Crisis Stabilization

During difficult periods in one’s life, it can be easy to find oneself in a crisis. For some people, a crisis may be sudden, unpredictable, and intense. For others, there may be a slow build-up to their crisis. Regardless of the nature of your crisis, crisis stabilization can help you to get a handle on your situation, recover, and move forward.

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Crisis Assessment

It may be difficult to know if you are in a crisis. Depending on your medical team, a crisis may be evaluated in different ways. At our center, Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention, we utilize an in-depth set of assessment methods. These methods allow us to better understand what challenges you are currently facing and whether or not our center will be most effective for your needs. Our assessment methods include:

  • Family history
  • Thorough diagnostic test
  • Complete biopsychosocial assessment 
  • PHQ-9 test
  • GAD-7 test
  • Additional tests when necessary 

 

To ensure that we can serve those in need, our assessment checks to ensure that the level of care needed by our clients is the same level of care that would typically be provided at a psychiatric hospital.

Mental Health Crisis Statistics

In the United States, higher numbers of individuals are facing mental health crises. Some 40% of U.S. adults report experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 21% of U.S. adults experience some kind of psychiatric disorder and 5.6% of U.S. adults experience mental illness with severe symptoms. Serious mental illnesses are most common among women, adults aged 18 to 25, and multiracial or Native American adults.

As more U.S. Americans struggle with mental health, it is important to offer support and speak out about our struggles. Every person deserves appropriate, quality support. With treatment, recovery is possible.

What Makes Our Program Unique?

At Alter Mental Health San Diego, we believe everyone should have access to quality care. We utilize modern, trauma-informed care methodologies to ensure all of our clients have access to the best possible treatment. Located in San Diego, California, our crisis stabilization unit (CSU) is a short-term and safe environment. To ensure our clients have access to the individualized care they deserve, our CSU offers fewer than 16 beds.

Our 6-Step Crisis Stabilization Plan

After enrolling in our CSU, we work with our clients to establish a plan to help them out of a crisis. Each step is designed to 

  1. Define the problem: Our care team works with you to establish the problem or problems at the center of your crisis. Identifying the core of the issue is vital to all healing journeys and allows us to work with a solid foundation.
  2. Ensure safety: After we’ve established the core problem, we work with you to create a safety net. Recovery must be built upon a sturdy foundation, and our center can provide that. 
  3. Provide support: Once we have identified the problem and created a safe space for you, we can begin the treatment process. We understand that no person comes into our CSU for the same reason as another, so we provide a wide swath of treatment options that are designed to provide you with a flexible toolkit for recovery. 
  4. Examine alternatives: Recovery is never simple. Sometimes, the strategies we come up with may not be enough. At Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention, our experts help you to identify and prepare for the potential ways in which alternate forms of care and support can be accessed.
  5. Make a plan: As our clients prepare to exit the CSU, we spend time creating a customized plan for your future recovery. We work with you to solidify the strategies you’ve learned in our care and transfer them to your home life, ensuring you are fully prepared.
  6. Obtain commitment: Finally, we complete your crisis stabilization by obtaining your commitment. At this point, our clients are fully prepared to return to their normal environments.

Our Specialties

Support is at the core of our treatment programs. At Alter Mental Health San Diego Crisis facility, we prioritize holistic, evidence-based treatment. That means we offer a variety of proven treatments that work in tandem to fill your needs. 

 Our support options include:

  • Medication management: For clients with pre-existing prescriptions, our expert staff helps you to manage and monitor your medications. 
  • Whole-person wellness: We believe that every person has a unique story and set of life circumstances. Accounting for these circumstances in treatment is vital. We utilize modern, trauma-informed methods. This allows us to account both for the unique struggles you face as well as the unique strengths you have.
  • Recovery and safety planning: Safety is an integral part of our treatment program. At Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention, we work with our clients to establish recovery plans that you can take with you beyond treatment.
  • Support services: Our CSU includes a variety of proven treatment methods, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and more.
  • Family and community support: No person is an island. In our treatment program, we help our clients to establish and strengthen social safety nets that facilitate effective long-term recovery. 
  • Nutrition and recreation services: During a crisis, it can be easy to lose track of any needs that aren’t vital. However, nutrition and recreation are still vital to recovery. As such, we provide support in accessing healthy diets and maintaining connections to hobbies and interests.

Alter San Diego Crisis Intervention, located in the College Area of San Diego, can help you to recover from a crisis and create a strong foundation. To learn more, call us at (619) 457-4613.