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Sarah struggled to find the right therapist providing youth mental health treatment in Ohio for a long time before coming to The Buckeye Ranch. Despite working with many different counselors, she had experienced great difficulty in managing a variety of mental health diagnoses and even at times was dismissed, being told she had no conditions to begin with.

After spending much of her life struggling with navigating abusive relationships, suicidal ideations, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and childhood trauma, Sarah shares that her biggest struggle was finding a therapist she could work with that would validate her and help her work through her challenges. She needed someone that could both help her understand her diagnoses and work with her to find healthier coping mechanisms.

Thankfully, Sarah was connected with The Buckeye Ranch through a visiting counselor that set her on a path of hope and healing she credits with massive strides in her mental health journey.

The Buckeye Ranch Difference

All youth recommended for services from The Buckeye Ranch begin their journey with Admissions and Engagement. As a part of Integrated Care Services, the Admissions and Engagement team greets youth and families seeking care by answering general questions, making referrals, completing intake assessments, and ensuring proper linkage to appropriate programs based on individual client needs. For Sarah, this process connected her with two of our Community-Based Mental Health Services, our Functional Family Therapy (FFT) and Outpatient (OP) Services programs.

Functional Family Therapy is aimed at increasing functional and positive interactions within the home through short-term, intensive, high-quality interventions for youth and families in central. FFT works with a young person’s entire family and extrafamilial influences to facilitate treatment and development.

Following completion of the Functional Family Therapy program, Sarah was referred to Outpatient Services (OP) where she was connected with her clinician Shahrzad for ongoing day-to-day mental health support, which allowed her to make tremendous strides in her healing journey. Outpatient services are designed for youth who need support effectively managing a wide variety of mental health diagnoses. Outpatient clinicians are trained in unique therapeutic approaches, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, dialectal behavioral therapy, and substance use disorder recovery to support youth who are in a spot where they need ongoing guidance, but are experiencing stability in their day-to-day mental health journey.

The Path To Hope and Healing

In the Outpatient Services program, Shahrzad and Sarah worked together to develop a treatment plan that finally gave Sarah the support she dearly needed. She finally has a clinician providing youth mental health treatment that makes her feel safe and seen. She shares, “[Shahrzad] is hands down the best therapist I have ever had, and without her, I’m not sure I would have made as much progress as I have. She has helped me through the highest highs and the lowest lows and has also worked with me to make sure I am consistently comfortable,” explains Sarah. “She always celebrates even the smallest successes. She has helped me truly discover myself and is a major part of my story and healing journey.”

The journey of hope and healing is different for everyone. For Sarah, treatment looked like finding new, healthy coping mechanisms, writing letters to her childhood self, and when necessary, receiving inpatient treatment to navigate challenging times. She shares that the countless resources provided by Shahrzad and The Buckeye Ranch during those challenging moments gave her the options and consistent safe space she needed to heal.

‘I have come so far’

When speaking about her healing journey, Sarah shares the part she is most proud of is how far she has come within the last year, “Since I have been paired with Shahrzad, I have progressed enough with my mental health that I notice the warning signs. I have ways to cope that are safer and much healthier, and I can now ask for help when and where it’s needed.”

This ability to ask for help is a huge milestone for Sarah. Looking back, she reflects on just how extremely hard it used to be for her to admit she was struggling, choosing to just push through instead. For those with similar struggles she counsels, “It can be hard and absolutely terrifying at times, but asking for help is completely worth it in the end.”

The Buckeye Ranch has guided Sarah to be successful outside of treatment by helping her to understand that she is more than just her diagnosis, and that she is never alone.

Today, Sarah defines mental health as how she feels about herself and others, her ability to cope with the things that life throws her way, and the ability to develop herself emotionally and psychologically. She adds, “Despite my mental health trying to hold me back, I can now understand it, focus on my strengths, and use it to push myself further, but also ask for help when I need it. Setbacks don’t always mean my progress is gone; it just means that I am closer to success.”

A Future of Sharing Hope and Healing

Today, thanks to understanding her strengths and healthy coping mechanisms to manage challenges that come her way, Sarah is thriving. She has recently celebrated several of life’s milestones, including getting her driver’s license, graduating high school.

in February, and just recently being accepted into Columbus State Community College, where she will be pursuing her associate’s degree in social work!

Sarah envisions a future where she herself is an outpatient therapist, working to provide youth mental health treatment in Ohio. She wants to offer others the support she needed when she was younger, helping the next generation through the challenges they may face – a full circle moment she has long dreamed of.

If Sarah could share any advice with her younger self, it would be, “Though it may not feel like it at times, it does and will get better. It won’t be easy, but never give up hope.” We are so proud of the progress that Sarah has made in her healing journey and cannot wait to see what she achieves in the next phase of life!

To learn more about the Community-Based Mental Health Services offered at The Buckeye Ranch, visit: bit.ly/Community-BasedMentalHealth.

If you feel that you or someone you know could benefit from these services, reach out today by calling (614)-875-2371.

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