struggles often preceding the problematic use of drugs and/or alcohol. When these problems co-occur, it can complicate the treatment needed. It is necessary to understand how each problem impacts the other in order for an appropriate treatment approach to be identified. For example, if a teen begins drinking heavily at parties due to intense social anxiety, it would be difficult to get them to stop drinking without giving them more effective tools to address their social anxiety. At Evolve, our clinicians carefully assess the history of the mental health and substance use problems to understand the factors driving each of them and create an appropriate treatment plan. 

If you’re the parent of a teenager with a mental illness or a substance use disorder, it’s important to understand that stress, isolation, and boredom can affect both mental health disorders and substance use disorders. Teens with major depressive disorder and/or anxiety have an elevated risk of addiction or substance abuse, and vice versa. Teens with addiction or substance abuse issues are at elevated risk of developing a mental health disorder such as depression or anxiety. That’s why finding a treatment center that can treat both at the same time is essential for the long-term health and wellness of your teenager and family. 

Mental Health Disorders

Some teens do not have a substance use disorder and are coming to treatment strictly for mental health issues. Our clinical teams are skilled at developing individualized treatment plans that address the specific mental health concerns of each teen.  

For example, a teen experiencing severe depression and thoughts of suicide would likely benefit from CBT interventions, including challenging cognitive distortions, completing an automatic thought record, and participating in behavioral activation. A teen experience experiencing intense fears of abandonment, unstable sense of self, and severe emotion dysregulation would likely benefit from a comprehensive DBT approach.  

Issues we see most often in our adolescent clients:
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Self-harm
  • Suicidal ideation and behaviors
  • PTSD/trauma
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Gender dysphoria
  • Disordered eating
  • Psychosis
  • Mood dysregulation (difficulty coping with intense emotions, moods that go up and down throughout the day)
  • Behavioral dysregulation (impulsivity, rule-breaking, etc.)
  • Obsessive compulsive disorder
  • Borderline personality disorder

For a full list of the mental health disorders our clinicians are trained to treat, please refer to the detailed list at the end of this page. 

These are the substances of abuse, misuse, and disordered use we see most often in our adolescent clients:

Psychedelic Drugs/Hallucinogens (LSD, DMT, Ecstasy/MDMA)

Amphetamines

Benzodiazepines

Cannabis

Alcohol

Substance Use Disorders

Some teens have more severe substance use problems that must become the primary focus of treatment. In these cases, our clinical teams work closely with our nurses and attending psychiatrists to screen for post-acute withdrawal symptoms as clients enter the controlled environment of residential treatment. Regular drug screenings are provided at all levels of care for clients with substance use disorders so that the clinical and medical teams can closely monitor them.

Our clinicians provide psychoeducation to our teen clients on how drugs and alcohol impact the body and mind so that they can make informed decisions about their relationship with these substances moving forward. Since many teens feel social pressure to use drugs and alcohol or simply may not be ready to stop using, Motivational Interviewing is used by our clinicians to help teens identify their goals and develop their own motivation to change behaviors that are no longer working for them.

In addition to addressing the use or abuse of these substances, we support teens who engage in life-interrupting behaviors often related to addiction, but do not themselves meet the criteria for the diagnosis of a mental health or behavioral disorder.

What We Treat: A Comprehensive List

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder 
Depressive Disorders 
  • Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder 
  • Major depressive disorder, single and recurrent episodes 
  • Persistent depressive disorder 
  • Other depressive disorders 
Anxiety Disorders 
  • Panic disorder 
  • Generalized anxiety disorder 
  • Separation anxiety disorder 
  • Social anxiety disorder (social phobia) 
  • Agoraphobia 
  • Other panic disorders 
Personality Disorders 
  • Borderline personality disorder or traits associated with borderline personality disorder 
  • Histrionic personality traits 
  • Narcissistic personality traits 
Psychotic Disorders 
  • Early or first-episode psychosis 
  • Prodromal schizophrenia 
  • Substance/medication-induced psychotic disorder 
  • Psychotic disorder due to another medical condition 
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder 
  • Body dysmorphic disorder 
  • Substance/medication-induced obsessive-compulsive and related disorder 
Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders 
  • Posttraumatic stress disorder 
  • Acute stress disorder 
Gender Dysphoria 
  • Gender dysphoria 
  • Other specified gender dysphoria 

 

Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders 
  • Oppositional defiant disorder 
  • Intermittent explosive disorder 
  • Conduct disorder**
    **We accept clients with conduct disorder on a case-by-case basis. 
Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders 
  • Substance-related disorders 
  • Alcohol-related disorders 
  • Cannabis-related disorders 
  • Hallucinogen-related disorders 
  • Inhalant-related disorders 
  • Opioid-related disorders 
  • Sedative-, hypnotic-, or anxiolytic-related disorders 
  • Stimulant-related disorders 
  • Tobacco-related disorders 
Eating Disorders 

We treat or manage adolescent clients with the following eating disorders on a case-by-case basis. We accept clients with these diagnoses only when they are not the primary diagnosis and do not cause medical instability. 

  • Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder 
  • Anorexia nervosa 
  • Bulimia nervosa 
  • Binge-eating disorder 
  • Other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) 
Autism Spectrum Disorder 

We treat adolescents on the autism spectrum when they’re considered high-functioning and the presence of a mental health or substance use disorder indicates treatment at a level of care offered by Evolve. Teens with a primary autism spectrum disorder diagnosis would not be appropriate for treatment at Evolve.