Philadelphia’s Leading Anxiety Hospital

Learn about anxiety treatment at Belmont Behavioral Health System’s hospital in Philadelphia, PA

Anxiety disorders are conditions that produce unbearable emotions such as extreme nervousness, anxiety, and fear. Some anxiety disorders, which include phobias, are marked by an intense fear of a person, place, or a thing, while others can produce anxiety that cannot be pinpointed to a specific trigger. Anxiety disorders of all kinds have the power to negatively impact the lives of those who struggle with them, preventing them from living happy, healthy lives.

At Belmont Behavioral Health System, an anxiety treatment center in Philadelphia, we provide each individual patient with our experience and commitment so that they can obtain the most effective anxiety disorder treatment available. We recognize how impactful anxiety disorders can be which is why we supply high quality care to each patient so they can begin recovering.

Helping a loved one get treatment for anxiety

When someone that you love is struggling with an anxiety disorder, it is easy to feel helpless. Despite feeling this way, there are many things that you can be doing to support your loved one, including the following:

• Look into treatment options for your loved one. Find out what facilities provide the care your loved one needs, and weigh your options to find the perfect fit for him or her.
• Educate yourself on all things anxiety disorders. Developing an insight into this type of disorder can help you understand what your loved one is experiencing in a way that allows you to be effectively supportive to him or her.
• Communicate with your loved one. Express your concerns, but in a manner that is non-threatening. Doing so will not only help you make your point clear, but will also help your loved one feel comfortable confiding in you.
• Offer your help to your loved one if he or she does accept treatment. This can include helping ensure that bills are paid, insurance is set up, transportation is provided to and from appointments, and so on. Do everything that you can to help make this process easier for your loved one.
• Remember to take care of yourself. It is impossible to properly care for someone unless you have taken care of yourself first. Practice good self-care by eating well, getting enough rest, and exercising healthy boundaries.

Why consider treatment for anxiety at Belmont Behavioral Health System in Philadelphia, PA

If anxiety disorders continue on without treatment, a bevy of horrible consequences can develop. An individual who struggles with anxiety can find it challenging (if not impossible) to uphold a quality work performance, which can lend itself to unemployment and financial strife – both of which can exacerbate anxiety. Anxiety disorders can stop an individual from engaging with others, causing him or her to fail to have a social life. A lack of support from others can be devastating to an individual, and can cause him or her to become more likely to begin abusing substances and suffering from other mental health conditions. Thankfully, with the appropriate care, individuals who battle anxiety disorders can learn how to cope with their symptoms and begin living lives that promote health, happiness, and peace.

Types of anxiety treatment offered at Belmont Behavioral Health System in Philadelphia, PA

When looking for anxiety treatment, you or your loved one may have been searching broadly for “anxiety treatment centers near me?” In Philadelphia, there is one clear choice. Belmont Behavioral Health System is a psychiatric treatment center that provides care for children, adolescents, adults, and geriatric patients who are struggling with psychiatric issues, substance use, and co-occurring mental health problems. Each year, we care for approximately 3500 individuals in our inpatient treatment center alone.

Founded in 1937 as a 60-bed psychiatric hospital, we have grown to exceed the dreams of our founders, and we pride ourselves on being established members of our community in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our campus is situated on 13 acres of land in a park-like setting that provides a serene environment in which to help individuals overcome mental health difficulties.

Treatment at Belmont Behavioral Health System, a hospital for anxiety treatment in Philadelphia, is based on a foundation of individualized care. We recognize that each person who comes to heal with us brings a unique set of strengths, needs, and treatment goals. We are committed to developing care plans that are tailored for each person who struggles with anxiety. At our hospital, no two treatment plans are the same, and our treatment is so successful that 92% of inpatients are discharged home, instead of to other levels of care, after treatment has ended.

Our treatment center offers a wide range of interventions across various levels of care. These interventions include the following:

Medically-monitored detoxification: We recognize that individuals with psychiatric disorders may also struggle with substance abuse issues that can interfere with their ability to manage the symptoms of anxiety. As a result, we provide detoxification services at our treatment center that allow individuals to safely withdraw from substances of abuse under the watchful eye of our physicians and nursing team. While we are unable to provide detox services for individuals using methadone or Suboxone, we are able to maintain individuals who are already taking these medications.

Medication management: Many individuals struggling with mental health disorders, including anxiety, benefit from including medications in their treatment regimen. At our hospital for anxiety, every inpatient meets with a member of our medical team for an initial medication evaluation and ongoing daily medication monitoring.

Individual therapy: Patients can make substantial progress in their treatment anxiety for when they have a regular opportunity to process emotions, triumphs, and setbacks within the safety of a one-on-one therapeutic relationship. To support this progress, we provide regular individual therapy and counseling sessions for every individual at our treatment center. Frequency of sessions varies based on the patient’s age, unit, and need, as determined by collaboration between the patient and his or her treatment team. Patients meet with social services providers, case managers, rehab service providers, pastoral counselors, and other trainees and clinicians as recommended by the treatment team. Children and adolescents have daily individual therapy with members of their treatment team.

