Adolescent Residential Mental Health Facility in Georgia
Hillside®’s Residential Program offers comprehensive residential treatment for young people whose behaviors and symptoms cannot be managed at a lower level of care or in the community. Hillside® provides specialized treatment protocols for female clients ages 11-17 and male clients ages 13-17 in a 24/7 supervised and structured environment in Atlanta, Georgia.
Other Programs: Day Treatment | Virtual Outpatient | Intensive In-Home | Community Intervention
When to Consider Residential Mental Health Therapy
Here are some signs that it may be time to consider a residential treatment center for mental health:
- Symptoms persist or relapse continues despite weekly therapy, intensive outpatient programs or partial hospitalization programs.
- Persistent safety is a concern due to life-threatening behaviors, which may include having suicidal thoughts and gestures.
- An individual has complex diagnoses, trauma or dual diagnosis that requires multidisciplinary care around the clock.
Despite your best efforts, not making progress in treatment can increase feelings of hopelessness and exhaustion. But there is hope — when your child or teen's psychiatric needs exceed outpatient care, a residential facility like Hillside® is the next step. We are dedicated to providing comprehensive care for young individuals facing mental health challenges.
What to Expect During Residential Treatment
When receiving residential treatment in Atlanta with Hillside®, clients and families will work with a multidisciplinary team consisting of:
- Board-Certified Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists.
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners.
- Nurses.
- Masters-level Licensed Therapists.
- Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists®.
- Certified teachers.
Clients live on campus in a 24/7 supervised and structured therapeutic setting that is specific to age, gender, and symptom acuity. The average length of stay as covered by insurance is approximately 8-12 weeks.
What School Looks Like During Residential Treatment
They are also enrolled in full-time school and attend classes on campus from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the school year and engage in an academic enrichment program in the summer. DBT Core Skills training is a part of the school schedule from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Clients engage in individual therapy, family therapy, DBT skills training and experiential therapy, and receive psychiatric medication management.
After school hours, clients engage in therapeutic groups such as recreational therapy, horticulture therapy, Social Emotional Ethical (SEE) Learning, Advanced Experiential DBT groups, Interpersonal Skills groups, Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT®) and more. Parents are involved in family therapy weekly, as well as the Caregiver DBT groups on Tuesdays from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and Family Psychoeducation sessions every other Friday at noon ET via Zoom.
Residential Treatment Approach/Modalities
Our treatment modalities include DBT, psychiatric medication management, individual therapy, family therapy and groups. Theraplay® and Radically-Opened DBT (RO-DBT) are offered as clinically indicated.
Who Is the Typical Client for Residential Treatment?
Hillside® offers one of the leading child and adolescent residential programs in Georgia for mental health. We specialize in working with clinically complex clients. Most residential clients have been hospitalized in short-term acute inpatient psychiatric hospitals multiple times and have not been able to stabilize or maintain safety in lower levels of care. They have also struggled with:
- Mental health challenges.
- Severe depression.
- Anxiety disorders.
- Chronic suicidal ideation.
- Borderline personality traits/disorder.
- Chronic self-harming behaviors.
- Over-controlled/perfectionism.
- Severe emotion dysregulation.
- Mood disorders.
The typical clients on our residential campus are students, ages 11 to 17, who have a primary psychiatric diagnosis and struggle to function in the regular home/community setting. Our residential program provides a therapeutic environment for students in fifth grade through high school during the school year. Our clients are still dependent on parents or caregivers in a family and are not yet living independently.
Licensed as a Residential Mental Health Facility, Hillside®’s residential program has the ability to serve clients up to age 21. Clients ages 18-21 or clients who will turn 18 during treatment must still be working toward a high school diploma and either under a parent’s guardianship or consent to be in treatment.
What States Will We Admit Patients From?
While a significant portion of our patients come from the Southeastern United States, we welcome admissions from anywhere as long as the family is willing to be active in the treatment. Patients are typically admitted from:
- Georgia
- Florida
- Alabama
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- North Carolina
Our goal is to ensure that every adolescent in need of support can access our specialized services, regardless of their location. If you’re seeking a nurturing environment for healing and growth, we’re here to help your family on this journey.
How Hillside® Creates a Path to Healing and Recovery
In a campus-style setting, the Hillside® residential treatment programs for youth in Atlanta provide a safe and structured environment for care and therapeutic work. Combining DBT with other individualized services and 24/7 support, we aim to help the youth build skills for emotional regulation and healthy relationships.
DBT progresses from pretreatment goal‑setting through four stages:
- Stabilizing out‑of‑control behaviors
- Fully experiencing emotions
- Building a stable, self‑reliant life
- Seeking deeper meaning and connection, if desired
We prepare clients to return home throughout care with family therapy and therapeutic passes.
Our Conant School at our Residential Mental Health Facility
The Hillside® Conant School is a place of encouragement and enthusiasm. It houses 12 state-of-the-art classrooms with specialized media teaching tools such as Promethean Boards and Google Chromebooks and the Dorothy Cohen Library. Our school is accredited by Cognia and is part of the Atlanta Public School system through the Georgia Department of Education.
We have 12 certified and highly qualified Special Education and General Education teachers who are here to use their creative teaching methods and behavioral expertise. Many children enrolled at our school are entering the program at grade levels lower than expected due to their individual previous situations, environments, and behaviors. Our teachers face the challenge of remediating their skill gaps and encouraging them to move forward with their education. We also serve many students working at advanced levels and in dual enrollment.
We use the blended learning model to meet the needs of all students. Speech/Language and Occupational Therapy are provided through Atlanta Public Schools.
What to Expect at Conant During Residential Treatment
Upon admission into our program, you should have supplied the school with your child’s school records, IEP, eligibility reports, and all Psychological Testing. All Georgia children attending our school are actually enrolled into Atlanta Public Schools upon admission to Hillside for treatment. We are a fully accredited school which will result in your child receiving credits for the coursework they complete during their stay. Students coming from other states will be served as private school students.
Hillside is compliant with IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Section 504 which are designed to provide students with disabilities appropriate educational services designed to meet the individual needs of the student to the same extent as the needs of students without disabilities.
Academic Program for Your Child
Children and teens who are struggling with behavioral and emotional issues often find it hard to succeed in traditional schools. Their crippling anxiety, difficulties with following the rules, or other mental health symptoms can hinder their development in a traditional school setting and hold them back academically.
Conant is a school specially designed for children who are facing mental health challenges and may have difficulty reaching their true potential in their previous academic setting. With small class sizes and a high teacher-to-student ratio, our school provides a safe place to grow, learn and prepare for the next step in their academic journey.
Through structure, routine, academic support and integration with a residential therapy program, our teachers and staff encourage our students to achieve their best. The life skills your child will learn at Conant can form the basis of a fulfilling future, both academically and socially.
Dr. Christina Kennedy, our Education Director, is happy to share our school’s vision, School Improvement Plan, and Parental Involvement Policy with you upon request.
Contact Information
Principal – Christina Kennedy, Ph.D. (404) 875-4551 ext. 254 | [email protected]
Assistant Principal – Marisa McClendon, (404) 875-4551 ext. 364 | [email protected]
Transition Coordinator – Cameryn Rivers, (404) 875-4551 ext. 255 | [email protected]