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(photo Jacqueline Ramseyer/SVCN/August 12, 2013) ASPIRE, which stands for After-School Program Interventions and Resiliency Education, is a program that is run at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. ASPIRE is designed to provide meaningful and effective treatment for teenage youth who are experiencing anxiety, depression, or other symptoms related to a mental health condition. The FUHSD gives school credit to students who complete the program.

High school isn't what it used to be. Teenagers are facing more pressure than ever to not only succeed in the classroom and prepare for an increasingly competitive workforce but to adjust to a changing social environment, one that extends outside the campus walls and into the world of digital and social media.

Sadly, not all students make it through this difficult time, at least not unscathed.

El Camino Hospital, with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, offers an outlet for local students who see no other way out. The hospital's After-School Program Interventions and Resiliency Education (ASPIRE) program works toward meaningful and effective treatment for teenagers who are experiencing anxiety, depression or other symptoms related to a mental health condition, according to its website.

Started in April 2010 in response to community concerns about inadequate emotional and mental services for students, the ASPIRE program incorporates a holistic view of a teenager's life situation, taking into account academics, social outlook and home life. The focus is emotional wellness, and tenents of the program include meditation exercises, individual and group counseling and skills-based activities.

Typically, sessions take place after school four times a week for eight weeks. They include not just the teenager, but also those in his/her environment who may be affecting the situation, whether it be those adding to the emotional distress or helping to relieve it.


"These kids are functional. A lot of them are 'A' students doing really well; they just have this incredible anxiety," says Michael Fitzgerald, executive director of El Camino Hospital's behavioral health services for about 11 years now.

Most participants in the ASPIRE program are ages 13-17, when a lot of the problems they're facing begin to come to the forefront. Fitzgerald says the program must recognize a mental health issue with each participant, but it is a rather delicate situation because of the stigma behind the condition.

"We do have to put a diagnosis on these kids, but we work hard not to buy into that as a label or that they're mentally ill. It's a chief reason why a lot of the kids we see, we don't see them until late in the game," he said.

While some schools have in-house counselors, there are not too many programs in the area with the breadth and intensity of treatment that ASPIRE can provide, Fitzgerald said. The program serves a wide geographic area, stretching from as far away as Livermore and the East Bay to Santa Cruz.

However, a majority of the participants, Fitzgerald said, are coming from the communities of Los Gatos, Palo Alto and Cupertino. In the Fremont Union High School District, where academic excellence is measured by the number of Intel Science Talent Search winners, National Merit Scholarships, and Academic Performance Index scores, there is a heightened pressure among students to keep up and even stay ahead of their peers in the classroom.

"There is such a focus on academics, and it's so competitive in the classroom. It's a little bit endemic to be an adolescent, and the pressures of Silicon Valley are so bent on productivity," Fitzgerald said. "We get a kid with two professional parents, physicians or experts in the tech world, and life is so incredibly scheduled. They're struggling with their identity, who they are and what they're feeling with their hormones."

"It's true that in other communities as well, adolescents struggle a lot," he added. "It's a tough thing to go through, and the nice thing about ASPIRE, and most people can relate to it, is some or most of us know friends of ours who didn't make it, who made really bad decisions or became dysfunctional or came into drugs. We all know people like this who couldn't make it through these years."

Such high expectations--coupled with social pressures and physical and emotional changes--makes for a difficult time for many adolescents. To what degree, depends.

Teenagers rely on myriad of sources for validation, whether it be their circle of friends, accomplishments in the classroom or on the athletic field, status on social media outlets or simply by the labels on their clothes and shoes. The goal is to fit in, to sit among instead of standing out.

Some try to build a wall to stop the flood of outside influences in their adolescence, in turn pushing themselves to look inward for salvation. The extent to which they do so ultimately determines how much they're willing to share and seek help.

Dylan Titus, 18, recently stopped going to the ASPIRE program in September after he joined a job corps program out of Foothill College. He participated in ASPIRE for four years, spanning his time at Los Gatos High School. The truth is, Titus was a popular target for bullies even before that, during his years in grades 5-9.

There was one other student Titus said he called a friend, but that was measured by their love of video games and the times when they'd play together. As he says, "That was it; there was no deep conversation about each other."

Eventually, all the forces in Titus' life began pushing against one another. Over five years, the bullying took its toll, slowly chipping away at the rock that Titus was trying to be. He wore down, and his grades began to slip because he just didn't care anymore. That didn't bode well at home, and hearing constant arguments between his stepfather and alcoholic mother didn't help matters, Titus said.

It was too much, and everything culminated in a failed suicide attempt at the end of his freshman year. He was hospitalized and diagnosed with chronic severe depression, an anxiety disorder and attention deficit disorder.

"At the time, I felt like I was alone; nobody really loved me, nobody cared," Titus said. "People who knew me hated me; people who didn't know me would hate me. The only way out was to kill myself."

Hearing the teenager speak about such heavy topics in such a matter-of-fact manner is a testament to how far he's come and how well-adjusted he is today. Titus speaks excitedly about the ASPIRE program when he recalls the different individual and group exercises. He recalls how relieving it was for him when he was finally among peers who shared some of the same emotions and anxieties that he did.

"It was really nice to be able to talk to peers, people of my age, and know that I wasn't alone in the things I was thinking and problems I was facing," he said. "A lot of people understood what I was going through and found ways to deal with it that I hadn't thought of. They found ways to deal with it without violence or withdrawing completely."

Participants in the ASPIRE program don't always get to where Titus is, or at least not as quickly. "Sarah" declined to give her real name or information about her high school years, only to say that she attended a Fremont Union High School District campus and graduated in 2013.

The 18-year-old was part of ASPIRE from January to March, and her issues circled around her group of friends, relationship with her parents and her own insecurity. Sarah said she felt a great deal of anxiety to fit in after moving to the area and starting a new school.

"I did not really have a hard time making friends, but they were not necessarily good ones. I never really had a concrete group of friends when I got there," she said. "I kind of got to hearing about losing my friends and ending up friendless. I felt like I wasn't liked a lot sometimes, and I was not always asked to hang out with them."

It got to the point where it was a priority to be included and accepted in social functions, Sarah said. She felt that she would be missing out and would eventually lose her friends if she were to miss any opportunity to hang out.

"It bothered me a lot, and I tried really hard to fit in and be accepted by my friends. I would want to be there every time they were hanging out," she said. "I still did well in school, but I know I could have done better; I didn't spend a lot of time studying. I could have done better if I took the time to study. I probably would have gotten my work done sooner and wouldn't be up so late."

The depression and anxiety was too much, and Sarah tried to kill herself in January. After she was hospitalized, she heard about the ASPIRE program, although she had mixed feelings about participating at first. She softened up a bit, and said she really enjoyed the program.

"All the skills they taught there were really useful. After a while, they help a lot, and gave a different way of looking at things," Sarah said. "Everyone is supportive; nobody judges you and everyone cares about how you're doing."

Titus and Sarah, although in different stages in their recovery, share a similar perspective when they look back at one of the hardest times in their young lives. They encourage other teenagers who might be feeling the same things they did to seek out help.

"A lot of kids don't speak up very much," Titus said. "People who don't like to fight and get picked on a lot have a feeling there's no way out of it, nothing I can do to get out of this bullying. But when you tell people how you're feeling, they'll try really hard to help you, more than you realize."

"There's people that will help you through it, so you're not going through it alone," Sarah added. "It's not just a normal teenage phase; it can get really serious and if you don't get help before that, it can lead to really worse situations."

See page 14 for related story. Visit for more information about ASPIRE.