By MIKE KALIL
Reformer Staff
BRATTLEBORO -- Retreat Healthcare is opening a new unit this summer tailored to serve younger children.
If all goes as planned, the 12-bed unit will open up by July 1, said Desiree Biesheuvel, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Brattleboro Retreat. This new program will seek to serve children ages 5-12 who have a variety of issues.
The existing unit will be used to help children ages 13-18. It's better for the children if they're around people their own age, Retreat staffers say, and the expansion will also create a more comfortable environment for the patients.
"I think it will offer much more tailored programming for each of these populations," said Martha Reeves, the Retreat's clinical liaison for the child and adolescent programs.
The program will allow the younger children to be separated from the older ones.
The Retreat has sought to separate the age groups as much as possible, but that has come with its own shortfalls, Biesheuvel said.
At times, separating the groups is easy because of low enrollment. But the enrollment fluctuates, and sometimes there is a large number of children at the hospital.
"We try to separate them as much as possible, but that means, of course, they don't have enough space," Biesheuvel said Monday afternoon.
The new unit will allow the children more breathing room, and this will benefit them psychologically, Biesheuvel said.
The unit is also designed to give the patients a more home-like environment.
She said most children who come through the Retreat have gone through some sort of trauma. Nationwide, she said, the trend has changed when dealing with children with psychological problems.
The goal, she said, is to prevent circumstances from escalating, not dealing with them after the fact.
And, she said, psychologically troubled children cannot be secluded or have strict rules enforced upon them. She said Retreat staffers aim to help build self-esteem in them and help them figure out their strengths.
"You can't really approach them in the same way you do with average schoolchildren," she said.
The Retreat treats children with long-term and short-term psychological needs. Children who spend more than 10 days as inpatients attend classes at the Meadows Educational Center, which was renovated last year to make it a more pleasant environment.
The Retreat, founded in 1834, treats people of all ages, with problems ranging from addiction and psychological illnesses.
Article Published: Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Copyright 2005, Brattleboro Reformer. Used with permission.
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