Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment for Children and Adolescents

Children and adolescents can suffer from a wide variety of emotional and behavioral disorders and can experience these disorders at different levels of severity. When a child or adolescent is experiencing a psychiatric or emotional disorder that prevents them from functioning in school, home or the community, they may benefit from our clinically-based inpatient psychiatric program.

Download the inpatient handbooks below:

2019 PPI Child Inpatient Handbook

2019 PPI Adolescent Inpatient Handbook

 

Who this program treats

Common psychiatric or emotional disorders seen in children and adolescents include anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), learning disorders and conduct disorders.

It’s especially important that the family be involved in any child’s treatment program, so staff members work closely with family members to facilitate treatment. During family therapy sessions, issues are discussed and strategies put in place on how to cope and interact better at home.

Services this program offers

The focus of treatment in the Child & Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatric Program involves providing a safe, hopeful, nurturing environment for children and adolescents, along with expert psychiatric care. The goal of the program is for each child to return successfully to his or her home, school and community.

Our 16-bed inpatient unit treats children and adolescents from age 4 to 18. The unit is locked and completely separate from the adult units. In addition, sleeping areas, group therapies and school sessions are segregated by age. Average length of stay is 7 – 10 days but can be shorter or longer depending on the need.

The inpatient unit is designed to stabilize patients during an acute crisis (such as an inability to keep themselves safe and/or to think clearly and coherently). Our approach involves multi-disciplinary evaluation and treatment of each child. Our team performs a comprehensive assessment that reviews functioning and determines possible reasons for the crisis. An appropriate treatment plan for the child and family may include individual, group, and family therapy, as well as medication treatment.

Each child and adolescent on the unit participates in a school program that is designed to meet his or her academic needs. Children are taught five days a week (with the exception of holidays and no school days) by a certified teacher and teacher’s aide.

Getting started

For information about the Child/Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatric Program, please call the Admissions Department at (717) 782-6493 or (866) 746-2496 any time of the day or night.

Directions to Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute