NH Chronicle featured Mountain Valley on February 3, 2023. The 7-minute segment followed one resident’s journey with anxiety, and how Mountain Valley helped her learn how to cope, grow, and thrive.
You can watch the video at WMUR here!
If you have any questions about Mountain Valley’s services, reach out to our team today for more information. We look forward to hearing from you!
Social Anxiety Disorder. It’s much more than just being shy or identifying as an introvert. It’s the debilitating fear of rejection and judgment. It’s desperately wanting close, meaningful relationships, yet avoiding others at all costs because that fear of rejection far outweighs the desire for social connection.
Take Jane, for example: She reads her syllabus on the first day of class and learns that she must give an oral presentation at the end of the year. She feels her heartbeat race, sweat drip down her back. Her thoughts begin to race, and she plans ways to be excused from the assignment. Before she knows it, the class has ended, and she can’t recall a thing the teacher has said. She leaves school in a panic, even though classes aren’t over. The next day, she insists that she cannot go to school again and remains in bed all day, still worried with racing thoughts and physical symptoms of anxiety. This is what Social Anxiety Disorder can look like to a young person.
When social anxiety becomes debilitating, it can happen quickly, and it can grow monstrous in short order. A person who has social anxiety can lose all hope of ever feeling better. They can become paralyzed by their anxiety. This can cause them to avoid everything that might increase their anxiety. This avoidance provides short term anxiety relief but can increase their anxiety in the long term.
The good news is it can get better. It is not easy, but with work it is possible.
The first step in overcoming social anxiety is acknowledging that you may need help, whether that is with your parents, sibling, trusted teacher, or therapist. It is not easy to admit that you need help but living paralyzed by your social anxiety isn’t any easier. Once you start talking about it, the next steps will fall into place.
Adolescent social anxiety can become so severe that a teen may benefit most from formal therapeutic interventions. In therapy, they can engage in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). These types of therapy are used to teach the client about social anxiety, how avoidance perpetuates it, and skills to help better tolerate uncomfortable situations. Most importantly, the young person learns how, in order to overcome the anxiety and decrease its power, they must stop avoiding their anxiety triggers. Rather, they must face the situations that induce anxiety and train their brain that they can tolerate the discomfort that arises. This is the very important and effective ERP work that plays a significant role in the treatment of social anxiety.
Residential treatment programs might serve as the gold standard for anxiety treatment because the treatment occurs every minute of every day. The intervention is much more than what occurs in the therapy office. A resident will learn the concepts and skills associated with CBT, ERP, and ACT during individual therapy sessions, then implement and practice them throughout the residential program. The client and the therapist will identify exposures to engage in to target the anxiety, prepare for the exposures, and even practice them in therapy. During community activities, like a hike, these exposure opportunities will arise naturally.
Research shows that ERP is most effective, and treatment benefits last longer, when the exposure work is engaged in repeatedly and consistently. For an individual with social anxiety, natural exposures arise constantly. On one hand, this sounds awful for someone who is paralyzed by their social fears. On the other hand, this is a beautiful opportunity to challenge their anxiety, practice tolerating uncomfortable situations, and work towards overcoming the debilitating nature to their anxiety on a consistent basis.
One additional benefit of residential care of social anxiety treatment, is that the resident’s ability to avoid their anxiety is minimized, their opportunities to develop and practice social skills expands, and they are surrounded by clinical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no better place to confront fears and cease avoidance because they are with a trained support person, who deeply cares for their wellbeing, every moment of every day. There is no better time than now when it comes to anxiety treatment. And when it comes to a safe, supportive environment to confront deeply rooted, long-standing fears, I would argue that there is no better place than Mountain Valley.
Mountain Valley transformed my relationship with my anxiety. I entered the program just having finished my senior year of high school. The combination of “senioritis,” (or a lack of motivation), with my perceived need for perfection and academic validation drove me to stay up past midnight daily. This downward spiral of less sleep, triggering more anxiety leading to more procrastination made school miserable. My anxiety had begun to transform from a general sense of worry to a debilitating force that drove me into my first major depressive episode.
I spent 76 days at Mountain Valley during the summer of 2019. I quickly realized that, in addition to psycho-education, group therapy, family therapy, and individual therapy, each of the modules provided residents with the opportunity to branch out and live fully. Not despite, but rather alongside their anxiety. I fell in love with the outdoors; I could focus only on the mountain’s trail, and on the beautiful landscape around me, providing a healthy escape from my worries I had left on Mountain Valley’s campus.
My first stay ended just in time for me to begin classes at Stanford University. I had let my academic anxiety decide for me rather than continuing the treatment I needed. I returned to Mountain Valley only two months later. Having already committed to a year off of school this time, I could focus entirely on treatment without having to worry about meeting a deadline, which ultimately allowed me to push myself harder in therapy.
I am now a second-year nursing student at Georgetown University. I have and always will use the skills I learned at Mountain Valley. The words “Sit with it” will forever remain close to my heart. No matter how hard nursing school is, academically and emotionally, I have everything I need to thrive. It was ultimately when I decided to try my best and radically accept the outcome that I found a restored sense of happiness. As my first Mountain Valley therapist, Phoebe, always said, all you have to do is breathe in, breathe out, and don’t die; the rest will work itself out.
