What is residential treatment?
Intensive residential treatment offers a highly structured, well-supervised, consistent treatment environment that addresses the needs of children and adolescents with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties who have not responded adequately to treatment at other levels of care. With around-the-clock care and supervision, and careful programming during waking hours, residential treatment combines individual, group and family therapies with a variety of other treatment modalities to address treatment goals.

What is the treatment philosophy at Laurel Heights?
Laurel Heights uses a strength-based approach to treatment, in which we employ the child's and family's strength's and preferences to address problem areas. We believe in treating the whole person and use a multidisciplinary approach to address the medical, psychological, social, educational and developmental needs of the children we serve. We view residential treatment as part of a continuum of treatment with the goal of return to the family and community with appropriate treatment and support services when clinically indicated.

Who provides the care and treatment at Laurel Heights?
Three employed child and adolescent psychiatrists serve as attending physicians and provide direction for the treatment teams. Unit Directors, Therapists, and Clinical Services Specialists are licensed master's level clinicians who provide individual therapy, psychotherapy groups and family therapy. Unit Directors also provide clinical and administrative supervision for residential staff. Mental Health Assistants provide direct care, social skills and adaptive life skills groups as well as behavioral interventions. Teachers have teaching certificates issued by the Professional Standards Commission with certification as Special Education Teachers. Our nursing clinic is staffed 24 hours per day with RNs and LPNs who attend to medical issues and administer all medications.