Your Teen's Mental Health
Summer Resources for Students
The Road Ahead
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant living through multiple different crises, all at once. For teenagers specifically, restrictions have meant more time isolated from friends and loved ones, periods of remote learning, and the loss of many important social activities. Being able to recognize signs of distress in your student and knowing where to look for help are the first steps to recovery. As we shift our focus towards summer and the importance of self-care, we have provided a number of local resources for our Mustang families below. The Triton Counseling Department wishes you a happy and healthy summer vacation!
Community Mental Health Resources
Center for Family Services
Center for Family Services offers comprehensive outpatient counseling throughout South Jersey. CFS is currently providing teletherapy for individuals struggling with mental health challenges. CFS accepts state and private insurance. To schedule an intake appointment, caregivers should call the access line at 1-877-922-2377.
A Better Tomorrow Counseling Services
A Better Tomorrow Counseling Services provides counseling services for individuals and families struggling with different mental health challenges. They are located in Turnersville and are currently offering both in-person and teletherapy sessions and accept most private insurance plans. Call 856-266-4983 to schedule an intake appointment.
Total Family Solutions
TFS offers outpatient counseling and medication management services. TFS has locations in Voorhees and Vineland. Both telehealth and in-person services are currently being offered. TFS is a NJ Medicaid Approved Provider and accepts select private insurances that are listed on their website. Call 856-772-5809 to schedule an intake appointment.
PerformCare, Available 24/7, 1-877-652-7624
PerformCare aims to help New Jersey’s families and young people access publicly funded services for youth up to age 21 through the statewide New Jersey Children’s System of Care (CSOC). Help is available for children, adolescents, and young adults seeking behavioral health, intellectual/developmental disability, or substance use treatment services.
Families should call if their child’s behavior has changed or if they are overwhelmed by challenges at home or in the community. Some common reasons to call PerformCare include:
- Depression and/or anxiety
- Bullying or being bullied
- Physical or verbal aggression.
- Intellectual/developmental disabilities
- Substance use
- Inattention or hyperactivity
- Oppositional or defiant behavior
- Grief from major trauma
- Concerns from teachers
What can PerformCare do for your family?
- Help connect your student to the behavioral health, substance use, or developmental disability services he or she needs
- Link caregivers with Family Support Organizations to teach mechanisms for coping with stress, aid in developing communication strategies, and educate families about physical and emotional self-care
What should I expect when I call?
- Legal parent or guardian must call, if the student is 18 or older they can call themselves
- You will be connected to a Member Services department staff that will help answer most of your questions. You will be asked for information about your student. This information includes your name and phone number, the child's name, date of birth, Social Security number, and other health insurance
- In some cases, a clinician will be sent to the home within 3 days (or sooner) to complete a needs assessment to determine what type of services are needed for your student and family (in-home counseling, behavioral assistance, family support worker, etc)
- ALL families are eligible for services provided by PerformCare regardless of type of health insurance
*PerformCare is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week — 1-877-652-7624*
Additional resources can be found by accessing the 'Counseling' tab on Triton's website and selecting, 'Mental Health Resources.'
Useful App's
Moody
Moody is a journaling app that allows users to identify their mood and the contributing factors. There is also a designated place for notes. The Moody app tracks your moods on a graph each week. If you tend to forget things, users can turn on a daily reminder.
Calm
This app focusses on teaching users how to meditate and practice daily mindfulness techniques. Research has found that mindfulness training can reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms in individuals. Users can enjoy a number of meditation exercises for free.
I Am Sober
I Am Sober is a free app that allows users to track their sobriety with a community that understands. This app tracks important milestones and can also be used to track sobriety from other addictive behaviors beyond alcohol and drug use.
A Look Back on Mental Health Awareness Month, May 2021
Mental Health Awareness Month is recognized every year to normalize talking about mental health and share resources to support mental well-being. This year at Triton, we celebrated Mental Health Awareness Month by asking students to participate in a number of different virtual mental health challenges ranging from listening to celebrity stories of overcoming mental illness to self-reflecting on their own struggles. We also had some very special visitors, therapy dogs Sami and Snowball, from PAWS for People!