Redlands, California, November 5, 2019 -- Benchmark Transitions' founder and CEO, Jayne Longnecker-Harper, M.Ed., is one of only 33 finalists out of a pool of 220 nominees, scheduled to be honored at the 2019 Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards, on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, CA. Mrs. Longnecker-Harper has been selected in the Healthcare category.
Jayne was nominated by her famiy for her dedication to providing mental health and substance use treatment services to young adults for over 26 years. She founded her company, Benchmark Transitions, on September 9, 1993, with only one client, one staff member and a couch. Today, her company provides Residential Treatment and Transitional Living Services to young adults with two 6-bed Residential Treatment facilities, one 20-square foot Education and Life Skills Outpatient Center, two 12-bed Transitional living homes and one 6-bed independent living townhome.
The 17th Annual Spirit of the Entrpreneur Awards black tie gala will honor recipients in 11 different categories and will feature a VIP Reception, three course dinner, excellent entertainment and award announcements.
About Benchmark Transitions
Benchmark Transitions was founded in 1993 by Jayne Longnecker-Harper, M.Ed., and is the longest running young adult specific treatment program in the nation, serving young adults 18-28 years of age with mental health, behavioral health and co-occurring substance use disorders. Benchmark offers a full continuum of care, including sub-acute detoxification for chemical dependency, primary residential treatment, extended care, supportive transitional living and aftercare. Our wrap-around transitional living support services provide young adults with the life skills, social skills and career development skills needed to become independent.
For more details, please contact Admissions@benchmarkyas.com or call us at 800-474-4848 x1 and Watch Our Video About Accessing Insurance for treatment at Benchmark Transitions.
Redlands, CA, Nov 1, 2019 -- Benchmark Transitions is pleased to announce that Paul Ravenscraft, Ravenscraft Marketing Consultant, has been contracted to support Benchmark's clinical outreach efforts. Paul is a seasoned healthcare marketing professional with more than 18 years experience in sales and marketing.
Paul brings a steadfast stability to Benchmark Transitions, and will be responsible to assess Benchmark's programming, to review and update core messaging and talking points and to provide marketing and brand enhancement to the organization. Paul has quickly become a positive and trusted advisor, reporting to Shelley Skaggs, Chief Marketing & Admissions Officer, as well as to Founder/CEO Jayne Longnecker-Harper, M.Ed.,
Paul will be reaching out to Benchmark's long-time referral sources to act as liasion for professionals in the industry, as well as researching account management, providing training and development and brand enhancement.
About Benchmark Transitions
Benchmark Transitions was founded in 1993 by Jayne Longnecker-Harper, M.Ed., and is the longest running young adult specific treatment program in the nation, serving young adults 18-28 years of age with mental health, behavioral health and co-occurring substance use disorders. Benchmark offers a full continuum of care, including sub-acute detoxification for chemical dependency, primary residential treatment, extended care, supportive transitional living and aftercare. Our wrap-around transitional living support services provide young adults with the life skills, social skills and career development skills needed to become independent.
For more details, please contact Admissions@benchmarkyas.com or call us at 800-474-4848 x1 and Watch Our Video About Accessing Insurance for treatment at Benchmark Transitions.
Can anxiety be cured? Can anxiety cause headaches? There are a thousand questions associated with anxiety that parents are asking and Telos has answers. Because anxiety is hard to recognize until symptoms show up, it festers in our youth until it becomes a chronic issue, eventually manifesting symptoms like headaches, school refusal, avoidance, lack of sleep, and a host of other problems. Click here for more on clinical excellence .
Telos therapists and staff act as humble detectives, if you will, to see what the “why” is behind the symptoms. Anxiety attacks can be debilitating and having a team on your side like Telos, empowers teens and young adults to own it, fight it, and thrive, in spite of it. There are dozens of structural tools Telos uses like Low Pressure School, Neuro Fitness and Influential Relationships, to name a few. Click for more on Neuro Fitness here. Young Men and Women from all over the world learn other proprietary tools at Telos that give them personal, long-term sustainable help. COO Tony Mosier remarked, “ Our goal is to get to the root cause and solve it, so the symptoms of anxiety can begin to heal and become manageable.''
A core tool used at Telos is helping students learn Executive Function skills, a powerful aid in helping students own and manage anxiety. See how EF works at Telos . This approach is so powerful that Telos maintains a trained staff of experts who coach executive function skills, including a room where students can stay for a few weeks and practice what they have learned. This transformative experience begins a path of success that energizes students to work harder.
About Telos
Telos is located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains in beautiful Orem, Utah. Telos is an extraordinary team of individuals dedicated to teen and young adult mental health and wellness. Passionately delivering premium clinical support and sophistication through proprietary treatment models, crafted exclusively for teens and co-ed young adults dealing with school refusal, depression, anxiety, social problems and learning differences. Telos promotes principle-based living that promote clarity, healing, and direction, for teens and young adults ages 13-26. For more information: info@telos.org or www.telos.org.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — CooperRiis, a residential healing community for individuals with mental health challenges, has established a new program for residents wanting to pursue college-level education while in treatment, called The College Program at CooperRiisent, a mental health treatment approach expanded with new initiative
The College Program at CooperRiis integrates residential mental health treatment with specialized services designed to help residents achieve success in their college experience. The new initiative enhances the CooperRiis mission to provide personalized care that combines evidence-based clinical interventions, community work & service, education, and integrative wellness practices.
