Mental health services expand for kids and teens
New therapist brings extensive experience helping young people
The former clinical director of a residential psychiatric treatment facility for youth has joined Right Track Medical Group as a therapist for children and adolescents.
Therapist Leslie Bensieck, LCSW
Leslie Bensieck, LCSW, joined the staff in January from Millcreek of Pontotoc, where she developed therapeutic programming and supervised clinical staff at nine locations across Mississippi.
Her arrival expands Right Track Medical Group’s child and adolescent services. In addition to individual and family therapy, Right Track also provides psychiatric assessments and medication management for common issues in kids and teens, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, PTSD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
Bensieck is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Group Therapist. She holds a master’s degree in social work and has more than 13 years’ experience in the field of child and adolescent mental healthcare.
Bensieck says she was drawn to Right Track Medical Group because of its vision to transform outpatient mental healthcare in Mississippi.
“I am excited about the work that is happening here to normalize mental healthcare for families in our area,” she said.
“When your child is experiencing a mental-health issue like depression, you want to get them help quickly. That’s our goal, too.”
“When your child is experiencing a mental-health issue like depression, you want to get them help quickly. That’s our goal, too. We assess their needs — whether it’s medication, therapy or both — and we get to work right away to help them get them better.”
“With our emphasis on access, privacy, and providing this range of mental-health services under one roof, there simply hasn’t been a resource like this before for families in our area.”
The treatment team at Right Track Medical Group provides mental-health services for adults, as well as teens and children as young as 6. The team includes LCSWs and Licensed Professional Counselors, as well as Psychiatric Mental-Health Nurse Practitioners. Psychiatrist Katherine Pannel, DO, supervises medical staff as Right Track Medical Group’s medical director.
For Bensieck, joining Right Track Medical Group offers an opportunity to help children and teens when their mental-health needs are less intense than those of the residential patients she saw at Millcreek.
“Early intervention can prevent the progression of mental-health problems,” she said. “For children and teenagers, getting proper mental healthcare has the power to transform their future lives.”
Still, she said, there are many reasons why parents are far more reluctant to bring their child to a mental-health clinic than to a pediatrician’s office.
“Many parents can feel hesitant to get their child help because of the stigma that still surrounds mental health,” she said. “When our kids struggle, it’s normal to feel like we may have failed as a parent. But as parents, we have to look at the things that we can control.”
“You may not be able to control the social stress your child is facing in school, and you can’t change past events that may have caused your child trauma. But you can get them the mental healthcare they need today. It’s a step you can take for your child that can change the entire course of their life.”