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Reference / Glossary

The vocabulary, translated.

The treatment industry has its own dialect. This glossary translates the words families actually encounter into what they actually mean.

If you've spent more than a few hours researching teen treatment, you've encountered an entire dialect — clinical, regulatory, insurance, and industry jargon, often used in ways that obscure rather than clarify.

This glossary is a working reference. Each term is defined plainly, with notes on how the term is used, where it can be misleading, and which articles in Hartley cover it in depth. The glossary is being built in alphabetical order; entries marked "coming soon" are scheduled for clinical review before publication.

By section

Browse by topic

Glossary entries cluster into seven topic areas.

A–Z

Conditions and diagnoses

DSM terms, common conditions, syndromes, and the distinctions between them.

Coming soon →
A–Z

Treatments and modalities

Therapy types, medications, procedures, and what each acronym actually means.

Coming soon →
A–Z

Program types

RTC, IOP, PHP, TBS, wilderness, ranch — the program category vocabulary.

Coming soon →
A–Z

Insurance and billing

Parity, prior auth, single-case agreement, reasonable and customary, and the rest.

Coming soon →
A–Z

Legal and regulatory

Mental health holds, parental rights, accreditation, licensure.

Coming soon →
A–Z

Clinical roles & credentials

LCSW, LMFT, PsyD, MD, NP, PMHNP — who does what, and what their training is.

Coming soon →
A–Z

Industry vocabulary

The terms used inside the treatment industry that don't appear in clinical texts.

Coming soon →