Back-to-School Support & Teen Mental Health Treatment: Practical Tips for Parents

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a noticeable increase in children missing multiple days of school. When children miss school for emotional reasons, this is called emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) [1]. This can create stressful situations for families, which is why teen mental health treatment programs offer support, so you don’t have to manage it alone. Your teens can be supported with skills and treatment to manage school-related stressors and move forward with their education.

For teens struggling with emotionally based school avoidance, high levels of stress, mental health problems, and depression related to going back to school, a teen intensive outpatient program (IOP) can offer collaborative, structured support that includes peer groups, skills groups, coordination with schools, and family participation.

Common Adolescent Mental Health Issues

Teens face a plethora of stressors as they prepare to go back to school. While growing through developmental stages, teens manage classwork, homework, extracurricular activities, and a complex social environment. This is all happening while their brains, and their senses of self, are still developing.

Teens today also have little reprieve from the constant stimulation of media. Constant media stimulation exposes teens to stressors such as the presidential election in the United States. A wave of studies published after the 2016 and 2020 elections found increases in election-related stress and anxiety [2].  

Teens in treatment report intense awareness and concern about the U.S. political landscape and express their fears for the future. Teens who experience high levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation report in treatment that their symptoms are due to “it all stacking up” and “it becoming overwhelming”. Our trained mental health professionals are here to support teens in managing complex stress and developing effective coping skills to carry forward in their lives.

Mental Health Signs Parents Should Watch For 

Mental health symptoms are manageable when there is early intervention and support from trusted professionals. Over time, shifts in behavior, energy, attitude, and personality can be normal developmental changes for teens, like the desire for more privacy and wanting to share fewer details about their lives. However, there are sudden changes in typical behavior you can watch out for to be aware of your teen’s mental health.  

Once you know the signs, you can look at treatment options for how to support your teen.   

• Changes in mood and behavior  
• Changes in communication/reduction in communication   
• Academic performance decline   
• School avoidance, including emotionally based school avoidance   
• Social withdrawal  
• Sleep pattern disruptions  
• Sudden changes in eating habits  
• Increased irritability or emotional volatility

Related: Teen Therapist: 10 Things Parents Should Know About Teen Mental Health

Practical Tips for Parents

Navigating the challenges of supporting teenagers through mental health concerns requires patience, understanding, and practical strategies. These simple tips can help you support your teen’s emotional well-being while also maintaining your own.

Related: Parenting Tips: 7 Ways to Help Teens Succeed in High School

Daily Support Strategies 

Learning effective communication techniques like structured non-violent communication can transform the interactions you have with your teen. As you develop skills to recognize and validate their feelings, you’ll be better equipped to help them establish healthy routines that support their well-being.

Understanding how to appropriately monitor screen time and social media usage allows you to reduce the anxiety your teen may experience from online content. Modeling and encouraging physical health practices can demonstrate and instill the importance of overall wellness.

Throughout these approaches, you’ll learn to create and maintain consistent expectations and boundaries that provide the structure your teen needs while respecting their growing independence.

The 5 Cs of Supporting Your Teen’s Mental Health 

When helping your teen navigate emotional challenges, implementing these five core principles can make a big difference in your effectiveness and strengthen your relationship:

• Clarity: Understand your own boundaries and expectations, express them in simple and direct terms, and avoid mixed messages or vague statements. 
• Communication: Practice active listening without judgment, create safe spaces for honest dialogue, use “I” statements to express concern, and validate feelings while addressing behaviors. 
• Consistency: Build trust through reliable responses to situations, follow through on commitments, maintain boundaries consistently, and have regular check-ins and conversations. 
• Containment: Create emotional safety by staying calm during difficult moments, setting appropriate boundaries, and holding space for difficult emotions. 
• Consequences: Support growth by focusing on learning rather than punishment, ensure consequences are logical and related to the behavior, prioritize responsibility and accountability, and maintain connection through difficult moments and conversations. 

Self-Care for Parents 

One important self-preservation strategy for you as a parent is managing personal stress, including taking some stressors off your shoulders and practicing consistent self-care. It’s important to seek any support, mental health services, or resources that may be needed – and understand your personal limitations.

Maintaining patience for your teens and practicing empathy, including self-compassion will be key on your journey. While taking care of your teen’s emotional well-being it’s vital to not only lead by example but to take care of yourself so you have the bandwidth to support your teen effectively.

Related: Why Self Care is Essential for Mental Health

Preparing for Back-to-School Mental Health Support 

You can help support your teen by scheduling mental health check-ups, which can take the form of appointments with your trusted mental health professionals. You can also establish healthy routines by practicing structured communication skills with your teens.

At Clear, we teach and practice communication skills with teens and include parents. It is also important to create support plans, which can consist of warning signs for when your teen needs support, who your teen can reach out to, and skills they can implement to manage their experience effectively.  

Setting realistic expectations is an effective way to provide a sense of security for teens. When teens know what is expected, they are less likely to imagine the worst-case scenario and they feel safer when predictability and consistency are established at home.

Collaboration with School Resources

Our staff communicates with school counselors and understands school mental health support systems. We develop individualized support strategies with schools and parents. Through weekly check-ins and ongoing communication, we maintain open communication channels and intentionally include families throughout treatment.  

