Elements would like to celebrate the recent publication of a retrospective on the past 10 years of outcomes data, demonstrating excellent results that are directly reported by clients and families. Utilizing the Youth Outcomes Questionnaire (YOQ) and the Family Assessment Device (FAD), two of the most clinically researched and validated mental health measures available, Elements has compiled 1324 sets of data measuring clients’ and parents’ reports on their progress from admission to discharge to 6 and 12 months post-discharge. For all respondents, the magnitude of improvement in their clinical symptoms is large (statistically significant) and clinically meaningful, as determined by the universally accepted scale for this tool.
“We are so excited about the results of our recent program evaluation, after working tirelessly for 10 years to collect client data,” said Neal Christensen, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, co-owner of Elements, and the past research chair of the Outdoor Behavioral Health Council. “Not only does this validate the clinical effectiveness of Elements, but it also informs the public that families can confidently utilize Elements for the mental health treatment of teens and young adults. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation in the media today surrounding wilderness and adventure therapy. This evaluation gives families confidence that Elements is safe and will support their children in accomplishing therapeutic and life goals.”
Elements has not stopped with this set of results. As a leader in the continued use of research to inform treatment, Dr. Christensen and the entire Elements team continue to synergize these results into actionable treatment goals for individual clients and the program as a whole.
Since its founding in 2008, Elements has been constantly evolving. Over the first 5 years Elements incorporated evidence-based modalities such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and the Seven Challenges for substance abuse and technology overuse, added services and interventions to treat the entire family system, and made the program more fun and meaningful by adding Adventure Programming to its therapeutic curriculum. In the subsequent years, Elements has continued this push to evolve by reflecting on all its practices through a lens of trauma-informed care to ensure the highest emotional and psychological support for each client.
For inquiries or to learn more about Elements, contact Admissions at admissions@elementsprograms.com or visit elementsprograms.com .
About Elements:
Elements is a small, owner-operated outdoor behavioral health program in central Utah whose mission is to provide the most effective and engaging treatment program for adolescent and young adult clients in the outdoors. Since 2008, Elements has provided specialized therapeutic interventions for clients and their families by balancing evidence-based therapy with fun experiential activities. Elements is licensed and supervised by the State of Utah Department of Human Services and accredited through the Outdoor Behavioral Health Council and the Association for Experiential Education.