“We’re so pleased to offer this exciting new program to our residents,” said Eric A. Levine, Ed.D., President & CEO at CooperRiis. “Through this initiative, residents can return to school, or go for the first time, with the support of a team of professionals focused on helping them succeed.”
Levine has a doctorate in education leadership and more than 30 years of experience developing educational programming and helping young people with emotional and behavioral disabilities find appropriate support services. Tapping that expertise, Levine has designed The College Program at CooperRiis specially to serve the residential treatment community population.
“The transition into college is a stressful time, and it can take a toll on the mental health of some students. It can also be a time when mental health problems emerge for the first time,” said Levine. Studies show a rise in mental health issues on the nation’s college campuses. The American Psychiatric Association found that in 2017 about 34 percent of students were being treated for a mental health issue, compared to 19 percent of students in 2007. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that one in four young adults, ages 18-24, have a diagnosable mental illness.
Residents participating in The College Program at CooperRiis receive an individualized recovery plan that includes specific supported education goals. Each resident is assigned a Recovery Team, which monitors treatment progress and determines when the resident is ready to enroll in school. The Recovery Team includes a psychiatrist, therapist, recovery coordinator and supported education coach.
Once a resident is enrolled, the education coach collaborates with the college to develop and implement a supported education plan. The coach works with the resident throughout the semester providing services including weekly educational coaching sessions, on-site intervention and mentoring, crisis support, and skills development. Based at the CooperRiis campus in Asheville, NC, the new program will provide supported education services at three area colleges.
For more, contact Eric A. Levine, CooperRiis President & CEO (828) 899-4673 or Eric.Levine@CooperRiis.org or Kim Nelson, National Outreach Coordinator, at (828) 817-3783 or Kim.Nelson@CooperRiis.org.
Founded in 2003, CooperRiis serves individuals, ages 18 and up, struggling with social-emotional issues and mental illness, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, addiction and substance use, in supportive residential settings and community group homes.
About CooperRiis Healing Community:
Founded by Donald R. Cooper and Lisbeth Riis Cooper, CooperRiis is a residential healing community in western North Carolina, with a rural campus on a 94-acre farm and an urban campus in the heart of Asheville. Since 2003, CooperRiis has been helping adults living with mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, major depression and anxiety, achieve their highest levels of functioning and fulfillment. A personalized recovery approach combines trusted clinical therapies, community work & service, education and integrative wellness practices.
Visit www.cooperriis.org or call 828.894.7140 for more about CooperRiis Healing Community and its approach to mental health treatment
The first time I passed them they were sitting in the early morning light beside a tangerine-colored tent. Our logistics field coordinator sat warming his hands around a silver cup of coffee while staring out across the pale desert landscape. The student lay on the ground beside him, her head resting on her hand. Their faces hanging slack from lack of sleep and cold – residuals of a four-mile bushwhack through a maze of manzanita the night before.
It was Albert Camus who said: “Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend”.
Young adults come from all over the country to New Vision Wilderness Therapy, all with the intention of healing from the traumas of their past, an unburdening of the soul through connection and hard work aimed at creating a future where joy and vulnerability outshine suffering. This positions wilderness therapy as a last bastion for connection. A fertile ground for healing by way of a stark simplicity that offers no refuge for excuses. There are no screens to hide behind. No relationships to hide in. No substance or shadow to conceal who you truly are or the burdens you carry.
A “walk” in wilderness therapy is when a young adult chooses to leave the program before the work is done. It is the physical manifestation of student’s avoidance of their issues and unwillingness to connect. How we respond to this event defines us as an organization and can have far-reaching consequences not only for the student but for the community at large.
When a student walks, they are not provided transportation or navigation. Neither is of any use to a soul adrift. Instead, they are accompanied by two trained field guides. During the walk, the guides work in tandem to bring the student’s awareness back to why they came to the program.
I’ve witnessed first-hand a walk where the student strode purposely down the side of the gravel road, the guides engaging him in friendly conversation the entire time. At first glance, it appears as three friends out for a stroll on a warm autumn day, except for the provisions truck idling behind. The point is not to pull the student back but rather to maintain the connection. The commitment I witnessed on this particular walk was awe-inspiring. The journey covered 23 miles, the guides never falling from their commitment to compassion and connection. Behind the scenes, the entire organization mobilizes into a united front of support.
If a student walks, a text stream begins. That stream includes admissions, the therapist, the enrollment team, the clinical director, the executive director, logistics, field director, office manager, a medical doctor, and the medications coordinator. A coordinated effort of urgency driven by compassion. It’s difficult not to swell with pride over even the smallest role in such an effort. This effort is not aimed at client retention. It’s as Camus said, walking beside the student, maintaining that tether of connection to prevent a dive into the hallow darkness of shame. A journey that offers few returns.
As a student walks, their therapist works feverishly arranging the logistics for an on-road session/intervention. These sessions usually entail a call with family and friends and a sobering but supportive conversation with the therapist. Again, this is done in the hopes of bringing the student's attention not to consequence but as a display of support.