Dr. Tim DiGiacomo, Mountain Valley’s Clinical Director, shares with us why Exposure Therapy is so successful in treating anxiety and OCD.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the most empirically supported and thus the “gold standard” in treating OCD and anxiety disorders. As a whole, ERP involves residents identifying fear and anxiety-producing situations, objects or thoughts. The client then chooses to engage in gradual exposure (the “E” of ERP) to that fear and those things that produce anxiety, avoidance and behaviors. Deliberately and sensitively, these exposures decrease the client’s emotional reactions and they learn new and more functional ways of responding to anxiety.
At Mountain Valley, where we treat anxiety and OCD, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and, specifically, ERP is our primary therapeutic modality. We find that ERP, along with other secondary treatments, allows our young people to safely face the things that cause them anxiety and develop new healthier strategies to overcome these stressors.
Zachary Schafer, MS, OTR/L, Mountain Valley’s Milieu Clinician, shares with us how his unique lens as a Mental Health Occupational Therapist helps inform the therapeutic work of our residents.
Occupational Therapy actually had its origins in mental health. An Occupational Therapist focuses on what activities clients participate in every day, and then they support strategies that help their clients engage in healthy ways to occupy their time. Mental health difficulties definitely effect a person’s ability to function in daily life activities, Occupational Therapy can help with that.
At Mountain Valley, where we treat anxiety and OCD, Zack spends every day within the milieu, within the day-to-day living, of our residents. His goal is to support the skill development that leads to healthy activities of daily living (ADLs). He meets the residents where they are and helps them develop very pragmatic skills to support healthy ways to occupy their time
Keeleigh Mahler, a Clinician at Mountain Valley, shares with us how important the group is in the individual treatment of a resident. Each resident brings an important contribution to the therapeutic process.
Humans are social creatures, and adolescents build their lives around the groups that they identify with. Therefore, it would be an impediment to only offer one-on-one therapeutic interventions to young people who have mental health struggles. Group activities help young people learn how they interact with others and function in a world where different personalities must work with each other.
At Mountain Valley, where we treat anxiety and OCD, group activities help our young people learn more about how their mental health effects their place in the world. Groups give our residents opportunities to collect data on their stressors and allow them to practice new skills and strategies in a safe supportive milieu. Our young people are able to meet others who struggle with similar challenges. They are able to intentionally take on leadership roles and also learn from others. And, they are able to make friends and have fun!!!
Ashley Metz, MS, Mountain Valley Program Director shares with us how every activity in residential treatment has a therapeutic impact. All activities in a residential setting work towards the clinical health of our residents.
Many applicants will ask what you “do” all day at a residential treatment center (RTC). Most RTCs offer individual therapy a few times a week and traditional group therapy once a day, yet this is not the totality of the therapeutic work at these programs. Group Activities, Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), Independent Academics, and Personal Time are all opportunities do clinical work. And, in fact, it’s often where the residents have to put into practice all of the things that learn in traditional therapy.
At Mountain Valley, where we treat anxiety and OCD, it’s important to allow residents to be exposed to the activities and experiences that cause them distress. Through these exposures, they are able to collect data on how they react and function in real life activities. They can then take that information into their therapy sessions to develop new skills and strategies to overcome their stressors.
November 27, 2011 – An easy date to remember. The first Sunday after Thanksgiving. My fifth day with a new left hip. And, yes, the day Mountain Valley opened its doors to our first residents.
My colleagues and I all arrived on the Pike, NH campus early that morning, as anxious as any of the more than 800 residents we would eventually come to serve. “Were we prepared?”, we asked ourselves. Yes we were. “Would the four families show up, as they had confirmed?” Yes, they did – all four families – three of them referred to our nascent program by one educational consultant (Can’t thank you enough, Diederick!) – pulling into our parking lot in formation to be greeted by a smiling guy on crutches, a veteran clinician, and a young visionary. All of us – parents, new residents and staff – confident that we would be able to deliver on our promises.
And deliver we did – and continue to do so. While the mission is simple – treat adolescents suffering from debilitating anxiety and OCD – the work can be challenging. And rewarding.
A lot has changed at Mountain Valley during the past 10 years. I suppose we have become better at our craft. A bit more sophisticated, perhaps. New campus. Significantly larger staff. Better training. More residents. But I would like to think that those first four families might visit us someday – perhaps return for next summer’s Annual Reunion – and easily recognize, despite our growth, “their” Mountain Valley. A Mountain Valley that continues to attract talented staff – both clinical and residential – that are totally committed to their responsibilities. A Mountain Valley that doesn’t feel institutional. A Mountain Valley that cares. A Mountain Valley where kids, despite the hard work involved, have some fun – and make lifelong friends.
Ten years. Such a long time, but November 27, 2011 seems like yesterday. We thank all of you who have supported us over the years. Parents who have shared their children with us. Residents who have worked so hard – and done so well. We could not have accomplished any of this without you. I look forward to another ten years – and then some!
All my best,
Carl J. Lovejoy
Executive Director/Co-founder
In celebration of Mountain Valley Treatment Center’s 10 year anniversary, we welcome you to two very special events:
For Professionals:
For Alumni:
As Mountain Valley Treatment Center celebrates our 10th Anniversary, we are excited to invite all alumni and their families to participate in the celebration.
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Mountain Valley 10th Anniversary Reunion
Due to rising concerns about COVID we regret that we are postponing this year’s reunion.
We look forward to seeing you (in-person) on July 16, 2022.
Stay tuned for a Virtual Reunion Event
