Child and Adolescent Treatment Programs

Mood, Anxiety and Trauma Disorder Treatment for Children and Teens (Ages 12-17)*

When your child is struggling with a mood and anxiety disorder, their pain is your pain. This experience can be distressing, isolating and – at times – hopeless. Our goal is to guide you and your child on a path to long-lasting change, healing and life-changing recovery.

Female friends

Providing Hope for a Brighter Tomorrow

As the nation’s foremost center for mood and anxiety disorders, our expert and multidisciplinary care teams guide our patients and their families back onto a path in which life is once again filled with light and hope.  

Parental satisfaction statistics

Levels of Care to Meet Your Child’s Needs

Through our assessment process, a licensed, Master’s-level clinician will determine the appropriate level of care for your child. As your primary point of contact throughout intake process, your assessment clinician can address any of your questions or concerns along the way. 

Throughout treatment, your child will be able to seamlessly transition to a lower level of care or step up to a higher level of care: 

  • Residential – For patients who require 24-hour support but do not need intensive medical support and stabilization
  • Partial Hospitalization (PHP) – For patients who require the structure of Residential treatment, with opportunities to practice skills during evenings at home or nearby apartments
  • On-site Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) – For patients who are ready to practice recovery skills in a real-world context: a flexible program that allows patients to attend school or work during the day and return home in the evenings
  • Virtual IOP – Pathlight At Home - a flexible program offering the same proven care and outcomes as our on-site IOP for patients who have limited access to treatment, have time constraints or are reluctant to receive in-person treatment

Locations for Child & Adolescent Treatment

A Highly Skilled, Compassionate Care Team

Your child will be surrounded by a team of renowned experts who specialize in treating children and adolescents with mental health conditions. Throughout treatment, the same team will work closely together to collaborate on all aspects of your child’s care:

  • Individual Therapist
  • Family Therapist
  • Physician
  • Psychiatrist
  • Education Specialist

*If your child needs a dietitian, we will provide one to help them with meal planning, nutritional counseling and more.

Evidence-Based Treatment Proven to be Most Effective for Children and Teens

Based on your loved one’s unique needs, our treatment team will develop a customized, evidence-based treatment plan informed by:

Your child will participate in individual and group therapy sessions in a safe, nurturing environment where they can connect with others in similar situations and practice newly learned skills.

A Comfortable Space for Healing

Environment is an important aspect of recovery, particularly for children and teens. Your child will be placed within a treatment group – or “village” – with youth of similar ages and diagnoses. Our child and adolescent units are designed with young patients in mind, with home-like furnishings and colors and artwork rooted in mindfulness, awareness and connection.

Photo of two teens in a child and adolescent treatment center
Classroom setting in child and adolescent treatment center

Schooling During Treatment

Missing school can be a source of anxiety, especially when a student is absent from class because they are in treatment. At Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center, patients and their families don’t have to choose between staying in school or getting treatment for mood, anxiety and trauma-related disorders.

We understand the importance of continuing education while in treatment, and work with our patients to prepare them for academic success after treatment.  

  • Education Specialists support patients with their daily schoolwork – helping ensure a sense of normalcy – and support them as they transition back to school
  • Education Specialists serve as your child’s advocates: helping them understand there is a plan for continued education, and allowing them to feel comfortable putting recovery first
  • Education Specialists ensure any material that schools send is taught in an appropriate way: promoting mental wellness by lessening the anxiety of missed assignments
  • All therapists work with patients to continue to develop the skills needed to function well at school

Rachel Doyle, Education Specialist at Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center, Seattle, shares how she uses humor to promote mental wellness and academic success with her students.

Educational Support

Family Involvement is Critical for Recovery

A hallmark component of our treatment approach for children and adolescents is our innovative family programming, designed to help parents become agents of change for their loved ones and sustain recovery into the future. 

Family Support Services

  • Family therapy sessions
  • Family support groups Family education groups/webinars
  • We host our Virtual Family & Friends Education Series for families, caregivers and loved ones to gain education, resources and support on mental health conditions
  • Learn about mood and anxiety disorders, and how they impact developing minds in children and teens
  • Gain a better understanding of your loved one’s disordered behaviors and thoughts
  • Practice skills to navigate disordered behaviors within a familial structure
  • Connect with other families who are going through similar experiences

Ongoing Support

To support families in fostering sustainable recoveries following discharge, and provide ongoing support after treatment, our Alumni & Family Liaison team works diligently with patients and their families. 

Family Support

We came home with the confidence that we can do this.

Parent of former Patient