I’ve seen the residuals of a walk on both sides. A student’s regression into the emptiness of addiction and staff wearing the weight of their failure for sometimes days. The staff has a deep understanding of the consequences. Most, if not all, find their way into this work through their own experience with trauma. In one instance I watched as a guide milled about the office for hours doing whatever he could to maintain contact after a student checked out of the program. He managed to convince the student to meet for breakfast the following day. The guide waited around the office for the call. Morning receded as the sun climbed out over the day. The guide busied himself around the office, still hanging from a shred of hope. The therapist continued to stay in contact with the student's parents. No matter how much isolation seemed to be winning… the team kept showing up. The student returned a few days later.
Ships don’t often see the lighthouse until they’re upon it, that is why it’s always lit.
Reflecting back, I think about the countless miles and endless talking. The strategy. The coordinating. The resources. I search for that defining moment. A word or phrase? An action or stage? Something that can be utilized in the future and foster efficiency.
There isn’t one.
Circumstances are never the same. The only constant is the connection.
Escape from the past can often become a passion, one that numbs and isolates us from the world and ultimately ourselves. But the world can only be known as it exists in the hearts of others and their collective experience. Although the world is thought of as a place we live in, it in fact lives within each one of us. To know the world, we must stay connected to the hearts of others. And to do so we must live with others and not simply pass among them in the shadows of shame.
This is why we keep showing up.
About New Vision Wilderness Therapy (NVW)
NVW serves preteens, teens, young adults and families in three (3) U.S. locations: the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, the majestic Cascade mountain range of Central Oregon and the lush Nantahala National Forest of North Carolina. NVW is a specialty wilderness therapy treatment program that is clinically intensive, highly specialized and trauma-informed. To learn more, go to www.newvisionwilderness.com or contact Admissions at 855-689-8326.
What are the benefits of volunteer work for our students and why is it an integral part of our program at ATC?
- It's good for one's mental health. Students have an opportunity to stop thinking about their own problems and focus on someone other than themselves.
- Unpaid work offers students an opportunity to appreciate more of what they've been given instead of feeling entitled to it.
- Students gain skills. For example, many ATC students struggle socially; volunteer work gives them ample opportunties to develop social skills with peers and those they serve in their community.
- It gets them out of their bedrooms and off of their screens!
- It gives them an opportunity to give back, rather than just take from, while being part of a community.
Dave Foster leads the ATC crew each week in a variety of volunteer activities. Each week, students are engaged in four service activities including: making arts and crafts with the elderly at an assisted living center, bowling with adults with mental and physical handicaps, kick boxing with individuals that have Parkinson's disease, and reading to 2nd graders at a local elementary school. In addition, ATC students volunteer each month at a shelter for battered women, a soup kitchen at an Episcopal church and at a local homeless shelter. Annually, At The Crossroads participates in suicide prevention and Alzheimer's walks, trail clean up, volunteering at the Hunstman Senior Games, the St. George Marathon and the St. George Ironman.
Just a quick shout out to Dave (notice the tall guy in the picture). Standing tall at 7'3", Dave is big in stature but has an even bigger heart and our students love him. In case you're wondering, Dave did in fact play basketball. He played his college career with the University of Utah and is their all-time leading shot blocker. He went on to play professional basketball, just short of making it into the NBA, before injuries prevented him from furthering his baskeball career. Unforunate for Dave, however, we became the lucky beneficiary and are so grateful to have him play Center for Team ATC!
About At The Crossroads
At The Crossroads is a transitional program for young adults utilizing a highly individualized and client centered approach to treatment. Upon enrollment, each client is assessed to formulate a treatment plan unique to his or her strenths, challenges, needs and goals. Our multi-disciplinary team comprised of highly trained professionals aims to honor each young adult as a distinctive individual. There are no two pathways to success that will be exactly the same and therefore we, as a team with the client, navigate towards individuated success.
Eva Carlston happily announces that Cassie Taylor has joined the Admissions and Marketing team. Cassie brings a host of dynamic experience from her background as a Development Director, University Professor, and an advocate for the arts. Cassie holds a Doctorate in Musical Arts and is an accomplished concert pianist. She is passionate about creating positive opportunities for youth, whether it be through her work in community outreach as a volunteer or through her work at Eva Carlston as she supports families through the admissions process.
Cassie came to Eva Carlston because she was inspired by Eva Carlston’s Executive Director, Kristi Ragsdale, after meeting through their joint community work. She was drawn to the work that Eva Carlston does to help teenage girls navigate some of the most formative and difficult years of their lives. Cassie’s goal is to foster families through unexpected, tumultuous times and help these girls find a place to start healing.
When asked what advice she has for girls in treatment she said, “Hang in there and be kind to yourself. I understand that it is hard to be away from home, family and friends. I know that it is incredibly difficult to dive so deep into your emotions and to take an honest look at yourself without an Instagram filter. But, you can do this and you will graduate from Eva Carlston stronger, more mature and more prepared for the fresh life you have ahead of you.” She went on to give insight into her meetings with parents, “Every time I sit down with a parent to discuss placement for their daughter, I find an immense amount of empathy and respect for them and their family. My heart breaks for the parent who has to watch their child spiral and suffer, and I appreciate their strength and fortitude for making the decision to send their child to Eva Carlston. Parents will hear the phrase, “Trust the process,” over and over again, but three words could not be more true.” Eva Carlston is excited for the experience and compassion that Cassie Taylor is bringing to this role.
