Bradley Hospital's inpatient services are for children aged 3 to 12 years struggling with serious emotional and behavioral disturbances and need short-term stabilization, assessment and treatment for suicidal, aggressive or other unsafe behaviors.
Your child will be treated by a team of professionals, including a child and adolescent psychiatrist, a clinical social worker, psychologists, nursing staff, and milieu therapists. We also have a pediatrician and a pediatric nurse practitioner who may be consulted for medical issues during the hospitalization.
We have prepared this handout to help you become familiar with the program and the services we provide. We want you to better understand what you can expect from your child’s treatment here. As the person who knows your child best, we also want to invite you to actively work with our team in helping your child.Download the handbook (English, PDF)
Your child will undergo a comprehensive psychiatric, psychosocial, and psychological assessment that includes a diagnostic evaluation. Included in this assessment are a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, social worker family assessment, nursing assessment, psychological screening questionnaires, and observations and behavior ratings from the milieu and from group therapies. We also request consultations from occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and nutrition services and incorporate their recommendations in treatment.
The treatment team integrates the clinical and diagnostic information obtained from the comprehensive team assessment into an individualized treatment plan. The plan will be discussed with you and your child. Your child will receive intensive treatment, including group therapy, family therapy, milieu therapy and medications management, as needed. The other therapeutic modalities of treatment provided include individual therapy and art therapy.
Our treatment philosophy is to provide patient centered care. We are careful when considering medications as a part of treatment. Medications are recommended only when appropriate and the options are discussed with you. Before discharge, you and your child’s treatment team will also work on developing an after-care plan for ongoing treatment outside the hospital.
We realize that admitting your child to the hospital is a difficult and stressful time for you and your family. It is our earnest wish that despite the current difficulty your child might be facing, we can help you and your family to get things back on track and feel a renewed sense of hope for your child's future. You are our partner in your child's treatment, and we look to you for suggestions and feedback on how we can do better.
