Red Cliff Ascent | About Diagnosis

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RedCliff Ascent is a proud member of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs.

About Diagnosis

RedCliff Ascent has treated thousands of troubled teens diagnosed with behavioral and emotional problems. The issue of diagnosis with adolescents is tricky at best. Many times the symptoms demonstrated by a struggling adolescent are a collection of behaviors or maladaptive coping mechanisms as opposed to a strict diagnosable disorder. The behaviors or coping mechanisms might include a variety of symptoms including anger, sadness, irresponsibility, academic failure, rage, withdrawal, depression, paranoia, defiance, dishonesty, lack of motivation, low self-esteem, substance abuse etc.

Mood fluctuations, oppositional defiance, impulsiveness, and inattentiveness are some of the many behavioral symptoms that compel parents, teachers and others to seek treatment for their adolescent. Through RedCliff's eleven-year history, most adolescents that have been referred to the program have been previously diagnosed or demonstrating symptoms from a number of categories. The more common of these diagnostic labels are:

Major Depression
Bipolar Disorder
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Learning Disorder
Adjustment Disorder
Impulse Control Disorder
Substance Related Disorders

The Treatment Alternative

A dangerous trap that many adolescents incorporate into a coping style based on avoidance is using their "diagnosis" as a means to shirk individual responsibility. Whether the diagnostic category represents a pure, neuro-biological dysfunction or a maladaptive coping mechanism, the most important aspect of a diagnosis is understanding the description of realities that this presents for the individual adolescent

RedCliff offers a treatment alternative that does not inadvertently empower the perceived influence of a "diagnosis" in the adolescent's life. This is accomplished primarily from an approach, which emphasizes the treatment of the individual as opposed to the treatment of the diagnosis. RedCliff allows the student to come to an understanding that their "diagnosis" is merely one aspect of the total human being that they may be. As such, the desired outcome is that the student becomes much more skilled in finding adaptive ways of managing the difficult aspects of their lives, rather than using a diagnostic category as one more mechanism to avoid taking responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and behaviors.