About Eva Carlston Academy
Eva Carlston Academy (UT) is a licensed residential treatment center located near the urban center of Salt Lake City. The program serves young women between the ages of 12 and 18 in a clinically intense, family-style program which focuses upon creating opportunities for students to explore the arts while working toward continued growth and healing.
The New Vision Fall season is coming to an end, and our staff and students are preparing for our field area to become a wonderful winter wonderland! We have already brought out most of our winter gear and many of the students are loving their comfy, cozy -30 degree sleeping bags at night! I wanted to take a brief moment and talk about our Winter Programming and Safety to answer some of the major questions that you might have and ensure that we are set up to keep everyone safe and warm in winter temperatures.
As mentioned above, we provide all students in winter with sleep systems rated to -30, footwear rated to -40, and multiple top and bottom layers to provide warmth, insulation and protection from wind and cold ground. All of these layers are intended to provide safety for students up to extreme cold temperatures, however, we do not expose students to these temperature extremes. We move students to sleeping in indoor cabin spaces when temperatures are at or below 0. We have 4 main indoor structures throughout our field area that are heated either with propane radiators or wood stoves. In addition, we provide groups with portable canvas wall tents and portable wood stoves throughout winter so that the group has a warm space to spend time when temperatures are between 0 - 30 degrees (Farenheit). Lastly, we have multiple health check for physical safety every day to ensure that each student is staying fed, hydrated and warm to provide for safe winter operation.
In order to ensure student safety during this period, on November 21, our entire program will head 3 hours north to the beautiful shores of Lake Superior. We will be operating on a secluded 700-acre site which is located on the south shore of Lake Superior, East of Duluth/Superior, along the Amnicon River. All operations will run as if we were in our usual field area in the Chequamegon Forest. We also will have safety measures in place for emergency purposes, including on-site shelters and cabins in case of inclement weather and access to a canvas wall tent/wood stove throughout their time at the Amnicon field area.
This alternate program area also provides some unique opportunities for students as many students connect with the natural history and cultural heritage of the area. We also celebrate Thanksgiving while up at Amnicon, which often brings student groups together as they share about family traditions with their peer support group. For Thanksgiving, our staff members bring out a Traditional Thanksgiving meal, including Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie, and the staff members serve the meal to students, which can often help bring out important conversations for students about their families and thankfulness.
About New Vision Wilderness Therapy (NVW)
NVW serves preteens, teens, young adults and families in three (3) U.S. locations: the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, the majestic Cascade mountain range of Central Oregon and the lush Nantahala National Forest of North Carolina. NVW is a specialty wilderness therapy treatment program that is clinically intensive, highly specialized and trauma-informed. To learn more, go to www.newvisionwilderness.com or contact Admissions at 855-689-8326.
The ViewPoint Center, an assessment center and mental health hospital for teens ages 12-17.9, is excited to share the results from 2019 parent surveys. These results are compiled from 42 parent survey responses between January and November of 2019.
A month after students discharge from The ViewPoint Center, parents receive a discharge survey that measures parent satisfaction of the program. “Surveys allow us to hear parent input about the program and build a better understanding of areas for growth and improvement,” says Randi Nelson, Admissions Director at The ViewPoint Center. “Additionally, it helps us reconnect with families and learn how patients are doing after they’ve completed the program. ”
From the discharge surveys received in 2019, The ViewPoint Center found that:
- 100% of families believed that they made the right decision by sending their child to ViewPoint Center.
- 90.5% of families surveyed said that ViewPoint Center staff were supportive of parental emotional needs throughout their child’s stay.
- 92.9% of families of families felt that The ViewPoint Center staff were responsive to their questions or concerns about the program.
- 85.7% of families said that they believed ViewPoint Center staff provided the appropriate level of safety and support that their child needed.
Learn more about programming at ViewPoint Center by visiting https://www.viewpointcenter.com/ or by calling 855-290-9682
ViewPoint Center, a teen mental health hospital for teens ages 12-17.9, is located just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ViewPoint Center provides superior assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and stabilization for teens struggling with mental and behavioral issues such as suicidal ideation, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders. In a safe, personalized environment, The ViewPoint helps teens focus on the healing process. For more information about The ViewPoint Center, please call 855-290-9682.
New Roads Behavioral Health proudly opens its Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Day Treatment (a.k.a. a Partial Hospitalization Program) to the Salt Lake City Community. Historically, this program was only offered to patients who had completed New Roads’ Residential Program. After urgings from community partners, New Roads’ leaders decided to allow direct admission into the Partial program. Now patients, who do not necessarily need 24-hour supervision, can participate in comprehensive behavioral health treatment during the day, while returning home at night and weekends.
New Roads, with its highly-trained clinical team, specializes in treating patients with complicated behavioral health problems like Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, Suicide Ideation, Addiction, etc.
