# Before You Refer to the Hospital: De-Escalation, Safety Planning, and Wraparound Care for Teens in Crisis

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-modern-therapist-s-survival-guide-with-curt-widhalm-and-katie-vernoy-410171/before-you-refer-to-the-hospital-de-escalation-safety-planning-and-wraparound-care-for-teens-in-crisis
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-modern-therapist-s-survival-guide-with-curt-widhalm-and-katie-vernoy-410171/before-you-refer-to-the-hospital-de-escalation-safety-planning-and-wraparound-care-for-teens-in-crisis.md
Podcast: [The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-modern-therapist-s-survival-guide-with-curt-widhalm-and-katie-vernoy-410171)
Published: 2026-05-25T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/HEGNI5895064102.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/HEGNI5895064102.mp3
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Duration seconds: 4399

## Resource

Before You Refer to the Hospital: De-Escalation, Safety Planning, and Wraparound Care for Teens in Crisis When a suicidal teen is in crisis, is the hospital really the safest call? What outpatient therapists need to know. Curt Widhalm, LMFT, leads this episode from his work running a comprehensive DBT private practice in Los Angeles that specializes in higher-acuity adolescent cases, including teens with serious suicidality, self-harm, and emotional dysregulation. These are exactly the clients most often routed toward psychiatric hospitalization or platform-based care, and Curt argues the default-to-hospital reflex frequently makes things worse, not better. Drawing on recent research and his clinical experience, Curt walks through the iatrogenic harms of adolescent psychiatric inpatient care, why post-discharge is the highest-risk window for completed suicide, and how clinician anxiety can drive premature 5150 holds and crisis referrals. Katie Vernoy, LMFT, joins with years of LPS-designated assessment experience from community mental health, naming what really happens when a teen gets sent in, including the relational rupture that often starts the moment a crisis evaluation is requested. Together they show outpatient therapists, including solo practitioners, how to build the clinical infrastructure that makes hospital diversion a real option: standardized risk assessment, collaborative safety planning that starts at intake, verbal de-escalation, family-integrated care, and wraparound treatment teams that include both formal providers and informal natural supports. This is a continuing education podcourse. Therapists can earn 1 CE credit through the Modern Therapist Learning Community at moderntherapistcommunity.com. What you'll take away: - How to recognize when a tee…

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