We are a team of passionate and committed clinicians who are building a virtual teen intensive outpatient program and offer regular teen groups for struggling teens. We are passionate about service, accessibility, and believe that recovery is an option for everyone.
75% of all mental health disorders are discovered before the age of 25. Although long-term recovery options for teens may be time intensive and sometimes pricey - they do work. In fact, outpatient treatment early on for teens presenting with mental health symptoms is the most successful treatment option for increasing longevity of life, reducing disability, and creating fulfillment in adulthood.
Many mental health centers are focused on treating immediate acute crises. These services are essential however partial. Long-term recovery options are extremely important to achieve a full return to wellness. Just like an athlete needing months of physical therapy after an injury before returning to a sport, after an acute mental health episode it can take months of recovery in order to build one's life back together.
At Antelope Recovery, we provide long-term recovery options that include a full system of support such as family education and healing as well as community and relationship building.
The 3 treatment methods
Treatment consists of three different pillars: medication, therapy, and rehab services. Through a combination of these three treatment techniques, recovery is very possible for any teen.
Purpose, People, Place
We believe healing happens by addressing purpose, people and place. We support the person as an individual, we help them to create purpose and meaning in their life, and we offer a safe place for them to accomplish that.
Stages of untreated mental illness progression
Period of Risk
This is the period of time before symptoms appear in the patient. During this time, especially if mental illness runs in your family, you want to focus on self-awareness skills, empathy building skills, and resilience skills with your teen.
The Prodrome
This is the period of time when symptoms are first starting to appear. This is often referred to as the "on-ramp" to an episode. This is where we want to focus on getting high quality treatment to patients early on, so that we can stop the progression of the illness.
First Acute Episode
An acute episode can look like a psychotic break, a suicide attempt, or a severe depressive episode. This is the height of expression for the mental illness and is a time of disfunction and disintegration. Often during this time the client is unable to care for themselves or others, and are at risk of harming themselves and others. Usually hospitalization or immediate acute care is needed at this stage.
Chronic or Pervasive psychosis
If an acute episode isn't treated, the illness will often be ongoing or chronic and become more challenging to treat. The longer psychosis and mental illness goes untreated, typically the more challenging it becomes to treat it.
Where we come in
At each stage of mental illness, we are able to offer different types of support to effectively treat the client and create pathways to full recovery. The sooner appropriate care is given in mental illness progression, the more likely full recovery is possible. We know that many clients enter into recovery involuntarily during a psychotic episode in a hospital. This is the least desirable path and the least effect entry point for clients to enter into mental health treatment.
By creating options sooner in the progression for full support, we are able to effectively treat more clients.
Meet our Team
Shelby Robbins
Founder
Shelby Robbins is the founder of Antelope Recovery and is on a mission to bring deeper integrity and kindness into the mental health industry. Like most people in the industry, Shelby committed herself to the mental health field after watching the chaos of mental illness destroy many loved ones' lives. She's since discovered that there is so much hope and opportunity in mental health - healing is really possible for many people and there are models for care that can start bridging the gaps for families. Shelby currently lives in Boulder Colorado with her family. She enjoys getting outside, morning coffee, spending time with her niece, skiing, and curling up with a good book near a fire.
Anh Nguyen
Clinical Director
Anh Nguyen started her path to mental health with an undergraduate degree in Applied Behavioral Science that she obtained at the University of Kansas. She spent years in non-profit doing grant work and implementing prevention programs in urban, suburban, and rural parts of Kansas City. She then worked for a medical school in Kansas to help manage their outreach program called Score 1 for Health, which was started up by a former Kansas City Chiefs player, Deron Cherry. She has worked as a clinical therapist for 7 years and spent the last 3 year managing therapy and case management programs in Kansas City. Anh enjoys her daily 2 mile runs in the morning. She has a love for skiing and just gained a new interest in off-roading. She loves coffee shops and is exploring different kinds of food.
Megan Rose
Head of Data and Security
As an engineer in the renewable energy industry for the past 13 years, Megan Rose has been focused on making the world a better place one solar energy system at a time. Throughout her career, she has mastered data science and analytics techniques and helped to build several data-intensive platforms, and she is excited to use these skills at Antelope to improve the world in another very important way: teen mental health. As a teen, Megan struggled with depression and family issues and wishes she had better access to high-quality resources, so teen mental health has a special place in her heart. She lives in Boulder, CO with her husband, daughter, and two dogs, and her hobbies include dancing and astrophotography.
Katia Nikitina, MSW
Clinical Manager and Group Facilitator
Katia Nikitina, MSW, is on the founding team at Antelope Recovery working on clinical program development and group facilitation. She aims to strengthen youth resilience through community building, introspective learning, and humane education. Katia has earned a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in Sustainable Development and Global Practice. She has nearly a decade of experience in the healthcare field, and has spent the last five years serving in management positions at Fire Mountain Residential Treatment Center. During her time at Fire Mountain, Katia has helped hundreds of young people improve their interpersonal relationships, cultivate coping skills, and find their paths. Supporting youth in experiencing moments of epiphany and self-actualization has been among her most cherished professional accomplishments. Katia moved to Boulder County from Russia in 1998 and takes great pride in continuing to serve teens in her home community. In recent years she has joined her father in training and competing in Olympic Air Pistol events. In her free time, Katia enjoys paddle boarding, sunny days, cooking meals with her mother, and caring for her plant and animal companions.
Aidan Longtain
Teen Facilitator and Clinical Manager
Aidan Longtain is a part of the clinical team at Antelope Recovery and the lead group facilitator. Aidan is an experienced group facilitator and has trained with organizations such as Partners for Youth Empowerment and Authentic World. Aidan has been training clinical teams in how to lead powerful teen groups for the last five years and is able to reliably create transformational and powerful teen group experiences. Aidan, the product of a turbulent adolescence, strives to support youth in discovering how facing the suffering and trauma of childhood opens the door to a truly fulfilling adulthood. A former competitive skateboarder, Aidan thrives in intensity and loves to be challenged. Some of his favorite things include campfires, bears, and quality craftsmanship.
Orma Ravindranath
Clinical Intern
Orma Ravindranath is a clinical intern at Antelope Recovery working on clinical program development. Her passion for adolescent mental health began in the neuroscience world, after realizing how little is known about the brain and psychological development through puberty and adolescence. She is currently a Clinical Psychology doctoral candidate specializing in psychotherapy with adolescents and young adults and is looking forward to working with Antelope Recovery to expand access to mental health care for adolescents. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her cat Bella, hiking, and baking.
