New Haven-based Turnbridge, a private provider of mental health and addiction services to young people, launched a new outpatient program in Westport on Wednesday designed to help teens with afterschool treatment.
Turnbridge officials on Wednesday marked the start of the new Adolescent After School Intensive Outpatient Mental and Behavioral Healthcare Program. The new program is based at the company’s Fairfield County center at 162 Kings Highway N. in Westport.
Offered to teens aged 14 to 17, the new program offers individual and group sessions and treatments including dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based approaches.
The new Westport program offers Fairfield County families a treatment option that allows teens to stay in school and work on coping skills, said Jack Britton, vice president of clinical services at Turnbridge.
“I think a lot of teens worry, ‘If l get treatment, does that mean I’m going to have to go away?’” Britton said. The outpatient program allows a teen to continue living at home with support from individual and family therapy.
“We should try a lower level of care before just deciding on a very intensive one,” Britton said.
Turnbridge also runs residential treatment programs for teens in Killingworth and Woodbury, along with two residential programs for young adults in New Haven.
A nationwide crisis in teen mental health and substance use in recent years has increased demand for Turnbridge’s services, Britton said. Providers are seeing more self-harm and suicidal behavior in teens, much centered around social media use.
“Around 2012, when smartphones became more and more powerful, is when teenager mental health really started to get worse,” Britton said. “The pandemic only made things worse. So we have teenagers who come to our programs from around the country.”
Turnbridge differentiates itself from other providers due to its intensive therapies and small program size, which allows for more individualized treatment, Britton said.
Based at 189 Orange St. in downtown New Haven, Turnbridge currently employs 350 people in positions ranging from physicians to patient transporters, Britton said. The company got its start in New Haven and anticipates continued expansion in the city, he added.
“Our residences are there, our clinic that exclusively serves those kids is in downtown New Haven,” Britton said. “Our clients get jobs in New Haven, they go to school at different colleges in and around New Haven. So, you know, we’ve always felt like a part of the fabric of New Haven.”
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.
