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Family Responsibilities and Treatment: Creating a Plan for When Your Child Returns Home

Author:
Jemma Strain
Jemma Strain
B.S. Psychology
Editor:
Emma Loker
Emma Loker
B.S.
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The weight of serious mental health issues on teenagers and their families can be difficult to cope with without appropriate support. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emergency departments have seen a worrying rise in visits due to mental health issues such as self-harm and suicidal thoughts. As a result, the number of teens receiving residential treatment for their mental health has increased.1

Returning home after residential treatment can be like taking the first step on a tightrope for your child. They may be excited about coming home but also fear how their recovery will progress without the structure and stability of residential care. For this reason, creating a plan for when your child returns home can provide a much-needed sense of security. 

Mental health professionals can support you and your child in creating a plan for returning home –  helping reduce any anxieties you might have. This article also works as a useful guide by discussing:

  • How to support your child when returning from residential treatment
  • Managing stress when your child comes home from treatment
  • Outpatient therapy options for supporting your child’s transition home from treatment
  • When to seek support in mental health discharge planning for children
Creating a Plan for When Your Child Returns Home

Supporting Your Child When Returning From Residential Treatment

Returning home from residential treatment can be an exciting time for teenagers and their families – and it should be. However, it can also be worrying and require careful planning. Residential treatment provides round-the-clock supervision and support – and also involves a set routine for daily activities. The home environment is not as regulated as this. As a result, this transition can create a “What now?” attitude. 

Additionally, if a child has experienced severe mental health symptoms, they may be more they’re at risk for experiencing setbacks in treatment after discharge. It’s essential that parents and teens prepare themselves for this possibility. The more you make preparations, the better placed you’ll be to handle hurdles should they arise.2 

We discuss steps for supporting your child when returning from residential treatment next.

What to Do When Your Child Comes Home From Mental Health Care

The following information can help you understand what to do when your child comes home from mental health care. Remember, mental health professionals are very familiar with this process and can guide you based on your child’s symptoms and needs.3-7

Understand the Aftercare Process:

Returning home isn’t the end of your child’s mental health treatment – it’s usually the beginning. Your child will likely need continued professional mental health support in the community, such as outpatient treatment. 

The risk of slipping back into previous emotional and behavioral patterns is higher for those who don’t continue their mental health care through community services. Therefore, it’s important that you take steps to prevent this. Mental health professionals can talk you through what to do if your child’s symptoms deteriorate – if this happens it’s not a reason to lose hope. They can also make recommendations and referrals to outpatient services.

Communicate With Professionals Involved in Their Care:

Keeping in touch with mental health professionals and any other adults involved in your child’s care – such as case workers and teachers – can ensure they receive the support they need. For example, you could discuss creating a school reentry plan with your child’s teachers and talk to case workers about what they might need to have included in this plan. Additionally, case workers can also help you and your child find community-based resources for extra support during the transition to the community, such as support groups. 

Build a Healthy Reconnection:

The focus of your relationship with your child these last few months might have been entirely on their mental health journey. While it’s important to continue supporting them in this way, it’s also good to factor in quality time to remind them that it’s possible to enjoy meaningful activities together. 

Another factor to consider is the boundaries you want to set for their return home. Are there boundaries you need to reinforce? Ones you need to relax? Your child’s new way of living needs consistency and routine – and boundaries are essential for this process. 

Be Mentally Prepared:

If you don’t feel comfortable answering questions about your child’s treatment, you don’t have to. Therefore, if someone you know asks how they’re doing, you could be polite, but redirect the conversation in another direction. For example, you could say “They’re doing OK, thanks for asking. By the way, I was wondering if you had a chance to watch the documentary on TV last night. I think you might like it.”

Remember that your child is still at an early stage of recovery – their symptoms may be reduced, but ingrained triggers might still lurk under the surface. AIm to be patient during this time. The most important thing is not to panic if you see worrying behaviors or emotions in your child – this doesn’t mean that recovery has failed. Instead, these are often a normal part of reentry into the community. Family support groups and self-care activities can help.  