Group therapy: In addition to individual therapy, groups form the backbone of treatment for anxiety at our treatment center. Led by members of our social services/case management, rehab, and nursing teams, groups are offered daily and provide a chance for patients to learn and practice coping skills while supporting and being supported by their peers. Our groups, provided at least twice daily, are focused on recovery and resilience and operate in modalities such as music therapy, leisure, art therapy, peer support, occupational therapy, talk therapy, psychoeducation, and creative expression. Groups cover a wide range of topics, some of which include:

• 12 Steps
• Cognitive-behavioral skills and interventions
• Stages of Change
• Medication education
• Substance abuse
• Trauma focused interventions
• Aftercare
• Self-care
• ADLs (Activities of Daily Living)
• Spirituality
• Dialectical behavioral therapy skills
• Meditation and mindfulness
• Managing psychosis/illness management
• Problem-solving and decision-making
• Building strengths and resilience
• Self-esteem
• Values and goals
• Healthy boundaries
• AM/PM Community Meeting
• Wellness and Recovery Action Planning
• Behavioral activation (ceramics, ice cream social, exercise/yoga, art, music, activities/games, team building/challenge course, etc.)
• AA/NA support groups
• Peer-run groups (motivational speaker series & Face to Face Friday)

In addition to these groups, patients are invited to attend monthly alumni support meetings that give them an opportunity to speak with alumni from our hospital and explore methods for achieving long-term success in treatment.

Family therapy: Our more than 80 years of experience treating mental illnesses like anxiety has shown us that one person’s mental illness often affects his or her entire family. In addition, family support can sometimes make the difference between relapse and long-term success. As a result, we emphasize family involvement and therapy throughout a patient’s stay at our treatment center. Our treatment team works with parents, grandparents, and other caregivers in order to develop the most complete treatment solutions that will best enable our patients to thrive after treatment. Our case managers meet with family members, schools, community agencies, and other organizations to develop coordinated discharge plans. On our child and adolescent units, family sessions can also include development and utilization of crisis and safety planning, development and utilization of coping and communications skills, exploration of the family dynamic, and ways to improve interpersonal skills within that dynamic.

Experiential therapy: Individual and group therapy are of enormous benefit, and we have found that our patients also benefit from involving more of their bodies and minds in their recovery process. Experiential therapies use embodiment and sensory experiences to deepen individuals’ engagement in treatment, increase empowerment, and promote a sense of safety. Some of these interventions include:

• Art therapy
• Music therapy
• Role playing
• Guided imagery

Education: For children and adolescents at our hospital, we recognize the importance of ensuring continuity in their education so that they are not forced to choose between mental health care and academic success. Children and adolescents attend two hours of schooling per day, receiving instruction that is specially tailored around their Individual Education Plans (IEPs). The social worker works closely with the child or adolescent and the Pennsylvania Child and Adolescent Service Program (CASSP) throughout the patient’s length of stay to ensure all services are planned collaboratively with the patient, his or her family, and all agencies involved in the child or adolescent’s life.

Other interventions: As a leading provider of mental health care in Pennsylvania, we are equipped to offer a number of other interventions to those at our anxiety treatment center. Some of these include:

• Nutrition consultation: All individuals in our care have access to our staff dietician as needed.
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT):Individuals who are seeking alternatives to medication, or those for whom medications are not working, can elect to receive ECT for symptoms including depression, psychosis, catatonia, and mania. This form of treatment is quite safe and completely voluntary. Treatment generally involves a series of treatments two or three times a week for six to twelve treatments. In addition, maintenance treatments are often provided on an outpatient basis for the prevention of symptom relapse. Services are provided by certified ECT physicians, one of whom is our anxiety treatment center’s Medical Director. The ECT physicians oversee ECT-trained nursing staff and an external group of certified registered nurse anesthetists.
• Internal medicine: We provide internal medicine services to all of our patients. Our admissions process includes a physical exam, and consultation with an internal medicine physician is available throughout the course of a hospital stay.
• Motivational speakers: We recognize that it can be superbly helpful to hear from other individuals who have learned to manage mental illness, and we bring in volunteer speakers, many of whom are trained as certified peer specialists and who have lived experience with mental illness and addiction, to offer personal insights into the challenges and successes of the recovery journey.
• Sensory programming (STAR Program):Individuals’ bodies can be powerful allies in the pursuit of improved mental health, so our STAR program (Sensory Tool Awareness and Routines) is used to foster an increased sense of safety, self-awareness, and control over patients’ lives by teaching tools which help to balance and regulate their nervous systems.
• Autism services: Our on-staff behavior specialist is certified in autism studies and provides consultation on behavioral interventions for individuals with autism and families of those individuals.
• Welcoming committee/Active treatment: As a part of our commitment to individually tailored treatment, we recognize that some individuals can benefit from interventions outside of groups, and we have developed resources that further allow patients to take treatment into their own hands. Within this intervention, we give patients a brief assessment and self-help materials to allow them to continue their growth outside of groups. We are also developing materials for individuals whose dominant language is not English.

Because recovery from anxiety is a journey, we recognize that inpatient care is only the beginning for many individuals. As such, our treatment teams, and especially our case workers, work with schools, community agencies, and other organizations to develop coordinated and integrated treatment and aftercare plans. We begin planning for discharge from day one of treatment so that our patients leave our hospital for anxiety in Philadelphia into the welcoming arms of community-based support and external resources, maximizing patients’ ability to continue the progress they made in treatment.

Belmont Behavioral Health System is your choice for anxiety treatment when you or your loved one asks the question: what is the best anxiety treatment center near me?