Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness offers a holistic and individualized outdoor treatment program for early adolescents and pre-teens (ages 12-14), adolescents (ages 13-18), young adults (ages 18-29), and their families. With round-the-clock supervision, comprehensive clinical support, and the strategic application of skills and tools in a safe yet stimulating environment, Blue Ridge provides a unique and unparalleled avenue for driving change in an alternative therapeutic setting.
Programming at Blue Ridge emphasizes the needs of students and families while providing the best possible treatment experience. In 2021, Danielle Hava, LCSW, became the Executive Director, further guiding Blue Ridge in increasing clinical sophistication and enhancing customer service. Working closely with Blue Ridge owner and founder Dan McDougal while remaining thoroughly involved in daily operations on-site, Danielle has fostered program-wide clinical integration for staff and provided effective, comprehensive assessment and robust customer care for students and their families.
Owner and founder Dan McDougal explains, “It’s important that every student and their family leave Blue Ridge feeling like the work they have done is transferable and sustainable.” He continues, “With Danielle at the helm, we have continued to place a greater emphasis on the way each student experiences their time here and have made the changes necessary to offer unique, individualized opportunities throughout the course of their time in the program.”
The Blue Ridge team aims to support families and students closely throughout their enrollment by ensuring that families receive immediate and highly involved attention and care upon enrolling their child in treatment. “Blue Ridge understands the gravity of the decision to send a child to treatment and is committed to helping families with the daunting process as much as possible,” shares Executive Director Danielle Hava. “To achieve this, Blue Ridge assigns every family a tight-knit support team immediately upon enrollment.”
Within this support team, Student Care Coordinators significantly enhance the student and family experience at Blue Ridge. “This highly involved role helps to maintain the therapeutic value of the wilderness milieu while offering parents and referring professionals a more comprehensive view of the program,” says Danielle.
In addition to enhancing parents’ window to daily life, Blue Ridge’s Student Care Coordinators have provided students opportunities to explore their personal interests, express themselves creatively, and try new, transferable skills and activities that impart novelty, self-reflection, and fun. Student Care Coordinators spend time with the group every week, capturing photos and videos of the daily routine, group activities, and holiday celebrations.
Hava explains, “Activities ranging anywhere from spa days, cooking special meals and scavenger hunts, to surprise pizza parties, fishing, and art projects allow students to access their need for fun in new and healthy ways which they can continue to integrate into their lives back at home.”
About Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness:
Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness offers clinically driven wilderness therapy programs encompassing advanced therapeutic skills, a highly flexible nomadic wilderness therapy model, licensed wilderness therapy assessment, and multiple treatment options for struggling teens ages 12-18 and young adults ages 18-29 in the Emerald Arrow program. Blue Ridge’s individualized approach, family support, and commitment to service translate to an unparalleled experience and better outcomes for adolescents and families. To learn more about Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness, visit www.blueridgewilderness.com, call 888-914-1050, or contact admissions@blueridgewilderness.com.