Company Strengthens Leadership Team With Seasoned Clinical Expert and Appoints CCO CHANDLER, Ariz. — February 16, 2024 — Embark Behavioral Health, a leading network of mental health treatment programs for youths, young adults, and their families, is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Sharnell Myles, licensed psychotherapist, certified clinical trauma professional, and diversity and equity leader. “We are thrilled to announce the well-deserved promotion of Dr. Sharnell Myles to the position of Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) at Embark Behavioral Health. Dr ..read more

As we embark on another year of creating joy and healing generations, we want to take a moment to reflect on our team’s achievements in 2023 and outline our goals for 2024. First, let us check in on the status of our BHAG. Our Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) is to lead the way in taking adolescent and young adult anxiety, depression, and suicide from the all-time highs of 2018 to all-time lows by 2028. For context, suicide rates for 10–24-year-olds increased by 52.2% between 2000-2021. Fortunately, results last year showed a decline in suicides year over year (from 2021 to 2022) for the first ..read more

If your adolescent, teen, or young adult is struggling with secretive behavior, rituals, or compulsive habits around food they may be struggling with an eating disorder, our eating disorder test could help provide a helpful pre-diagnostic step into possible signs and symptoms.   Keep reading below for more information about eating disorders — including how it’s diagnosed and what happens if it’s left untreated — and to take the questionnaire.  Table of contents Who is This Eating Disorder Test For?  Are Certain Genders More at Risk for an Eating Disorder?  How Do You ..read more

Talking with your kids or teenagers is an effective form of communication, but when your child engages in excessive talking, this could be a sign of a serious issue. While it’s normal for some rapid and self-focused speech in adolescence, teens who talk excessively may speak impulsively and overshare information at inappropriate places and times. Excessive talking also makes it difficult for others to engage with them in conversations, negatively impacting relationships.  “Excessive talking impairs various aspects of a child’s social, work, and school life,” stated Katherine Atherton, a m ..read more

When it comes to joy vs. happiness, these emotions are often confused with one another. However, they have different meanings and implications. Understanding the difference between joy and happiness is important, as it can help your family prioritize what’s most essential and appreciate life in a much deeper and more meaningful way.   To explore this topic, we spoke to Katherine Atherton, a therapist at OPI, a young adult transitional living program in California.  Table of contents Defining Happiness Is happiness an emotion? Examples of happiness Defining Joy Is joy an e ..read more

When your teen feels overwhelmed with life’s many demands and stressors or is struggling with depression, they may experience passive suicidal ideation.* This is a serious issue that requires action. To learn more about it, we talked to Cindy Song, a licensed master social worker and therapist at Embark Behavioral Health in Alpharetta, Georgia.  Song emphasized that while it may be an uncomfortable or scary topic, as a parent, you need to understand what passive suicidal ideation is — including the difference between passive suicidal ideation versus active suicidal ideation. By understan ..read more

Considering the challenges that come with adulthood, life skills for teens are essential. They help teenagers take better care of themselves and make them more resilient, capable of handling mental and emotional stress.  “It’s important for teenagers to learn real-life skills so when they go to college or get a job, they feel prepared to handle the reality of being an adult,” said Sydney Bartel, a clinical therapist at Embark Behavioral Health in Greenwood Village, Colorado. “In adulthood, you need to interact with a wide variety of people in many different situations and environments, s ..read more

Embark Behavioral Health is excited to announce its collaboration with Dr. Brad Riemann, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is serving as an Embark consultant and clinical adviser. Riemann is a highly respected behavioral health expert, bringing over 25 years of expertise in evidence-based treatment programming, standardized training protocols, and leveraging outcomes to improve care, treatment, and services.   His experience includes developing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety programming at the intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization, and residential l ..read more

At Embark Behavioral Health, its healing treatment approach provides an evidenced-based therapeutic structure that creates effective growth, learning, and healing for youths, young adults, and their families across the United States. Based on human development research and literature, the approach allows Embark treatment teams to best identify and understand each client and family’s emotional, relational, and psychological challenges.   “Every person along the lifespan is in the process of development, and that’s what allows us to treat not only the client but also the parents and t ..read more

Mental health goals are not always top of mind when teens, young adults, and their families are considering New Year’s resolutions. But as your family prepares to flip the page to a fresh start on the calendar, it’s a great time to prioritize mental well-being.   “Taking a step back, evaluating your mental health, and being patient with yourself are key to being able to take on all that the new year can bring,” said Hailee Buras, an associate clinical mental health counselor at New Haven, an Embark Behavioral Health residential treatment center in Utah.   We sat down with ..read more