Teen Mental Health Treatment Options 

At our intensive outpatient program (IOP) level of care, we engage families in multi-family therapy groups, monthly family sessions, and weekly family updates. Our approach ensures your teen, and the entire family, benefit from a supportive community alongside our licensed and credentialed experts. Our mission at Clear Behavioral Health is simple: to help those struggling with mental health live healthy, purposeful lives. We’re proud to provide highly individualized and in-network treatment in Los Angeles, CA.

• Structured treatment approach: IOP treatment consists of 3 hours of treatment, 3 days per week, typically for 3 months. Treatments include group and family sessions, individual therapy and counseling sessions, and experiential groups including yoga, sound bath, meditation, and breath work. 
• Balancing mental health support with school and daily life: Our team supports clients with structure and skills to manage various areas of their lives. We coordinate with school staff and families to maintain consistent expectations and plans for teens to smoothly transition through the program and graduate from treatment.  

Benefits of IOP for Teens 

• Maintaining academic continuity with support, skills, and coordination with schools and families.  
• Peer support and group dynamics. 
• Professional, therapeutic intervention by trained and licensed professionals. 
• Family involvement opportunities: family sessions, multifamily groups, parent groups, weekly updates, and ongoing coordination. 

Components of Teen IOP 

• Group therapy sessions 
• Individual counseling  
• Skill-building workshops, including evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) skills for building more effective thought patterns and actions, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and mindfulness  
• Mental health education to increase your teen’s knowledge and insight so they can take action to improve their mental health.

In the case of teens experiencing back-to-school anxiety, therapists educate teens about how to cope with and reduce their anxiety using DBT mindfulness skills. They also incorporate CBT skills to identify their thoughts, emotions, and helpful actions they can take. Teens come to identify what is in their control and what is outside of their control. These approaches have been shown to reduce anxiety and increase helpful coping skills.  

Understanding Group Therapy for Teens 

The experiences of receiving validating peer support and discovering shared experiences with peers are an integral part of treatment and a teen’s development. Teens report group therapy is one of the most meaningful aspects of treatment to them. Having emotionally reparative experiences in groups helps teens heal interpersonal wounds and move forward with positive experiences.

Often, teens have anxious thoughts that they do not share due to fear of judgment. In groups, teens are encouraged to share, which promotes more effective communication, self-expression, and the ability to ask for support when help is needed.  

Groups are facilitated by trained mental health professionals, so standards of respect, kindness, and confidentiality are clearly explained and upheld.  

Advantages of Group Therapy 

In group therapy, experiences are normalized, which encourages more self-acceptance and increased openness to sharing and effective communication. Teens learn invaluable lessons from each other and they grow by actively supporting one another. Strong therapeutic alliances are built in group therapy, which correlates to successful treatment outcomes [3].

Related: Benefits of Teen Group Therapy 

Navigating Treatment Decisions

In order to determine if mental health treatment would be beneficial, we provide professional mental health evaluations. Our trained and credentialed mental health professionals are well-equipped with an understanding of different treatment approaches for a wide variety of mental health conditions.  

Family Involvement 

We offer options for family involvement without overwhelming parents and caregivers. Including our family therapy sessions and multifamily therapy groups in which staff co-create with families a safe, supportive, home-like environment. 

When families partake in shared experiences, the stigma around mental health is reduced and support from peers can be gained. Our staff leads with compassionate, non-judgmental active listening techniques and supports families in learning and practicing active listening, non-violent communication, and effective interpersonal skills.

Related: Should I Engage With Parent Counseling If My Teenager Is In Treatment?

Clear Behavioral Health is Here for You 

While back-to-school pressures and life’s many stressors can significantly impact teens’ mental health, early intervention and treatment are key to managing these challenges effectively. Our IOP program offers personalized care that helps teens develop both self-awareness and practical skills to navigate school stressors and media exposure.

Mental health is an ongoing journey—teens will learn various coping strategies, though their application may vary and evolve over time. During challenging periods, parents can provide vital support by maintaining a non-judgmental presence, upholding healthy routines, and practicing the communication techniques learned throughout the IOP experience.

Natural fluctuations in mental health are expected. What truly matters is how we help teens return to their routines and develop resilience against life’s many stressors. Remember that this process isn’t meant to be faced alone—professional guidance combined with strong family support creates the foundation necessary for teens to achieve and maintain positive mental health.

If your teen is struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, or another mental health disorder, reach out to Clear Behavioral Health today to learn more about our teen mental health care. We offer outpatient teen programs throughout Los Angeles, CA, including Van Nuys, Santa Clarita, El Segundo, and more. We’d love to help support you and your teen on this mental health journey.  

References:

1. McDonald B, Michelson D, Lester KJ. Intervention for school anxiety and absenteeism in children (ISAAC): Co-designing a brief parent-focused intervention for emotionally-based school avoidance. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2024;29(3):850-866. doi:10.1177/13591045231222648. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13591045231222648 
2. Fraser T, Panagopoulos C, Smith K. Election-Related Post-Traumatic Stress: Evidence from the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Politics and the Life Sciences. 2023;42(2):179-204. doi:10.1017/pls.2023.8. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-the-life-sciences/article/elections-and-post-traumatic-stress-evidence-from-the-2020-us-presidential-election/F4CF5D527A755208361B16138A099A4E 
3. Alldredge, C. T., Burlingame, G. M., Yang, C., & Rosendahl, J. (2021). Alliance in group therapy: A meta-analysis. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 25(1), 13–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000135. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-36470-002