Solstice West has welcomed Amy Poff, ACMHC, to its clinical team as a Primary Therapist. Poff recently joined both Solstice West and Elevations, two EOSIS Utah programs, providing clinical support to adolescents and families across both treatment settings.
Poff brings experience working with adolescents with complex and often overlapping needs, including trauma, anxiety, depression, autism and other forms of neurodivergence, bipolar disorder, self-harm, suicidal ideation, family conflict, and medical complexities.
A consistent theme throughout her career has been working with young people whose needs may be overlooked or misunderstood when academics, behavior, mental health, medical concerns, and neurodevelopmental differences are considered separately.
“I try very hard to understand the whole picture,” Poff said. “As individuals, our medical needs, school experience, relationships, and emotional health are often deeply intertwined. For our students, one challenge can affect so many different areas of their life, forcing them to adapt or pull back.”
That perspective aligns closely with Solstice West’s collaborative treatment model. Clinical, academic, residential, psychiatric, medical, their substance use counselor, and other members of the treatment team share observations about how a student is functioning across settings. Solstice’s clinical milestones similarly consider growth in therapy, school, relationships, and daily life rather than relying on progress within a single environment.
For Poff, however, understanding the whole picture begins with the student.
“I start with the student and their story,” Poff said. “I want to understand how they see what’s happening before I decide what it means. Sometimes they’re ready to talk right away, and sometimes we need to find a different starting point.”
This flexibility is especially important when working with teens who are guarded, skeptical of treatment, or have struggled to trust adults.
“I always start where the student is comfortable,” Poff said. “Sometimes that means a game, a walk outside, or talking about something that matters to them. I’m patient, I listen, and I find a way to connect. We have to build trust before we can get into the harder work.”
Poff’s background in school settings also shapes her understanding of adolescents who have previously been labeled unsuccessful, resistant, or unmotivated. Before moving into residential treatment, she developed programming for junior high students who might otherwise fall through the cracks. Her experience has taught her to look beyond academic performance and behavior to identify needs that may have gone unnoticed.
“I’ve worked with students who told me I was the first person to recognize that they couldn’t read at the level people assumed,” Poff said. “When something like that goes unnoticed, it can affect confidence, behavior, relationships, and how adults interpret that student. We have to be careful not to let a label replace curiosity about what is actually going on.”
At Solstice, Poff sees the multidisciplinary team as an important safeguard against that kind of fragmented understanding.
“At Solstice, we talk about students from a fully rounded perspective,” Poff said. “Each department brings something different to the conversation. We can align around larger goals while also asking what this particular student needs from us that week.”
That approach is reflected in Solstice’s EnRICH framework and Believe, Begin, Become clinical milestones, which are designed to observe progress across therapy, academics, relationships, wellness, and daily interactions rather than through compliance or time alone.
Poff also places significant emphasis on family participation. She encourages parents to consider not only their child’s behavior, but also the larger patterns and relationships surrounding it.
“I want parents to be willing to look at the wider picture, including patterns at home,” Poff said. “We can do meaningful work with a student, but if the environment they return to stays exactly the same, there may be nothing there to help hold those new skills in place. Family members have an important role in that change, too.”
Ultimately, Poff hopes referring professionals understand that her work starts with seeing the adolescent beyond a diagnosis, behavior, or treatment history.
“There is a teenager there first, and they deserve love and respect regardless of their history,” Poff said. “I want to help them find hope, recognize what they’re capable of, and see that there is a path forward.”
About Solstice West RTC:
Solstice West RTC is a residential treatment center for adolescents ages 12–18, specializing in substance use and process addictions: addictive or compulsive coping patterns rooted in trauma, attachment disruption, anxiety, depression, and loss. Our treatment approach is relationship-based, trauma-informed, and grounded in evidence-based modalities including DBT, CBT, EMDR, Brainspotting, Somatic Experiencing, experiential therapy, and family systems work.
Solstice West is fully licensed by the State of Utah, Office of Licensing, Department of Human Services, and accredited by Cognia, CARF, and recognized by California and Washington State for academic credit transfer.
Our campus is a private, gated community in Layton, Utah, with capacity for 22 students.
Contact admissions at: (866) 278-3345