Mental Health Matters: New Virginia Treatment Center for Children

Mental Health Matters: New Virginia Treatment Center for Children

Families need to know they’re not alone,
and families need to know that what’s happening in their house is not
something that isn’t happening in other houses. It is. Everybody has their own
story but everybody needs to know that there’s support out there and people
understand. And the services here enable those families to reach out to
what they need, give them the support they need, and make them breathe just a
little bit easier. Because it’s a really hard time- it’s confusing, it’s dark, it’s
scary. If you have diabetes most people aren’t ashamed of it.But if you have
depression, there’s this kind of lingering notion that, “I ought to be able
to fix it on my own.” And if you can that’s great. But if you can’t, you need
to get help- because there’s an excellent help there. So psychiatric illnesses are
real and they’re treatable with good outcomes. It’s a whole new world. It is
something that makes my heart just pound super fast, because I’m so excited for
the families. And to see an entire building go up that says, “We’re open.
We’re here for you. There’s light. You don’t have to be in seclusion. We’re
gonna take care of you.” Gives you the hope to say, “Okay this might be hard now,
but I’m going to be okay. I’m going to make it.” We always talk about doing the
state of the art, and at VCU psychiatry at the Virginia Treatment Center for Children, we do
evidence-based treatment that is also caring. But the other part of it is the
faculty and staff, the people who are taking care of the kids are absolutely
the very best. And I can tell you that if one of my kids or grandkids needed
psychiatric help, this would be the place where they would get it. It’s a welcoming
place that is beautiful, and families can feel comfortable and respected here.

http://www.chrichmond.org/VTCC
Mom and teen mental health advocate Grace Gallagher, and Chair of VCU Department of Psychiatry Dr. Joel Silverman take you inside the new Virginia Treatment Center for Children – where treatment works.

The new children’s mental health facility opens in spring 2018.