Led by Christine, Rogers’ spirtual care coordinator and Mick, Rogers’ experiential therapy manager; our staff has been busy designing and building a labyrinth at our Oconomowoc campus. Yesterday, the team completed the labyrinth, located in the lower gardens. It was built so that the entrance of the labyrinth could be viewed from the gazebo. Rogers’ labyrinth spans over 40 feet in diameter and leads those who enter on a journey just short of a quarter mile.

Teenagers are inundated with expectations in their homes, schools and social lives leading to an estimated half a million attempting suicide each year. It is not uncommon for teens to experience varying degrees of stress, self-doubt, pressure to succeed and worry about their future.

Experiential Therapy

Art, dance/movement, drama, music, recreation/adventure and relaxation are part of a category of therapies collectively referred to as experiential therapy. At Rogers Memorial Hospital, experiential therapy is thoroughly integrated into our patients’ treatment experience. More than a third of the programming (35%) our patients receive is experiential in nature.

Each September the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) observes Recovery Month, highlighting the prevention, treatment and recovery services that help individuals celebrate recovery from a mental health or substance use disorder. This fall, Rogers is addressing treatment issues by adding addiction programming at their Brown Deer, Oconomowoc and Madison, Wisconsin locations.

At Rogers Memorial Hospital, our treatment consists of many components. What makes our treatment approach unique is the multiple levels of therapy we provide including family, group, individual — and experiential.

By Kristin Miles, PsyD
Kristin Miles, PsyD, is an attending psychologist at Rogers Memorial Hospital-West Allis’s Child and Adolescent Day Treatment program. Learn more at rogershospital.org.
Media in its multiple and ever-changing forms – TV, Internet, Facebook, Twitter, computer and video games – plays a prominent role in our lives. With this unprecedented 24/7 access, many children and teens have difficulty managing their media use. So what is the danger in multi-tasking multiple streams of entertainment and information?

Depression and other mood disorders in young adults is the FOCUS of a new residential program at Rogers. With intensive psychiatric evaluations and medication management, the program builds on the strong foundation set by Rogers other residential treatment programs and strong evidence-based care.

Losing interest in activities, withdrawal from family and friends, and sadness can be part of the daily struggle when fighting severe depression or other mood disorders. Behavioral activation – a major component of treatment in a new residential program at Rogers — addresses these struggles.

Building on Rogers’s foundation of evidence-based care through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), on February 10, Rogers opens FOCUS, a residential program for young adults with depression and other mood disorders. For these patients experiencing a difficult transition to adulthood, behavioral activation is one key building block toward recovery.

Making the decision to send a child or teen to a residential treatment facility is often difficult for families. Programs like the Child Center’s Parent University keep a family involved in treatment, helping families ensure a successful transition back home and reinforcing treatment and recovery needs.

Mental Health affects everyone; mental health issues affect about 80% of people in one way or another. Chances are you know someone who is or has dealt with mental illness and recovery, or know of someone who is going through the process of dealing with some sort of anxiety, depression, addiction or eating disorder.

This year Mental Health America has made their theme Pathways to Wellness, which sheds light on key points that we at Rogers Memorial Hospital would like to pass along.