Take a new Direction with youth mental health services
Direction Behavioral Health provides behavioral health services to children, youth, teens, and their families throughout Nashua, the Greater Merrimack Valley, Greater Boston, and New England.
Tailored programs for youth mental wellness
3,000+ children & teens served
Guiding families to brighter futures
Is your child or teen struggling? We’re here to guide you.
Over the past 16 years, we at Direction Behavioral Health have served over 3,000 clients. We’ve won over a lot of skeptical kids who thought that mental health care can't help, doesn't work, or has to be boring.
Your child isn’t alone, and our therapists offer support every step of the way.
Our behavioral health services for children and their families
To help kids from all backgrounds with mental health and behavioral struggles, we offer Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Programs.
Partial Hospitalization (PHP)
All kids start with the PHP. We run both Child and Teen PHP,’s, each geared toward its respective age group. They provide more intensive services than traditional outpatient treatment but without the need for placement outside the home, as is the case for residential or inpatient treatment.
Services include:
- A Full Psychiatric Evaluation
- Medication Management, when appropriate
- Group therapy
- Recreational activities
- School-based Programming (for all younger children and select teens)
- Parenting groups
The program runs 5 hours per day, 5 days per week.
Children PHP
Ages 7-12, 10 AM to 3 PM
Teen PHP
Ages 13-21, 1 PM to 6 PM
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
Kids transition (“step down”) from the PHP to the IOP after a period of time (usually a few weeks). Because of the shorter day, kids can begin the transition back to school and other outside activities. Like our PHP, the IOP includes group therapy, recreational activities, parenting groups, and medication management.
The team assists in discharge planning and transition back to outpatient care.
Medication Management at direction
When it makes sense, and while in the program, kids receive ongoing psychiatric care and medication management from our on-site child psychiatrist and nurse practitioner. After the program ends, kids will need to follow up with an outpatient medication provider.
A vibrant space where Treatment and fun meet
Is your child skeptical? Mental health care doesn’t have to be a drag.
Kids like being here, and it’s easy to see why. Our facility is 8,500 square feet and features a gym with exercise equipment and a basketball hoop. We also have recording equipment and various instruments for our musically inclined kids. We offer a variety of snacks, including our famous popcorn machine.
Our unique path to mental wellness
Our ethos is clinical first, business second, and this guides every aspect of our operations. We keep it simple: working with patients on relationships and habits. We help kids become functional, independent adults, empowering them to take charge of their well-being and growth.
We teach patients how to navigate challenges, improve emotional regulation, and cultivate healthy decision-making habits.
Wholeistic education model
Our model of treatment, known as Wholeistic Education, teaches kids how to build and maintain healthy relationships to improve their ability to function in the world.
TESTIMONIALS
3,000+ youth have charted new Direction for their future with us
We feel privileged to have helped so many young people transform their futures through our child and teen mental health services, gaining the skills and confidence to create a brighter path forward.
In addition to New Hampshire and Massachusetts, many families come from states like Vermont and Maine seeking mental health services for youth in Greater Boston.
Compassionate, caring behavioral health professionals
Our staff is 100% hand-picked and are truly passionate about their work. What's more, our staff encompass an extremely wide array of areas of expertise, including a child and adolescent psychiatrist, nurse practitioner, occupational therapist, RN, and speech therapist.
These many different points of view, along with the intensive nature of our program and the ability to monitor kids over time, give us a huge advantage in figuring out what the problem is and what to do about it.
We have resources for parents, too!
Virtual & in-person parenting groups
Parenting is challenging, even under the best of circumstances. This is why we offer in-person and virtual Parenting Groups to help parents navigate the challenges of raising a kid.
Also, we recommend checking out our
Parenting Handbook to learn more about our approach.
The Art of Direction Book
The Art of Direction was written by Dr. Duncan Gill and the late Joe Walsh. It details our approach to helping your child overcome imbalances of all kinds.
Is There a Med for That? Podcast
Tune in as our child psychiatrist and child therapist delve into a wide range of topics related children's mental health in our Is There a Med for That? podcast.
Questions for the Doc From the Kids
Introducing Val: OT Extraordinaire
The Prozac Blues: Are Antidepressants Killing Our Kids?
Recent Blog Posts
Here are some articles we've written on mental health, parenting, and other topics we’re passionate about. We aim to keep them relevant, engaging, and more insightful than your average Google search.
SEE ALL BLOG POSTS
A few days ago, I the mother of a 14-year-old girl (let’s call her Sarah) asked me a question. Sarah had been referred to us by the ER...
Dear Hollywood Producers, I am writing to offer my services as a psychiatrist with nearly 20 years of experience working with both adults and kids....
Ready for a change of Direction?
Southern New Hampshire’s trusted youth mental health service
Your child’s struggles don’t have to be long-term. We hope that our programs can help your child as it has so many others.
