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OPMC offers group sessions to help teens deal with their anxieties

By Wesley LeBlanc wesley@opcfla.com
Posted 9/29/21

ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Medical Center is targeting teen-aged mental health with its new group therapy program.

The program is now live at the hospital, and it’s being led by Dr. Barbara …

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OPMC offers group sessions to help teens deal with their anxieties


Posted

ORANGE PARK – The Orange Park Medical Center is targeting teen-aged mental health with its new group therapy program.

The program is now live at the hospital, and it’s being led by Dr. Barbara Gracious. OPMC says it’s the only program of its kind in Clay County and it’s been developed specifically to give teens the tools they need to manage and resolve the anxieties and behavioral health experienced during this part of their lives.

“We’ve recognized for years that there’s been a huge lack of services for youth in Clay County and this program has been planned for the past several years and now, we’re finally able to get it off the ground,” Gracious said. “It was delayed due to COVID-19, but it finally opened on Aug. 30.”

Gracious said there are two on-site therapists that will spend three hours with a group of teenagers in a therapy session three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. She said the sessions will focus on cognitive-behavioral and dialectical behavioral therapy in addition to behavioral processing.

Those interested can call the referral number at (904) 639-8654. Therapy is like a doctor’s appointment – you can pay out of pocket or go through insurance.

“We’re targeting 13 through 17 years of age because that’s often when the most common symptoms for mood disorders and when psychotic disorders can begin,” Gracious said. “There’s a long list of issues teenagers deal with: peer conflicts, peer stresses, sexual orientation crisis, episodes of major depression, episodes of bipolar disorder, cutting behaviors...and while this isn’t designed for psychosis, we certainly will see kids where they could be starting disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, hallucinations or paranoia, suspicious withdrawals ... and more.”

Anxiety orders can arise from all kinds of things during the teenage years, too, Gracious said, such as social anxiety, generalized anxiety, general worries, obsessive-compulsive disorder, puberty and academics.

“Group therapy will help to address all of that,” Gracious said. “Teens respond really well to group therapy and it helps because they can support each other and learn from each other. That creates a faster rate of progress overall compared to individual therapy. They’re soaking up everything they hear, getting other perspectives, hearing other suggestions for problem-solving and it just creates a great environment for teens.”

Gracious said the group therapy mental health program isn’t necessarily a one-stop-shop either. She said it’s great for a teen to have in their toolbox alongside their standard therapy and she also said that just because a teenager finishes the program doesn’t mean they won’t come back. That’s OK, she said.