Embark Behavioral Health

A Guide For Intensive Outpatient Program Depression Treatment

A therapist and teen girl discussing an intensive outpatient program depression treatment plan.

Key Highlights What Is an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for Depression? An IOP offers a step up from traditional outpatient therapy, providing multiple sessions per week while allowing participants to continue their daily responsibilities. IOPs are designed for teens who need more support than weekly therapy but don’t require 24/7 supervision. These programs typically include:…

Smiling Depression: How Happy Faces Can Mask Depression

By Embark Behavioral Health

Teen who struggles with smiling depression seems happy even though she's not.

Find out what smiling depression is, its symptoms, how happiness can mask depression, the suicide risk, and how parents can help.

Treatment-Resistant Depression: What It Is and How To Address It 

By Embark Behavioral Health

While symptoms of depression can typically be managed with therapy, medication, or both, for some teens and young adults, it’s not always that easy. If their symptoms don’t improve over time, they may have treatment-resistant depression.  As Dr. Harry Gill, medical director of the Embark Behavioral Health outpatient clinic in Cabin John, Maryland, defines it,…

Ask a Therapist: Does Going to School Cause Depression or Make It Worse?

By Embark Behavioral Health

While working on an assignment teen wonders if school causes depression.

Does school cause depression? Learn how school pressures can affect mental health and what you can do to help address teen depression.

What Parents Need To Know When Their Adolescent Has Depression

By Embark Behavioral Health

Mother parents her adolescent daughter who has depression.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in 2019, 15.7% of adolescents ages 12-17 experienced at least one major depressive episode. That’s no small number, especially when you consider that depression can have a major impact on a teen’s ability to function and thrive. Teen mental health has come into even sharper focus recently with the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a U.S. surgeon general…

The Connection Between Depression and a Messy Room

By Embark Behavioral Health

Kids who struggle with depression clean their messy room

Lots of kids have messy rooms. They’re typically too busy focusing on other activities to be bothered to tidy up very often. But disorganization and a messy room can be a sign of depression, and clutter can also cause stress and anxiety in teens. It can start in small ways. Usually, people have their routines,…

Understanding Depression and Mood Disorders in Teens

By Embark Behavioral Health

Mood disorders can differ from teen to teen—your daughter’s individual personality and mood disorder type play a role in how the symptoms show themselves.