Learning Center
Expert-written guides on mental health crisis navigation, clinical conditions, treatment options, and state-specific resources. All articles are authored by Patrice Buwe, APRN, PMHNP-BC, drawing on nearly three decades of clinical nursing experience.
What to Expect When You Call a Mental Health Crisis Hotline
If you are wondering what to expect when you call a mental health crisis hotline, I want you to know something before we talk about phone prompts,...
Mobile Crisis Teams Explained: Why They May Be a Better Option Than Calling 911
If you are reading this because someone you love is unraveling, frightened, manic, or behaving in a way that feels unmanageable, I want you to take a deep...
Psychiatric Hospital vs. Crisis Stabilization Unit: Understanding the Difference
If you are searching for psychiatric hospital vs. crisis stabilization unit, there is a good chance you are already worried about yourself or someone you...
How to Create a Mental Health Safety Plan That Actually Works
If you are searching for how to create a mental health safety plan, you may already know what it feels like when distress starts rising faster than your...
Voluntary vs. Involuntary Psychiatric Hold: What You and Your Family Need to Know
If you are trying to understand voluntary vs. involuntary psychiatric hold, you may already be in a frightening moment. Maybe someone you love is talking...
What Happens During a Psychiatric Evaluation in the Emergency Room?
If you are searching for what happens during a psychiatric evaluation in the emergency room, you may already be in a frightening and exhausting moment....
How to Support a Loved One in a Mental Health Crisis: A Practical Guide
If you are searching for how to support a loved one in a mental health crisis, you may already be carrying more fear than you know what to do with. Maybe...
Recognizing the Warning Signs of a Mental Health Emergency
If you are searching for warning signs of a mental health emergency, there is a good chance something already feels wrong. Maybe your loved one is...
Will Insurance Cover Mental Health Crisis Care?
If you are trying to understand will insurance cover mental health crisis care, you may already be dealing with two emergencies at once: the emotional...
Post-Crisis Care: The Critical Steps After Discharge from a Psychiatric Facility
If you are searching for post-crisis care after discharge from a psychiatric facility, you may be feeling both relieved and terrified. The hospital stay...
Major Depressive Disorder: Symptoms, Triggers, and When It Becomes a Crisis
If you are searching for major depressive disorder symptoms, you may be trying to understand whether what you feel is sadness, burnout, grief, or...
Severe Anxiety and Panic Attacks: When to Seek Urgent Care
If you are searching for severe anxiety and panic attacks, you may be trying to understand whether what is happening is “just anxiety” or something...
Bipolar Disorder: Navigating Manic and Depressive Crises
If you are searching for bipolar disorder manic and depressive crises, you may be trying to understand a pattern that feels confusing, exhausting, or...
Schizophrenia and Psychosis: A Guide for Families and Caregivers
If you are searching for schizophrenia and psychosis, you may be trying to understand something that feels frightening, confusing, or painfully...
Borderline Personality Disorder: Emotional Dysregulation and Crisis
If you are searching for borderline personality disorder emotional dysregulation, you may be trying to understand emotions that feel too big, too fast, or...
Substance Use Disorder and Co-Occurring Mental Health Crises (Dual Diagnosis)
If you are searching for dual diagnosis mental health crisis, you may be watching someone you love struggle with both substance use and mental illness at...
PTSD: Managing Severe Flashbacks and Trauma-Related Crises
If you are searching for PTSD flashbacks and trauma-related crisis, you may be trying to understand why the past suddenly feels like it is happening right...
Eating Disorders: When Medical Intervention Becomes Necessary
If you are searching for eating disorder medical intervention, you may be worried that someone you love is no longer safe. Maybe your child is losing...
Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Psychosis: Emergency Resources for New Mothers
If you are searching for postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, I want to begin with the words many new mothers need to hear first: you are not a...
Suicidal Ideation: Understanding the Spectrum from Passive Thoughts to Active Crisis
If you are searching for suicidal ideation, I want to speak to you with care and steadiness. Maybe you are having thoughts you have not told anyone. Maybe...
Mental Health Crisis Resources for Veterans and Active Duty Military
If you are searching for mental health crisis resources for veterans and active duty military, I want to begin with respect. Military service can shape a...
Navigating the Teen Mental Health Crisis: A Guide for Parents
If you are searching for teen mental health crisis guide for parents, you may already be afraid. Maybe your teenager has stopped talking, stopped eating,...
LGBTQ+ Youth: Finding Affirming Crisis Care and Support
If you are searching for LGBTQ+ youth crisis support, I want to speak first to the young person who may be reading this quietly, maybe in a bedroom,...
Mental Health Emergencies in Older Adults: What Families Need to Know
If you are searching for mental health emergencies in older adults, you may be worried about a parent, spouse, grandparent, neighbor, or older patient who...
