New Substance Abuse Treatment Program for Adolescents

Youth For Tomorrow, a leading Northern Virginia behavioral health services provider, has launched a new offering of its Intensive Outpatient Program for Adolescents Seeking Substance Use Treatment (IOP) at its Lansdowne office. The program is for adolescents, ages 13-18, starting July 1st, 2019.

The IOP program is licensed under the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services and uses an evidenced-based curriculum. It takes place for 10-12 weeks, with groups being held Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays, from 4:00pm until 7:00pm, with Thursday involving a family group session.

The process begins with a comprehensive, confidential, bio/psycho/social/spiritual/substance abuse assessment using ASAM criteria. The assessment includes a Pain and Nutrition screen as well as the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, and the SASSI-A2 for Adolescents.

Dr. Aisha Thompson is the Substance Abuse Program Manager for Youth for Tomorrow Behavioral Health Services at Loudoun. Dr. Thompson is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Substance Abuse Program Coordinator. She has devoted her career to serving children, adolescents, and families. She is excited to be a part of the Youth for Tomorrow team. She has a Masters of Education in Risk and Prevention from Harvard University and a Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia. She completed her postdoctoral residency at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and has been working in the Northern Virginia area ever since.

Youth For Tomorrow was founded in 1983 by then-Redskins Head Coach Joe Gibbs as a residential facility for boys, offering a home environment, counseling and education services. The residential services were opened to girls in 2003. YFT subsequently added programs for pregnant teens (2007) and sexually abused and trafficked girls (2009).

In 2012 YFT began offering its behavioral health services to the larger community through regional offices and in area public schools. BHS programs include Outpatient Counseling, Intensive In-Home Services, Therapeutic Mentoring, Treatment Foster Care and an Intensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Program. More than 50 area schools receive Therapeutic Day Treatment services from YFT, and students also receive nursing services and substance abuse counseling and prevention and intervention for high risk children.

Youth For Tomorrow operates six regional offices in the Northern Virginia area. YFT’s other behavioral health services regional offices are located in Prince William County (Gainesville, Manassas and Woodbridge), Fairfax County (Springfield) and Fauquier County (Warrenton).

In 2018, YFT provided over 18,000 counseling sessions to children in crisis and their families. Greater than 95% of participants that received YFT’s behavioral health services were satisfied with the services they received.

Youth For Tomorrow accepts most private insurance and Medicaid, making its services available and affordable to anyone including underserved populations. The Lansdowne Office is located at 19415 Deerfield Avenue Suite 101 Lansdowne, VA 20176. For more information please go to the Youth For Tomorrow website at http://youthfortomorrow.org/Outpatient-Substance-Abuse-Treatment or call 703-659-9900.