About New Roads Behavorial Health's Family of Treatment Programs
New Roads Behavioral Health’s family of treatment programs are based upon a holistic, community-focused treatment approach, with a foundation in research and results. New Roads has residential treatment, transitional living, and outpatient options for their clients. There are three distinct and completely separate programs within the residential and transitional living focus: Pathways to Healing (PATH), Women’s Road to Healing (WoRTH), and New Roads to Healing (NoRTH). PaTH is a dual-diagnosis treatment program for young men between the ages of 18-28 struggling with substance abuse and mental health concerns. WoRTH is a program designed specifically for young women that focuses on both substance abuse and mental health disorders (including borderline personality disorder) with a strong emphasis on Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). NoRTH is designed to assist clients with severe mental health disorders in achieving independence by teaching them how to successfully live a life with their diagnoses.
Summit Achievement is happy to announce that Adrian Fisher and Todd Merrill joined Summit’s Program Department as Field Directors in October. Adrian is well known to the Summit Community as he has worked for the organization since 2014 first as a Field Guide and then Team Leader. Todd Merrill is new to the Summit Achievement Community but not new to the wilderness therapy field as he has worked in numerous wilderness programs throughout the country over the last twenty years. Todd and Adrian will help manage and direct our growing team of field guides. Below are brief biographies about these fantastic individuals.
Todd Merrill graduated from Appalachian State University with studies in Outdoor Experiential Education and Psychology. He has taken those initial experiences and practiced them across the country in extraordinary environments, working with many amazing people. For over 20 years, Todd has had the honor to grow within the wilderness therapy field and see how nature, challenge, and relationships offer healing experiences. Todd holds certifications through American Mountain Guides Association, American Canoe Association and SOLO Wilderness Medicine to help guide his work in adventure settings. When he is away from work, he is likely moving about somewhere in the backcountry.
Adrian Fisher grew up on the beautiful coast of Maine, where he fostered his lifelong interest in environmental stewardship and conservation. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Dalhousie University and spent five years as a tried and true guide at Summit Achievement. Adrian is also a certified Wilderness First Responder who considers safety as a quality rated second to none. As much as he loves the outdoors, Adrian has an equal passion for popular culture and film studies. In his spare time, he can be found hiking, cooking and assembling Star Wars Legos.
Summit Achievement welcomes these new additions to its expanding team of professionals.
About Summit Achievement
Summit Achievement is, and always has been, guided by positive reinforcement and the power of choice. Our outcome-focused program employs effective therapeutic and educational principles. Through the process of engaging therapy, classroom academics and exciting wilderness expeditions, students experience the therapeutic benefits of outdoor adventure-based activities while learning to manage the demands of a more traditional environment. As an intentionally small, owner-operated wilderness therapy program, we serve adolescent boys and girls, ages 13-20, from around the world.
In November 2018, Skyland Trail became a 100% tobacco- and nicotine-free community by prohibiting smoking, vaping and tobacco use in its residential mental health treatment programs and on all of campuses.
Skyland Trail joined a small group of residential psychiatric treatment organizations that are leading the field in integrating nicotine and tobacco cessation with behavioral health treatment. Skyland Trail will contribute to a growing body of evidence and best practices for helping clients simultaneously learn to manage psychiatric symptoms and adopt skills and strategies for long-term health and wellness.
Helping patients become non-smokers or stop using nicotine products is a critical component of promoting long-term health, preventing chronic disease, and ensuring the medications and interventions for psychiatric health are effective.
The implementation plan was based on expertise from the Skyland Trail Dual Diagnosis program, the treatment model used to help patients achieve and maintain sobriety from alcohol, marijuana, and other substances while simultaneously treating mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.
About Skyland Trail
Located in Atlanta, Skyland Trail is a nationally recognized nonprofit mental health treatment organization serving adults and adolescents with a primary psychiatric diagnosis. Through our residential and day treatment programs, we help our clients grow, recover, and reclaim their lives. We’re focused on individuals with complex mental health issues, helping them understand that they can be – and are – more than a diagnosis. We offer expert, evidence-based psychiatric care alongside a compassionate, holistic path to wellness. Our integrated mental, medical, and social model helps clients develop strategies to improve mental health, physical wellness, independence, and relationships with family and friends. Unique therapies offered include music, art and horticultural therapy; workforce and school readiness; primary care services; family therapy; and healthy living and nutrition coaching. Learn more at www.skylandtrail.org.
Over the course of 2020, Legacy Outdoor Adventures and Juniper Canyon Recovery Center for Women look forward to hosting events in cities nation-wide and internationally. The purpose of the 2020 CityScape Adventure Series is to bring Recovery and Mental Health practices off the couch and outside into nature! Legacy, Juniper Canyon and their co-sponsors intend to bring together the public, mental health and addiction industry leaders and professionals from around the world to experience first-hand the power of Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare / Wilderness Therapy (OBH).
