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 […]
Sofia
Sofia was in the 2nd grade when she came to WYS. She was very guarded and shy, she had attachment issues and it was a bit of a challenge to coax her to participate in counseling services. We utilized play therapy with Sofia. As we played games and colored some of her favorite Disney Princesses, […]
Ms. Jones
5th grade Ms. Jones was the 5 th grade teacher that no kid wanted to get. She was described as cold, mean, “old-school”, and had a reputation among the staff at the school for being a naysayer of positive ideas. Her colleagues spent a great deal of time trying to increase her skills and compassion […]
Natalie
Natalie came to Western Youth Services because she was starting to get into trouble at home and at school for losing her temper and shouting at her family and friends. She wanted help but wasn’t sure what that meant. She explained that she felt a deep sadness most days and was confused about her sexual […]
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 She struggled with feeling depressed on a daily basis, became increasingly withdrawn and was receiving poor grades.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 […]
Evan
When Evan came to WYS he was having suicidal thoughts, auditory hallucinations and social anxiety. He was also struggling with failure to communicate feelings, and problems eating and sleeping regularly — all of which were greatly impacting his grades at school. Evan was demonstrating a high degree of hopelessness, non-compliance with his medication, and resistance […]
Cora
When seven year old Cora came to WYS, her mother had initially noticed that her daughter seemed to be shutting down — having unexplained emotional outbursts and developing a new fear of being separated from her mother. At the beginning of treatment, the magnitude of the issues they were facing were immediately discovered when Cora […]