Schizophrenia Treatment Center & Hospital in Covington, LA

Learn more about schizophrenia treatment at Covington Behavioral Health in St. Tammany Parish

Schizophrenia symptoms include hallucinations, incoherent speech, delusions, disorganized behavior, catatonia, and diminished emotional expression. Schizophrenia can have a dramatically negative impact on a person’s ability to think clearly and/or tell the difference between reality and hallucinations. Schizophrenia is characterized by problems with cognition, mood, and emotional regulation that impair at least one major area of functioning.

At Covington Behavioral Health, located in Covington, LA, we understand the impact that schizophrenia can have on an individual’s life, and we have developed programming options to help stabilize individuals at our center who have been dealing with this disorder.

Helping a loved one get treatment for schizophrenia

If someone that you care about has been demonstrating symptoms of schizophrenia, then you already know how confusing, frustrating, and scary this experience can be. However, you should feel neither helpless nor hopeless. You can play an essential role in improving the quality of your loved one’s life.

• First, visit reputable online resources or consult experts in person in order to learn how best to support your loved one, ensure that his or her basic needs are being met, and keep him or her safe until you can get him or her into treatment.
• Next, you will want to learn all that you can about schizophrenia. This will allow you to understand the signs and symptoms that your loved one has been experiencing and will provide you with greater insight into the challenges that he or she is facing.
• With your newfound knowledge about schizophrenia and your unique insights into your loved one’s life, you will be prepared to research effective types of treatment and identify the centers and hospitals that appear to be best prepared to meet your loved one’s unique needs.
• Depending upon the nature and severity of your loved one’s symptoms, getting him or her to agree to enter treatment at a hospital or center for schizophrenia may be relatively easy or extremely challenging. If your loved one is resistant to get help, return to the reputable online resources and experts that you previously consulted. Educate yourself on your rights and responsibilities as a family member or close friend, and learn how to talk to someone with schizophrenia in order to convince him or her to agree to enter a treatment center or hospital.
• Through all of this, be sure that you are not neglecting your own physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing. Get help from friends or family members and consider seeing a therapist or counselor yourself. Your loved one’s struggles have surely impacted your own life, and it is important that you process this impact in a healthy way. Maintaining your physical and mental strength is important both for your own wellbeing and for that of your loved one.
• Finally, remember that treatment at a center or hospital is just one part of a lifelong effort to deal with the effects of schizophrenia. Prepare to provide long-term support for your loved one, and make sure he or she knows that he or she can count on you.

Why consider treatment for schizophrenia at Covington Behavioral Health in St. Tammany Parish

Though the criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia includes experiencing symptoms that are severe enough to negatively impact at least one major area of functioning, the disorder can and in many cases does affect virtually every part of a person’s life. People who experience schizophrenia may have difficulty determining what is real and what is a hallucination or delusion, and they may be incapable of effectively communicating with others. Without effective treatment a person who has schizophrenia may also develop anxiety, depression, and phobias, and may experience memory problems, diminished cognitive functioning, and disrupted sleep patterns. Schizophrenia may undermine a person’s ability to complete his or her education, perform to standard at work, maintain employment, achieve financial independence, and live a self-sufficient life. People who have schizophrenia may also struggle to establish and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships, which can jeopardize their ability to associate in a satisfactory and/or productive manner with family members, friends, professional colleagues, and others with whom they may come into contact. Untreated schizophrenia is also associated with a reduced life expectancy. People who have schizophrenia are at increased risk for abusing tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs and also have a heightened likelihood of developing a range of health problems, including diseases of the heart and lungs. At Covington Behavioral Health, we can provide the comprehensive and personalized care that will lessen the likelihood that individuals with schizophrenia will experience continued negative repercussions as a result of this disorder.

Types of schizophrenia treatment offered at Covington Behavioral Health in St. Tammany Parish

Covington Behavioral Health is a 104-bed residential treatment center that provides personalized, comprehensive care for adolescents ages 10-17 and adults age 18 and older who have experienced acute changes in their emotional and mental well-being and need psychiatric stabilization.

At Covington Behavioral Health, care for people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia is provided by multidisciplinary teams of talented and dedicated professionals, including psychiatrists, medical psychologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, counselors, activity therapists, and mental health technicians. Among the members of our center’s staff who have specialized training are our full-time staff dietitian, social workers, and physicians certified in forensic psychiatry and addictionology.

The care that our patients receive at our center incorporates a variety of treatment techniques and therapeutic modalities, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). We place a premium on conducting thorough assessments on each patient at Covington Behavioral Health to ensure that we are able to develop individualized treatment plans that address each person’s specific strengths, needs, and treatment goals.

Each patient’s time at Covington Behavioral Health will be a unique experience based upon his or her specific strengths and needs. Depending upon those unique factors, a patient’s treatment at our center may include the following elements:

Medication management: Some individuals with schizophrenia may benefit from having certain prescription medications incorporated into their treatment plans at our center. Covington patients who meet this description will have the opportunity to meet with our psychiatrist and nursing staff on a regular basis to receive medication management services.

Detoxification: Covington Behavioral Health is not a substance abuse treatment center; however, we do understand that prospective patients may have struggled with substance abuse in addition to their challenges with schizophrenia. To best serve these individuals at our center, we provide detox services for individuals who been abusing alcohol, prescription painkillers, and certain other drugs. After they have rid their bodies of the substances that they have been abusing, detox patients will transfer directly into residential treatment to receive care for their mental health disorders.

Individual therapy: Patients in the inpatient program may meet with a member of our social service staff (LCSW, LMSW, LPC, or PLPC) or nursing staff (RN or LPN) for individual therapy as needed. Individual therapy allows patients to address issues that they may be hesitant to bring up during group sessions, provides them with one-on-one feedback and guidance from experienced professionals, and helps them to develop effective skills for managing the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Group therapy: Group therapy sessions are fundamental elements of treatment at Covington Behavioral Health. Group therapy provides a structured yet dynamic environment in which participants can share their insights and experiences, learn from the contributions of fellow patients, and practice healthy interpersonal skills such as effective communication, empathy, and giving and receiving support. The following are among the groups that a patient who is being treated at our center for schizophrenia may participate in during his or her time at Covington:

• Activity groups
• Creative therapy groups
• Dietary groups
• Process groups
• Psychoeducation groups

Group therapy sessions, which are typically offered at least five times during each treatment day at our center, are led by nurses, activity therapists, mental health technicians, and members of our social services staff.

Family therapy: At Covington Behavioral Health, we understand that an individual’s struggles with schizophrenia may impact his or her entire family. With family therapy, loved ones of Covington patients have the opportunity to address how they have been affected by the patient’s mental health problems, learn how to strengthen family bonds and improve intra-familial relationships, and develop the skills that will allow them to provide the best possible support as their loved one continues in recovery following the residential phase of his or her treatment. Family therapy sessions at Covington Behavioral Health Hospital are typically conducted by the patient’s case manager and may be scheduled on an as-needed basis or by request.

Discharge planning: We provide robust discharge planning services to ensure that each patient and his or her family has a thorough plan that identifies the referrals, community-based services, and other support services that will put the patient in the best position to maintain and improve upon the progress that he or she made while in treatment for schizophrenia at our center.

At Covington Behavioral Health, our ultimate goal is to provide the focused, effective, and personalized care that can improve the quality of life for all who are entrusted into our care. For more information about our center’s services, please do not hesitate to contact us at your convenience. We look forward to answering all of your questions and helping you determine if Covington Behavioral Health is the perfect place for you or your loved one.