If someone is in immediate danger, call 988 or 911 first. Our home-like house in Southern California has staff awake overnight for teens ages 12 to 17, for families who can no longer keep watch through the night on their own.
Clinically reviewed by Alejandro Alva, M.D., Medical Director.
What this is
Treatment here starts with safety every day, then addresses the pain the thoughts are carrying. Thoughts of not wanting to be alive can range from a passing wish to an actual plan, and both need clinical attention. If a psychiatric hospital is the safer option for your teen, we will tell you that before you enroll.
Signs your teen needs a staffed setting
When your teen says they do not want to be alive, or makes a joke that is not really a joke, we take it seriously and at face value.
Taking shifts through the night is more than most families can sustain, and it is a clear sign you need support.
A recent close call, or a discharge that left you feeling frightened, is a good reason to ask about a staffed residential setting.
Your teen may see no future and feel settled that nothing will ever change. That can be more than a low mood and may need different treatment.
Giving things away, or a peacefulness that does not match yesterday, are reasons to ask more questions rather than to relax.
Depression, trauma, bullying, or conflict at home is often driving this, so the treatment plan reaches whatever the thoughts are about.
Daily life
Therapy sessions, family time at the kitchen table, and staff who stay awake all treat these thoughts as a clinical concern. Your teen is not left alone with them.
01
The safety plan is built with your teen and updated as things change, and DBT helps with the urge in the hour it is strongest. Individual therapy puts words to the pain underneath. We do not treat a signed contract in a file as treatment.
02
Parents learn how to ask, how to listen, and what to do when keeping watch is their job again. Together, we write the plan for the first night home before anyone is alone with it.
03
Staff are awake through the hours when these thoughts can feel strongest. Connection is part of the treatment, because isolation can make them harder to carry.
Ridgeview is our boys' house in Orange County, with six beds for teens ages 12 to 17. Staff are in the house overnight, and the clinical team is the same one that works in our other two houses.
You can also walk through Shasta and Richards, our other two houses.
Our approach
A safety plan that changes as risk changes, plus skills for the hardest minutes. Treatment does not rest on a signed contract in a file.
We assess risk at intake and again after any difficult day, with a written plan that is updated as risk changes.
Distress tolerance gives your teen something to do other than act on the thought, practiced here so it can carry over at home too.
We test hopelessness against a day that is genuinely different, instead of answering it with a slogan about hope.
Depression, trauma, or a painful relationship is often the driver, so the stay needs to reach that as well.
Medication can help with the depression underneath. We consult psychiatry when the team recommends it, and we do not treat a crisis with a prescription alone.
Your part
Suicidal thoughts can leave a whole household focused on getting through the night. Family work teaches you how to ask the question and what to do next.
Do not ask, in case it plants the idea.
Asking about suicide does not create the thought, and silence can make it more dangerous. We teach you the question, how to listen, and who to call.
Leave the watch to the staff and step back.
Family therapy writes down how your household responds at night. You will be the one keeping watch again, so you need that language now.
Decide means and Sunday after they walk in.
A written plan covering access to means, the overnight hours, and Sunday is practiced here, well before anyone is in a crisis.
Academics
A crisis can pull a teen out of class for weeks, sometimes a full semester. Staff watch over the nights here while accredited classes help keep credits moving.
Classes Matched To Your Teen
Classes run through Advantages School, our accredited school partner. We use your teen's transcript and current schedule to place them in the right courses, so their place in class stays theirs while the nights remain the clinical priority.
Optional Tutoring
Tutoring is available alongside the clinical day, and we do not push a class when safety still needs the morning.
Preparing For The Return To School
We identify a trusted adult on campus and practice the hallway and first class before discharge, so returning does not mean hiding what happened.
Please send your teen's transcript, current schedule, and any IEP or 504 plan so their place is ready when they are.
Length of stay
30
days in residence, by progress
Most stays run 60 to 90 days. Some finish closer to 30, and a few need longer.
90
Some suicidal thinking can be managed in outpatient care when there is a tight safety plan and a family who can still get sleep. When you cannot leave your teen alone, a 30 to 90 day stay provides staffed overnight supervision. If a locked psychiatric unit is safer for your teen, we will tell you before anyone unpacks.
When to call
If your teen has said they do not want to be alive, if you cannot leave them alone, or if a hospital sent them home and you are still frightened, please call us. If someone is in immediate danger, call 988 or 911 first, before you call about a stay. Aaron Earnest and the admissions team will be honest if a hospital is the safer option. If your teen is also hurting themselves, our self-harm page covers that, and depression is often part of the same picture.
Passive suicidal ideation is a wish not to be alive without a plan. Active suicidal ideation includes thinking about how or when.
Thoughts of not wanting to be alive can range from a passing wish to an actual plan, and both need clinical attention.
Go to the emergency room when there is a plan, a recent attempt, or immediate danger.
Residential treatment fits when the immediate danger has passed but you still cannot leave your teen alone, often after a hospital discharge that left you worried.
Limiting access to lethal means lowers risk, such as locking up medications and removing firearms from the home.
A written plan covering access to means, the overnight hours, and Sunday is practiced here, well before anyone is in a crisis. Family therapy helps you carry it at home.
Discharge is planned around a next treatment team, which may include our outpatient program or our virtual intensive outpatient program (IOP).
You practice the first night home before discharge, and we check in at 30, 60, and 90 days afterward.
Before you call
FAQ
Answers to what parents often ask before calling about care for teen suicidal thoughts. If your question is not here, admissions can talk it through with you.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 988 or 911 first, before you call about a stay. Once the situation is safe, please call us, and Aaron Earnest and the admissions team will be honest if a hospital is the safer option.
If a locked psychiatric unit is safer for your teen, we will tell you before anyone unpacks. Some suicidal thinking can be managed in outpatient care when there is a tight safety plan and a family who can still get sleep.
Most stays run 60 to 90 days, and some finish closer to 30 while a few need longer. Aftercare includes a next treatment team, a written plan for home, and check-ins at 30, 60, and 90 days.
We assess risk at intake and again after any difficult day, and the written safety plan is updated as risk changes. DBT helps with the urge in the hour it is strongest, and staff are awake overnight.
Asking about suicide does not create the thought, and silence can make it more dangerous. Family work here teaches you the question, how to listen, and who to call when keeping watch is your job again.
This page is reviewed by Alejandro Alva, M.D., our Medical Director. These free guides from public health agencies and medical groups cover the topic in more depth.
National Institute of Mental Health
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
SAMHSA
