[mydailybattle16]

I have been in treatment for about 4 years and that’s included 15+ hospitalizations. I residential as an adolescent. 3 DBT iop groups and years of individual therapy and psychiatrist. I’m currently in a DBT iop and the therapist mentioned at the the beginning that I’m heading towards being put residential. I thought he was wrong because I was doing okay and using skills and then this week happened and things seem to be falling apart, again. After such a short time. When do I start considering residential? I’m tired of going in and out of hospitals. I’m just tired of living my life like this.

When I was in (teen) residential it was a place where they got you functioning again so you could go home. Most everyone who started there wasn't going to school anymore, and had problems at home (constant fights and arguments) or overworked parents (parents who were [trying to] care/caring for and worrying about their child constantly.
There were one or two who were there after a crisis ward stay - they weren't well enough to go home and not in acute crisis anymore (or not constantly or not often enough) to warrant staying on the crisis ward. (Chronic crisis did end up on our ward sometimes though)

If you use the psychcentral search engine and search for "Breadfish" as author and "residential" as keyword you'll probably find a thing or two I've written about it. I wrote a rather long post about what it was like and what, in my experience, it could be useful for and couldn't be useful for.

As for when to consider - I hadn't been to school in about half a year I think and I rarely left the house - I realized my weekly therapy was never going to get me back to school.

I was there about 9 months, was eventually discharged because I wasn't getting better.

Residential.. it isn't a cure-all or even a cure. We didn't spend all day in therapy, most had therapy once a week (generally CBT, some had EMDR), some twice (generally CBT and EMDR), some also had psychomotoric therapy. And some had medication consults with the psychiatrist.
It was mostly useful for getting 'back into the swing of life'. Mostly: going back to school. Also: a healthy day-night rhytm (breakfast at 8.00, in your room at 22.30 although you weren't forced to sleep, go to bed, do nothing, do anything, as long as you didn't make enough noise to wake someone else), and "socializing" (meals were mandatory, as was afternoon tea and evening tea). If something was up, you could talk to a staff member (ward was mostly staffed with social workers with the odd nurse thrown in), and they helped with some functional things if it was really needed (one girl with severe OCD needed someone to verbally assist her during her shower, especially at the beginning of her stay, else she'd be in there for hours).

It's focused on forcing a change in behaviour (going to school, not laying in bed most of the day) and not really on feeling better or dealing with emotions better.

[Mountaindewed]

I️ was in residential from November 2006- Jan 2011.

Residential saved my life.

Now I️ work and am on few meds, and In general am doing very well.

I️t was very helpful for me.

[Lola5]

Originally Posted by Breadfish

It's focused on forcing a change in behaviour (going to school, not laying in bed most of the day) and not really on feeling better or dealing with emotions better.

My T and pdoc keep recommending it to me. I'm in my 30s and have severe, debilitating anxiety. Would you say then that it would not be helpful for someone like me?

Originally Posted by Bozdickens

I️ was in residential from November 2006- Jan 2011.

Residential saved my life.

Now I️ work and am on few meds, and In general am doing very well.

I️t was very helpful for me.

Can you tell me more about your experience? You were there for 4 years? In what ways did it help?

[Mountaindewed]

I got on many of the medications I’m on now. I met the best therapist I’ve had.

They also tried this thing where no matter what sort of behavior I had they would not send me to the hospital. They used to send me whenever I did the smallest thing. Then my parents and my caseworker told the place to just stop sending me to the hospital. No matter what happened.

That’s really what helped. My meds were not being switched around every 3 weeks. So they actually had a chance to work. I was on award systems for good behaviors. I had developed good relationships with the staff and other kids.

Eventually my behaviors and my aggression went away. My therapist told me it’s very hard to regress back to that particular point I was at. And she was right.