The team at Legacy Outdoor Adventures and Juniper Canyon Recovery Center for Women is first bringing wilderness therapy to The Big Apple, New York City this winter with four different dates to get outside, connected to Nature, and network with professionals, program alumni, and wilderness enthusiasts. According to research, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects 4.7 percent of the population in New York City with higher rates of individuals experiencing the less-debilitating-form termed ‘Winter Blues.’ Sunlight, exercise, mindfulness practices, and connecting with others through enjoyable experiences has been shown to mitigate the symptoms of this phenomena. As such, Legacy will be hosting a 4-month Winter Cityscape series that will help motivate folks to come out and breathe the fresh air during those chilly winter months in New York.
Join business development representative/local New York clinician Daniel Rogers as he navigates the group through Central Park. Participants will engage with nature, connect with one another, share laughs, and learn specific breathing techniques to increase and promote mindfulness outdoors. There is even a chance you’ll make a fire using a bow drill. Hot chocolate will be served at the end of the day. These events are open to families, alumni, professionals and pets.
For more information about the New York City Events or Cityscape Adventures coming to YOUR City, visit www.legacyoutdooradventures.com or contact daniel@legacyoutdooradventures.com / lily@junipercanyonrecovery.com.
About Juniper Canyon Recovery Center
Juniper Canyon Recovery Center for Women is located in Loa, UT. Juniper Canyon - A BRAVE SPACE - is designed to help women recover from substance abuse, trauma, and mental health issues. Licensed as an Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Program and a Residential Treatment Center, Juniper Canyon leverages the best of both worlds to provide a “one of a kind” experience for women.
Legacy Outdoor Adventures is located in Loa, UT. Legacy Outdoor Adventures is an adventure therapy program for young men ages 18 and up. LOA is licensed as both an Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Program and a Residential Treatment Center.
Recognizing the Holiday Season is a perfect time to celebrate relationships, Spring Ridge Academy, on a number of levels, and in varying capacities, celebrates the value and power of the relational experience on a daily basis. During the wenter months the sports-playing students embrace a new basketball season. In the time these teenagers are practicing and preparing for “round-ball” match-ups, reflection becomes an integral, if not inherent process, when functioning as team players and as students.
The Spring Ridge Academy basketball team recently lost their first official game, 16-49. Upon reflection, it was clear there was more to playing basketball, and being part of a team, than simply earning “W’s.” This may seem cliché to some, but the return on investment for many of these students was extraordinary. Just one day after the basketball loss, players made it clear there was a lot more to the experience besides the scoreboard. Many girls had never been on the court, in an organized athletic setting. They were simply thrilled by the opportunity; they enjoyed themselves, they connected with peers who they only knew for short periods prior to the game. The girls celebrated learning; they welcomed the idea that close communication and camaraderie can serve their overarching well-being. Experiencing common ground, stability, and a collective sense of intention fueled a newfound sense of purpose and presence. “We had fun!” they said.
The Spring Ridge Academy basketball team worked towards shared goals; they had to take some risk; they had to trust one another; they had to work in pursuit of results. It is empowering to see learning happen outside conventional curricula. In this case, it was peer-relationship that won the day, in addition to social growth and emotional healing. As the school heads into the holiday season, the SRA basketball team has their sights set on a little more than just basketball fundamentals. It is clear they will use open-hearted connections, to each other, as a valuable tool for earning victory on the basketball court. As a result, the Spring Ridge Academy Basketball Team Embraces the Value of Relational Growth basketball team will likely be a formidable opponent in the near future, as they work to navigate and celebrate the daily relational experience, one basket at a time.
Spring Ridge Academy
Spring Ridge Academy is a therapeutic-boarding school, located in Spring Valley, Arizona, dedicated to supporting young women and their families in pursuit of emotional and relational growth and healing.
Solstice West, a residential treatment center outside of Salt Lake City, announces the launch of their in-house neurofeedback services for students. This will allow the program to better serve the needs of students through multiple therapeutic modalities. Neurofeedback is a tool used to help condition the neural pathways in the brain in an effort to improve regulation. Often, when people experience trauma, anxiety, or depression, the neural pathways in the brain have gotten confused along the way and are not functioning properly. Neurofeedback is a noninvasive way to reprogram the brain.
Like a form of exercise for the brain, students are hooked up to sensors that are tracking the behavior of the brain’s neural pathways while observing images on a screen. Biofeedback instruments quantify how a child’s brain reacts to certain stimuli. For example, the screen will get louder and brighter as the neural pathways are functioning well. When the neural pathways are not functioning properly, the screen will get smaller and quieter. Essentially, the brain is identifying positive and negative associations and working to repair pathways in order to have the most healthy experience. This teaches the brain how to regulate itself properly.
Beginning in December, every student will receive 3-4 sessions per month of neurofeedback as part of the Solstice West therapeutic program. Each session will be accompanied by 3 brain mappings (data processed into a visual representation of brain wave patterns). Neurofeedback work has been shown to provide long lasting, permanent changes.
Kami Black, MSW, LCSW, Executive Clinical Director at Solstice West, believes neurofeedback will provide an additional level of care for students. The goal of neurofeedback is not to entirely replace traditional forms of therapy, but instead allow the neural pathways in a student’s brain to integrate with other forms of therapy more effectively. “We’ve seen that students who receive neurofeedback typically have a shorter length of stay and many are able to decrease their use of medication,” said Black. “It’s an innovative and effective way to decrease issues like anxiety and depression.”