Be Conscious of Your Expectations:

Not only do you have to be mindful that there might be bumps in the road, but you also may have to be careful about how you express expectations for your child’s continued recovery. Setting high hopes for how quickly your child will recover – and expressing these – can set you up for disappointment and your child up for a sense of failure. 

You can simultaneously help your child retain hope while also balancing their expectations. For instance, you could say “I’m so happy you’re home, but I know your doctors and therapists said that you might have challenges from time to time during this transition. I’m here to help you navigate these challenges, so don’t hesitate to let me know what you need.”

Boost Their Social Support:

While your child might feel daunted about what to say to their friends when returning home, you can help them prepare script lines about what to say to protect their self-esteem. Additionally, community-based support groups can help them feel connected to others and more understood. These support groups can also provide useful coping strategies for the return to community life.  

Take a Step Back From Your Emotions:

As mentioned, it’s possible you’ll encounter slips in your child’s emotional and behavioral progress. Even though you’re a parent, you’re also human, with normal emotional responses to disappointment, concern, and fear. However, it’s important not to respond to these slip-ups with anger or blame. 

If your child’s actions trigger a negative emotion in you, try to regulate your feelings before reacting to them. Mindfulness techniques such as deep breathing can help. When you feel ready, you can choose to respond to the situation in a way that helps you achieve what you want from the scenario rather than create conflict. There’s also nothing wrong with venting to someone you trust – you also need support through this process. 

 

Taking these steps to support your child when returning from residential treatment can ensure they continue to receive the appropriate care for healing. However, while it’s natural to feel stressed during this process, stress can be both overwhelming and contagious. Therefore, managing stress when your child comes home from treatment is an important element of support.

Managing Stress When Your Child Comes Home From Treatment

Although coming home from residential treatment can be a joyful time, it’s also undoubtedly a stressful one for both you and your child. Residential treatment is a structured, carefully planned environment that is tailored to improve a child’s emotional and physical health. If your child struggles to control their emotions or actions in this setting, mental health professionals understand that these are symptoms of their condition. In other words, they don’t take it personally.8

However, if your child finds coping with their emotions and actions difficult in the home setting, this could create a lot of stress for you both. You might not understand how to navigate slip-ups and feel alarmed about what these might mean for your child’s recovery. 

It’s possible to manage stress in your family dynamic and reduce the effects of conflict on your relationship. A mental health professional can support you in doing so, but the following steps can also help.9,10

  • Openly talk about the problem: Sometimes a problem seems bigger in our heads than it does when talked out. Openly discussing a problem when it arises can help you and your child collaboratively problem-solve, increase your bond, and reduce stress. 
  • Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness has been proven to help reduce teen stress – and can also benefit your well-being as a parent. Mindfulness is relatively easy to incorporate into your routines: try deep breathing, go on a mindful walk, or play around with kindness meditations – whatever works best for you both. 
  • Exercise: Getting physical activity is an excellent stress reliever for people of all ages. It boosts “feel good” chemicals in the brain and improves sleep, helping your child cope with emotions better. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that teens get roughly 60 minutes of activity a day. 
  • Get enough sleep: Stress and mental health issues can impact the ability to fall asleep and the quality of rest. Aiming for between 7-8 hours of sleep a night can improve your ability to cope with negative emotions, but it can be difficult to do so when stressed. Sleep routines can help you and your child feel more rested and improve your abilities to handle stress. 

Supporting Your Child’s Transition Home From Treatment: Outpatient Options

Change – of any sort – can be scary for a teen. Even though they may miss home, they might not know how to transition the skills they’ve learned in residential therapy into the home environment. Plus, as residential treatment is often the start of their recovery process, they will likely need continued support in the community to maintain progress. 

A mental health professional can talk you through outpatient options for supporting your teen after discharge from residential treatment. They will likely discuss suitable therapy options for your child’s needs, including the following options.

Outpatient Therapy Options for Teen Mental Health:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): A professional will likely discuss the option of outpatient CBT with you and your child. CBT is both popular and effective in the treatment of a range of mental health conditions as it works by targeting teens’ thoughts and actions. After residential treatment, it can help teens continue to pinpoint negative patterns and build healthy ways of coping. 

