Maria
All 15-year-old Maria knew was that she felt depressed and unmotivated. Hoping to bury her hurt, she retreated, withdrawing from activities with family and friends – or lashing out verbally in a struggle to communicate her seemingly inarticulate feelings. Her poor performance academically only added to her challenges. And then her mother found WYS through word […]
Angie
At a time of life when most of her peers were looking forward to school dances or planning college, 15-year-old Angie was escaping a lifetime of abuse. Angie was removed from her mother’s care because of neglect and failure to protect her daughter. Angie toiled enormously. She wanted to give up. She couldn’t see past the […]
Pamela
By the time Pamela was 16 years old, she was running the streets and refusing to be home. Her mother had given up and stopped trying. With no means of transportation, she wouldn’t be able to get Pamela mental health services anyway. This was until she was able to secure Therapeutic Behavioral Services (TBS). Pamela […]
Jeremy
“You don’t look like you have mental issues.” Jeremy didn’t know how to respond. His friend was right. Jeremy looked like a typical, happy adolescent. He earned good grades, played sports and followed the rules. No one ever thought anything was wrong. That is until Jeremy made a serious suicide attempt. He just wanted to die […]
Maddison
Maddison came to WYS as an overwhelmed mom of three kids. Initially, she was seeking counseling for her 12-year-old son Brian who was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and autism. He was being bullied at school and started to run away from school to avoid facing his bullies. As her story started to unfold, the therapist […]
Cassandra
Cassandra’s 13 year-old daughter was referred to Western Youth Services for behavioral concerns. After visiting with her family, our Outreach and Engagement Specialist felt that all the members of her family could benefit from our services. Cassandra was separated from her husband and raising 5 children alone. She was living in poverty, had signs of […]
Amara
At 13 years old Amara was living in foster care, depressed and dealing with the complicated feelings that came from being separated from her family. She struggled with feeling depressed on a daily basis, became increasingly withdrawn and was receiving poor grades. She felt the family that she was living with weren’t taking the time […]
Carmen
Carmen was seeking mental health services due to her crippling anxiety, depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, and recurring panic attacks. Having suffered from gang-related trauma, at the time of her intake Carmen’s symptoms were so severe that they resulted in her frequently visiting the Emergency Room due to physical complaints. She’d not attended her high school […]