Going forward, all neurofeedback therapy will be done in-house at Solstice West and will be included in the cost of tuition, making it more accessible for students and their families. To learn more about therapeutic programming at Solstice West, please visit https://solsticertc.com or call 866-278-3345.
About Solstice West RTC
Solstice West RTC is a residential treatment center in Utah that helps girls ages 14-18 who struggle with issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship struggles. In additional to traditional therapy and adventure activities, their accredited academic program emphasizes creative expression and experiential learning. Solstice RTC is dedicated to teaching young women how to incorporate healthy habits into their lives and develop healthy relationships.
Call 866-278-3345 for more information about Solstice RTC or visit https://solsticertc.com.
Red Mountain Sedona, the mindfulness-based young adult program in Arizona, now offers students the opportunity to take up to six-credit hours of college courses per semester for free, beginning January 2020. Though many Red Mountain students already take classes, next semester students will be able to enroll without having to pay extra college tuition. This tuition benefit applies to students attending Yavapai College—Verde Valley, and is available for any Red Mountain Student who is eligible to enroll in school.
Yavapai College is an accredited, four-year institution that offers dozens of degree and certificate programs, across six schools of study including: Arts & Humanities, Business & Computer Systems, Social Sciences, Health & Wellness, Career & Technical Education and Science & Engineering. The small class sizes, tutoring and accommodations from the Yavapai College Student Services department, paired with support from Red Mountain’s Master’s-Level Academic Advisor, means that Red Mountain students are able to have a corrective academic experience and move toward college completion or vocation certification.
Across the nation, young adults are struggling in higher education. In the 2018 Annual Report from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, nearly 40% of college students receiving mental health services seriously considered attempting suicide. What’s more, instances of medical withdrawal for mental health reasons, substance use, school avoidance and academic underachievement are on the rise in post-secondary programs. For these students, withdrawing from school can further exacerbate their mental health concerns and substance use issues.
The Red Mountain Sedona program helps students address their mental health challenges, while simultaneously helping them regain their academic momentum. With college tuition at Yavapai-Verde Valley, now being included in the Red Mountain tuition, students can have the mental health support they need to move forward with their academic goals without incurring additional tuition expenses.
About Red Mountain Sedona
Red Mountain Sedona is a mindfulness-based, trauma-informed young adult “Launch” program, located in beautiful Sedona, Arizona. Red Mountain specializes in helping young adults between the ages of 18-28, address the social, emotional and behavioral issues holding them back from successfully transitioning into adulthood. Through a truly holistic program that provides structure, individual, group and family therapy, life skills training, recovery support and mindfulness-meditation, yoga and martial arts instruction, Red Mountain Sedona helps students gain the stability and maturity needed to move forward in life. For more information on Red Mountain Sedona call (855) 998-5272.
New Focus Academy (Heber City, UT), a residential treatment program for adolescents ages 12-18, works with students with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as those on the Autism Spectrum, with Attention Disorders (ADHD, ADD, etc.), Executive Functioning Deficits, and Learning Disorders. Executive Director Brandon Parks, PhD., and Admissions Director Marisa Davis have teamed up to launch a podcast reviewing new neurodevelopmental research and how it is applied at the program. Their monthly podcast, Neurodiversity University, is available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and other streaming platforms.
While many parents are familiar with social and emotional difficulties their child with autism experiences, Brandon Park uses his background in neuropsychology to discuss different functions of the brain and how they play out in real-life settings for teens on the spectrum. Autism is related to difficulties with verbal cognition, visual abilities, processing speed, working memory, reasoning, and executive functioning and how these issues intersect.
“There is a difference between learning the grammar of a language and being able to speak it fluently. Teens with autism are often drawn to the rules of social and emotional learning but struggle with social-emotional fluency in applying these skills,” explains Park. “We work with teens in a group setting to give them a variety of opportunities to practice social and emotional skills.”
The focus of this podcast is to outline step-by-step processes to help teens on the spectrum develop social and emotional skills. This includes increasing their emotional vocabulary and somatic connections to emotional language, understanding relationship dynamics including friendship levels, developing social thinking, and utilizing mirrors to develop social awareness.
New Focus Academy is a therapeutic residential treatment program for adolescent boys ages 12-18 with neurodevelopmental disorders. Located in Heber City, Utah, just outside of Salt Lake City, New Focus Academy prepares struggling teen boys for a purpose-filled, independent life. New Focus Academy creates an environment of success using a positive reinforcement approach and empowering students to take small steps leading to big changes and overall wellness.
ReSTART has found, in the last 10 years specializing in treatment and recovery of Internet and Video Game Addiction, the most important tool for lasting recovery is relationships. ReSTART has never stopped innovating for the young adults and adolescents who have enrolled serving families from the United States and around the world. Since students who are enrolled from the United States or around the world may struggle forming relationships, ReSTART has found that allowing clients to form bonds and connections with animals is a great step towards being able to form strong relationships with peers.