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): A teen may require residential treatment due to the effects of previous experiences, such as trauma. EMDR can be used in the community to treat trauma, how it’s stored in the brain, and to help teens form more positive beliefs.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation: TMS can be used in both residential and outpatient settings to manage treatment-resistant mental health conditions. It’s a non-invasive therapy that uses magnetic fields to activate nerve cells in targeted areas of the brain – improving outlook and mood. 

Interpersonal therapy: While relationships can be protective of mental health, they can also contribute to mental health difficulties. If this is the case for your child, outpatient interpersonal therapy can help them work through these issues and figure out better ways of coping to improve their mental health.

Mindfulness-Based Therapy (MBT): MBT can help teens transition to the community by helping them develop compassionate techniques for managing their difficult emotions. It teaches them child how to continue to counteract negative thought patterns and develop a more positive sense of self. 

Your child might have already received some of these therapies in a residential setting. This can put them in a good position to understand how they work and can benefit them in an outpatient setting. Talking to them about these options allows them a voice in their continued treatment and the opportunity to express their goals and desires. 

Family Responsibilities and Treatment: Creating a Plan for When Your Child Returns Home

When to Seek Support in Mental Health Discharge Planning for Children

Returning home from residential treatment can cause teens and their families to worry about what will happen next. Will they feel ready for discharge? Could they slip back into previous ways of thinking and feeling? Will the stress of daily life cause conflict? It’s normal to feel concerned about all these things. However, you’re not in this process by yourself – there is mental health advice and support available to you. 

Mission Prep can support you both in this process. Our team of trained professionals provides residential treatment for different teen mental health conditions in a variety of locations. This means we know how to help transition teenagers to outpatient care in ways that continue to help them heal and grow. We’re available to answer any concerns you or your child may have – even if you decide that our programs aren’t suitable for your needs. Contact us to learn more.

 

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Pediatric emergency department visits before and during the COVID-19 pandemic — United States, January 2019–January 2022. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 71(8), 313–318. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7108e1
  2. Galletta, E., Fagan, T. J., Shapiro, D., & Walker, L. E. (2021). Societal Reentry of Prison Inmates With Mental Illness: Obstacles, Programs, and Best Practices. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 27(1), 58. https://doi.org/10.1089/jchc.19.04.0032
  3. Ilgen, M. A., Hu, K. U., Moos, R. H., & McKellar, J. (2008). Continuing care after inpatient psychiatric treatment for patients with psychiatric and substance use disorders. Psychiatric Services, 59(9), 982–988. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2008.59.9.982
  4. McKay, J. R. (2021). Impact of Continuing Care on Recovery From Substance Use Disorder. Alcohol Research : Current Reviews, 41(1), 01. https://doi.org/10.35946/arcr.v41.1.01
  5. Ojo, S., Okoye, T. O., Olaniyi, S. A., Ofochukwu, V. C., Obi, M. O., Nwokolo, A. S., Okeke-Moffatt, C., Iyun, O. B., Idemudia, E. A., Obodo, O. R., Mokwenye, V. C., & Okobi, O. E. (2024). Ensuring Continuity of Care: Effective Strategies for the Post-hospitalization Transition of Psychiatric Patients in a Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic. Cureus, 16(1), e52263. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.52263
  6. Passetti, L. L., Godley, M. D., & Kaminer, Y. (2016). Continuing care for adolescents in treatment for substance use disorders. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 25(4), 669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2016.06.003
  7. Parker, G., Johnston, P., & Hayward, L. (1988). Parental ‘expressed emotion’ as a predictor of schizophrenic relapse. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45(9), 806–813. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800330030003
  8. Zambrowicz, R., Stewart, J. G., Cosby, E., Esposito, E. C., Pridgen, B., & Auerbach, R. P. (2019). Inpatient Psychiatric Care Outcomes for Adolescents: A Test of Clinical and Psychosocial Moderators. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 4(4), 357. https://doi.org/10.1080/23794925.2019.1685419
  9. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). How to help children and teens manage their stress. https://www.apa.org/topics/children/stress
  10. Tan, L., & Martin, G. (2015). Taming the adolescent mind: A randomised controlled trial examining clinical efficacy of an adolescent mindfulness-based group programme. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 20(1), 49-55. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12057

 

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