College Students in Crisis: Utilizing Campus and Community Resources
If you are searching for college students in crisis resources, you may be reading this alone in a dorm room, library, apartment, car, or bathroom stall,...
Crisis Support for First Responders and Healthcare Workers
If you are searching for crisis support for first responders and healthcare workers, you may be the person everyone else counts on. You may be the nurse...
Mental Health Resources for Rural Communities: Overcoming the Access Gap
If you are searching for mental health resources for rural communities, you may already know how hard it can be to find help close to home. Maybe the...
Culturally Competent Crisis Care for BIPOC Communities
If you are searching for culturally competent crisis care for BIPOC communities, you may be looking for more than a therapist, hotline, or hospital. You...
Supporting Individuals with Autism or Developmental Disabilities in a Mental Health Crisis
If you are searching for autism mental health crisis support, you may already be worried that the usual advice does not fit your loved one. Maybe they are...
Crisis Intervention for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
If you are searching for crisis intervention for individuals experiencing homelessness, you may be worried about someone sleeping outside, living in a...
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Crisis Stabilization: What It Is and How It Helps
If you are searching for CBT in crisis stabilization, you may be wondering how therapy can help when someone is already overwhelmed, suicidal, panicked,...
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Skills for Surviving Emotional Crises
If you are searching for DBT skills for emotional crisis, you may be trying to survive a feeling that has become too big for your body. You may feel...
The Role of Peer Support Specialists in Mental Health Recovery
If you are searching for peer support specialists in mental health recovery, you may be wondering why someone with lived experience can sometimes reach a...
Trauma-Informed Care: What It Is and Why It Should Matter to You
If you are searching for trauma-informed care, you may already know what it feels like to sit in a waiting room, emergency department, crisis center, or...
Medication Management During a Psychiatric Emergency: What Patients and Families Need to Know
If you are searching for medication management during a psychiatric emergency, you may be worried about what will happen in a hospital, crisis center, or...
Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) vs. Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP): Which Level of Care Do You Need?
If you are searching for IOP vs PHP, you may be trying to figure out what comes after a crisis, after an emergency room visit, or after a psychiatric...
Telehealth and Virtual Crisis Counseling: What Works, What Doesn't, and How to Access It
If you are searching for telehealth and virtual crisis counseling, you may be trying to get help without leaving home. Maybe transportation is a barrier....
Holistic and Complementary Approaches to Post-Crisis Recovery
If you are searching for holistic and complementary approaches to post-crisis recovery, you may be asking a very human question: “What else can help me...
Family Therapy: Rebuilding Relationships After a Mental Health Emergency
If you are searching for family therapy after a mental health emergency, your family may still be carrying the shock of what happened. Maybe there was an...
ECT and TMS: Advanced Interventions for Treatment-Resistant Mental Illness
If you are searching for ECT and TMS for treatment-resistant mental illness, you may already be worn down by the phrase “nothing has worked.” Maybe...
California Mental Health Crisis Guide: Navigating County-Based Resources
If you are searching for a California mental health crisis guide, you may already feel overwhelmed by how complicated the system is. California has...
Texas Mental Health System: Finding Urgent Psychiatric Care in the Lone Star State
If you are searching for the Texas mental health system during a crisis, you may already be realizing how large and uneven the system feels. Texas has...
New York's Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Programs (CPEP): A Complete Guide
If you are searching for New York CPEP mental health crisis care, you may be trying to understand where to go when a standard emergency room does not feel...
Florida Mental Health Resources: Navigating the Baker Act and Local Crisis Services
If you are searching for Florida Baker Act mental health resources, you may already be frightened by a term that many people use but few fully understand....
Illinois Crisis Intervention Services and the 988 Implementation
If you are searching for Illinois crisis intervention services, you may be trying to understand whether to call 988, the CARES line, a community mental...
Pennsylvania Mental Health Crisis Centers and County Mental Health Programs
If you are searching for Pennsylvania mental health crisis centers, you may be trying to help someone you love in a state where the answer often depends...
Ohio's Mobile Crisis Response Teams: How to Access Them in Your Community
If you are searching for Ohio mobile crisis response teams, you may be trying to avoid an unnecessary emergency room visit or a police-first response for...
Georgia Behavioral Health Crisis Centers (BHCC): What They Are and How to Use Them
If you are searching for Georgia Behavioral Health Crisis Centers, you may be trying to decide whether a person in crisis needs an emergency department, a...
Michigan Mental Health and Addiction Services: A Directory Guide
If you are searching for Michigan mental health and addiction services, you may already be discovering how many acronyms stand between a person in crisis...
North Carolina's Facility-Based Crisis Centers (FBC): A Complete Guide
If you are searching for North Carolina Facility-Based Crisis centers, you may be trying to find an alternative to the emergency room for someone in...
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