Ryther Expands Youth Mental Health Services with New Teen Program

SEATTLE, WA – May 07, 2026 – Ryther, a long-standing Seattle nonprofit, has announced a significant expansion of its behavioral health services with the launch of the Juniper Mood & Anxiety program. Set to begin accepting participants in June 2026, the new offering is an intensive program designed specifically for adolescents aged 14–17, addressing a critical need for specialized mental health care for older teens in the region.

The new program, which includes both Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) levels of care, completes Ryther’s comprehensive continuum of services, which now supports youth from ages 8 through 17. It joins the existing Sage and Willow programs, which cater to younger children, creating a more integrated system of care for families navigating the complexities of youth mental health.

A Response to a Lingering Crisis

The launch of Juniper comes at a crucial time for Washington's youth. While the most recent Healthy Youth Survey from 2025 shows some slight improvements, the mental health landscape for adolescents remains fraught with challenges. Statewide, nearly six in ten adolescents report experiencing anxiety or depression, and an estimated 114,000 require clinical care. In 2021, a staggering 39% of 10th graders reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more consecutive weeks, a figure that, while slightly lower in recent surveys, still represents a significant portion of the teenage population.

Anxiety, in particular, remains a persistent issue, with 29% of 10th graders reporting feeling anxious in 2025. The Juniper program is designed to directly address these prevalent mood and anxiety symptoms that severely interfere with daily life, making it difficult for teens to attend school, maintain relationships, or manage everyday responsibilities. The need is further underscored by a 2024 Children's Alliance report, which highlighted that as many as 80,000 adolescents in Washington could be suffering from major depression without access to professional care.

Ryther’s expansion aims to be part of the solution. "With Sage, Willow, and now Juniper, we can offer specialized, developmentally appropriate intensive care to youth ages 8 through 17—each program tailored to the specific challenges young people face," said Karen Brady, Ryther's Executive Director & CEO, in the official announcement. "Launching Juniper represents a significant step in our ability to meet the growing mental health needs of adolescents in our community."

An Integrated and Holistic Treatment Model

Juniper distinguishes itself by integrating three powerful, evidence-based therapeutic modalities: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This multi-faceted approach allows clinicians to tailor treatment to the complex and often overlapping needs of adolescents struggling with severe mood and anxiety disorders.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a first-line treatment for youth anxiety and depression, helps teens identify and reframe the negative thought patterns and behaviors that fuel their distress.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) provides critical skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness, which are particularly effective for adolescents experiencing intense emotional dysregulation.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a more recent but highly effective approach, teaches psychological flexibility, helping teens to accept difficult internal experiences while committing to actions aligned with their personal values.

Beyond traditional talk therapy, the program is designed to be holistic and engaging. Services include individual and family therapy, skill-based group sessions, and psychiatry services for medication management at the PHP level. A unique feature is the use of experiential therapy, including activities on Ryther's on-campus challenge course, which helps teens build confidence and practice new skills in a dynamic environment. Recognizing the co-occurrence of mental health and substance use challenges, Juniper also offers an optional substance use recovery component, providing a layer of support for teens who need it.

Building a Continuum of Care

The introduction of Juniper is more than just a new program; it represents the capstone of Ryther’s strategic effort to build a comprehensive care continuum. This model is considered a best practice in behavioral health, ensuring that youth can receive the right level of care at the right time and transition smoothly between services as their needs evolve.

Juniper now stands alongside Ryther’s other intensive programs:

• Willow (Ages 8–14): A neurodiversity-affirming program specializing in anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), utilizing the gold-standard Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy through engaging formats like games and art.
• Sage (Ages 8–14): A program focused on mood and resiliency for youth experiencing depression and trauma-related stress, grounded in a whole-person DBT approach.

By creating distinct, developmentally appropriate programs for different age groups and needs, Ryther can provide more targeted and effective interventions. An 8-year-old struggling with OCD has vastly different needs than a 16-year-old grappling with depression and social anxiety. This continuum allows the organization to support a child from middle childhood through adolescence, preventing gaps in care that often occur during these critical developmental transitions.

Bridging the Accessibility Gap

Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of Ryther's expansion is its commitment to accessibility. In a healthcare landscape where intensive mental health services can be prohibitively expensive and difficult to access, Ryther has made a concerted effort to lower financial barriers. All three programs—Sage, Willow, and Juniper—accept most major commercial insurance plans as well as all Medicaid managed care plans in Washington State.

The inclusion of all Medicaid plans is particularly crucial for promoting health equity. It ensures that intensive, high-quality care is not reserved only for families with the most robust private insurance, but is also available to low-income families who often face disproportionate stressors and barriers to care. This approach directly confronts the access crisis that has left Washington ranking near the bottom of U.S. states for youth mental wellness.

While this commitment to broad insurance acceptance is a major step, the demand for adolescent mental health services in the Seattle area continues to outpace supply. Providers across the region, including major institutions like Seattle Children's Hospital, often face long waitlists for their intensive programs. The launch of Juniper adds vital capacity to the system, offering another lifeline for families in desperate need of support. For parents and providers seeking help, Ryther's intake team can be reached to navigate the referral and admission process for this much-needed new resource.