Yellowbrick Consultation and Treatment Center, serving emerging adults in Evanston, IL, is pleased to announce Extreme Experiences as a focused area of treatment for those suffering from psychosis. 

“We’ve actually been doing all of these interventions for years, and quite well too” states Jesse Viner MD, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Yellowbrick.  “Creating Extreme Experiences as a specific treatment path organizes these interventions to address the unique needs of these patients.” Dr. Viner continues, “Early and intensive intervention can have a lifelong impact on the wellbeing, functioning and longevity in these patient’s lives.”

Yellowbrick’s Extreme Experiences offers services that appreciate the fears and concerns associated with the onset of psychosis in emerging adulthood and is organized to address these apprehensions amongst both emerging adults and their families. Following medical and neuroimaging workups to rule out non-psychiatric causes for the onset of psychosis, services target the key elements associated with deterioration in the research literature and clinical experience working with early onset psychosis. The good news is that research demonstrates that early and intense targeted interventions can affect the life-long trajectory of these conditions.

 Extreme Experiences services include:

• Education and ongoing support for emerging adults and families to understand the illness and specifically to address and counteract stigma.
• ReCognition: Research demonstrates that cognitive impairment is at the nucleus of many of the symptomatic pathways in psychotic illness.
• Neuromodulation: Quieting the brain’s disrupted networking through pharmaco-genomically guided medication strategies combined with techniques such as neurofeedback and alpha-stimulation. Active management of adverse, self-damaging effects of medication such as weight gain.
• Promotion of brain hygiene through integrative nutrition, exercise and sleep enhancement.
• Occupational therapy for developing executive functioning and life skills as well as the development of meaningful, purposeful and satisfying activity; work, volunteering, education, etc.
• Support for not engaging in behaviors that activate the psychotic process such as substance use, excess gaming, etc.
• Support for socialization and membership in the Yellowbrick Community of emerging adult peers. Isolation promotes psychosis. Relationships nourish our brains and promote growth and healing.
• Mindfulness training for distress tolerance in the face of psychotic symptoms.
• Mind-body integration exercises and psychiatrically informed yoga to counteract detachment from the body self.
• Support for seeking and sustaining needed medical care. 

If you’d like to schedule a meeting with Yellowbrick’s team including Dr. Viner to learn more about Extreme Experiences as a treatment path at Yellowbrick, please reach out to Tracy Ashworth, Director of Business Relationship Development, at 847-869-1500 ext. 207.

About Yellowbrick Consultation & Treatment Center 

Yellowbrick Consultation & Treatment Center, located at 1560 Sherman Ave. Ste. 400 Evanston, Illinois, is a nationally recognized trauma and research-informed intensive treatment center serving emerging adults ages 18-30’s. Yellowbrick’s Minding the Brain PHP/IOP is organized around the developmental emotional needs and maturing brain systems of emerging adults. There are also specialty services for trauma recovery, substance use disorders, Soma Self/eating disorders, ReCognition/cognitive restoration. Comprehensive Diagnostic Assessments are part of every Yellowbrick admission but can also be offered as a stand-alone option beginning at age 16 to determine the best course of treatment.  Feel free to reach out to Tracy Ashworth 847-869-1500 ext. 207 for more information or to set up a virtual or in-person tour.  Admissions for Yellowbrick can be reached directly at 866-234-0222. Learn more about Yellowbrick at www.yellowbrickprogram.com