Preparing Young Adults for Life After Treatment
Taking the first step toward mental health treatment can feel overwhelming and uncertain for young adults. Questions like “Will this work?” or “What will my life look like after this?” can often arise. However, while treatment and healing may seem daunting, the potential benefits are life-changing.
From building resilience and gaining self-awareness to discovering new ways to cope with challenges, mental health treatment can open doors to a healthier, more fulfilling future. For many young adults, it’s not just about overcoming struggles; it’s about unlocking their full potential.
BasePoint BreakThrough offers a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) and an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for young adults (ages 18 to 35) in the Dallas, Texas, area. We provide in-person and virtual services, treating mental health disorders and dual diagnoses involving substance misuse. Using an empowerment curriculum to break through mental health barriers, our clinicians, like Tamika Terry, an LPC associate supervised by Melissa Harrison, LPC-S, help young people address the challenges of pursuing a career after treatment.
Many of Terry’s clients feel stuck, she says. “Often, they feel ashamed for being in therapy. They think everyone out there is fine and they are here, so there must be something wrong with them. So I ask them, ‘How many people do you know who struggle with substance misuse, depression, or anxiety?’ And, of course, they all know someone. It’s always worth reminding them that everyone is going through something.”
Don’t Put Mental Health On the Back Burner
At BasePoint BreakThrough, clients learn to recognize faulty thinking and reframe it, building coping skills and tools that help them confront challenges at home and at work. Terry sees clients who are still working, while others quit jobs to participate in a PHP or IOP at BasePoint BreakThrough; however, they then have to find another job after completing treatment.
“Many have the misguided notion that they can’t take time away to work on their mental health,” Terry says. “The main thing I try to drive home to them is that if you don’t address the root cause of your issues and instead think, ‘I have to go to work and do my job,’ it will actually compromise your job. I had a client who did exactly that and then had a breakdown at work. Mental health and substance use issues need to be worked on before you can thrive in a job.”
Terry encounters many clients who labor under the misconception that mental health issues can be on the back burner when, in reality, those issues are connected to all other things in their lives. In treatment, she brainstorms with clients to develop a good strategy.
“Especially younger clients find it difficult to come up with alternative plans. At BreakThrough, we strategize and brainstorm. I tell them, ‘That is a great plan, but can we also think about plans B and C? While you are working on your mental health, are there career alternatives you haven’t thought of?’ I help them understand that there are alternatives. Sometimes they think there’s only one path, but that is rarely the case.”
Mental Health at Work
Many people feel uncomfortable being open about mental health issues in the workplace, worried that sharing their struggles could affect how coworkers or managers see them. This discomfort creates unhelpful barriers, leading employees to hide symptoms rather than address them early, which often makes recovery harder and prolongs unnecessary suffering.
“One BreakThrough client who went back to work just told everybody, ‘I had some health challenges and had to take care of myself during that time.’ She realized her mental health is part of her overall well-being and just didn’t get specific about it,” Terry remembers. She talks with clients about self-image and their value systems and they can take aspects of that to the job market. “Recently, we worked on what we call the ‘coping ahead skill.’ Clients break down different components of a situation. We tend to get into these situations where we make the same mistake over and over again. Often, we don’t know how to get out of that and make better choices. How can we make better choices?”
Terry asks clients to visualize particular challenges. “I ask, ‘What coping skills would make sense to you at that moment? Let’s think of different ways we can handle that and then run through actual scenarios.’ They often mention something that happened on the job or at school. So, a lot of the things we talk about in therapy will help them in their jobs.” Another recent client was struggling with social anxiety. “When she first came to BreakThrough, she told me, ‘I quit every job I had because it was hard for me to deal with people.’ But after attending the program, she got a job and kept showing up. She learned how to reframe her thoughts. She said, ‘I don’t start to spiral when something crazy happens at work. I know how to handle myself because I have learned coping skills. If there is a confrontation, I now know how to manage my emotions and have greater awareness.’ All of these skills help in the workplace.”
Terry feels that BasePoint BreakThrough clients are actually better equipped than other kids who just go through college. “They are getting things in therapy that I wish I had known when I was in college. I had no idea how much feelings of shame and inadequacy can impede somebody. Clients who graduate from the program are much better equipped mentally than most other twenty-year-olds.”
The BasePoint BreakThrough Difference
BasePoint BreakThrough provides first-rate care using evidence-based medical and clinical models, analyzing client outcomes and working with young adults and their families to guide treatment. Recognizing the challenges our relentlessly high-speed society, continuous online interaction, and social media pressure pose, we acknowledge it can be challenging for young adults to remain focused on what matters and independent of peer pressure.
The BasePoint BreakThrough difference entails allowing every client to speak out, empowering them to pursue lasting transformation, arming them with resilience-improving techniques, and offering a safe space where they can work on their mental health challenges.
A confidential assessment with one of our licensed clinicians allows us to recommend the appropriate level of care for young adults struggling with mental health disorders. Call (972) 357-1749 or complete our inquiry form to schedule a no-obligation, same-day assessment.