At ReSTART’s Rise Up Ranch, clients are asked to take care of a variety of different animals. Taking care of the animals allows students to think outside themselves, increase empathy, improve responsibility, establish purpose, and start forming connections. One of ReSTART’s favorite animals is a fainting goat named “Darn It”. Now “Darn It” is the smallest goat at the ranch and she needs to be handled with care. If she is startled, she will seize up and fall over (a reaction to anxiety that many of our clients can connect with). “Darn It” also has a stomach issue which requires the clients to feed her Pepto Bismol in the evenings. One client stated that “the animals give us therapy, and we give them therapy”. The ReSTART clients love “Darn It” and go out of their way to make sure she is well taken care of.
By getting students out of the comfort zone, away from screens, and connecting with animals, ReSTART has seen that their willingness to examine their struggles and adopt new healthier life changes greatly increases. By caring for something other than their addictions, they can help reprioritize their lives and start moving forward in recovery. And with a face like “Darn It’s,” how can you not?!
about ReSTART
Headquartered in Fall City, Washington, reSTART is a leading advocate of healthy sustainable digital media use (internet, VR, and videogames) for people and the planet. ReSTART offers staffed residential care for youth (13-17) and life sharing retreats for adults (ages 18-30), along with independent living support.
blueFire Wilderness Therapy, a wilderness program for teens ages 11-17, is excited to welcome Ted Bost as a Primary Therapist on their clinical team. Ted specializes in working with adolescent boys 14-17 that struggle with behavior issues, depression, anxiety, trauma, attachment issues, low self-worth.
Ted completed his undergrad at Western Carolina University where he studied Parks and Recreation Management and Outdoor Leadership. After college, he began a 6+ year-long career as field instructor doing wilderness therapy in North Carolina and Colorado where he realized he had a knack for leadership and helping others feel safe as they journeyed into a world that was unfamiliar and exciting.
As a field instructor, he was mentored by several talented therapists and worked with many, many clients. He moved into a leadership position within the field department doing staff training, managing a high ropes course, and indirectly working with clients for several years.
He received a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a focus on addictions treatment from Western Carolina University. Before returning to wilderness therapy, Bost worked at a dual diagnosis substance abuse treatment facility with clients of all ages and walks of life.
“In wilderness therapy, there are few outside distractions from the ongoing feedback students receive, as everything they do in wilderness matters. No matter the obstacle in wilderness, it’s never personal for those trying to overcome it, and I believe this helps clients transfer a sense of personal agency into their lives,” describes Ted Bost. “There are endless opportunities to become creative in the wilderness to help articulate a theme, and I enjoy engaging clients actively in their therapeutic process instead of just talking about it.”
Bost is looking forward to working at blueFire Wilderness because there is an emphasis on individualized treatment for clients and an active family therapy component that he believes helps create a more thorough and effective treatment process.
About blueFire Wilderness Therapy:
blueFire Wilderness is a wilderness therapy program based just outside of Boise, Idaho that offers teens ages 11-17 a comprehensive adventure experience. BlueFire Wilderness combines clinical expertise, academic assessments, and a family systems approach to help teens struggling with emotional, behavioral and social challenges.
“Couldn’t they just move in with you?” was oftentimes the tongue-in-cheek question we would be asked,” explains Darrell Fraize, Onward Transitions Co-Founder and Chief Clinician, as he describes some of the impetus for Onward Transitions’ model design. “First when young people were finishing up with us in the wilderness, and then in my private practice, the questions and the recommendations would point in the direction of needing a community, or milieu experience where clients could have access to something beyond a set of clinical hours. So, we built a model that was more of a destination than a program,” Fraize continues. “We chose a city that was small, safe, had resources, and an appeal for emerging adults and their families that folks would want to move to and try out their new skills with a whole lot of ‘invisible’ and frankly visible supports in place. This way they could go to college and be in treatment. They could get a job and be in treatment. Most importantly, they could live in their own space, living their own life, and be in treatment,” he adds.
For some emerging adults coming out of primary care, whether it be a wilderness program or residential treatment center (RTC), their progress requires some reality testing beyond a contained environment before they try to live without a significant level of support. “Half of our current membership came to us directly from the wilderness or an RTC, motivated to put change into action and needing a high level of clinical and functional support to achieve this,” adds Co-Founder and Executive Director Tracy Bailey. “They, their families, their clinicians, and their educational consultants were all in agreement that their anxiety, or depression or executive functioning challenges were going to likely be too much for them to manage without a high level of sophisticated support,” she adds. “And so, they chose Portland, Maine as their destination city to reclaim their lives, while working with us.”
As Jesse Viner, MD, CEO and Chief Medical Officer at Yellowbrick in Evanston, IL wrote in 2008¹:
Residential treatment centers continue to function on an outdated asylum model of treatment; Go away to get better. The asylum model of treatment does not offer the concurrent experience and opportunity to build internal strengths and an anchored life in the community while receiving necessary professional support and skilled services. The emerging adult is then at risk for stalled development, misunderstanding, continued suffering as a demoralizing personal failure and experiencing shameful estrangement from needed family and friends.
It was this need that brought the co-founders of Onward Transitions together. Fraize explains. “Tracy, Margie (Lannon, CFO) and I wanted to provide a niche service for folks coming out of treatment and seeking a destination to learn experientially with a big safety net or close tether if you will. We have fifteen different groups during the week, meals, recreational activities, drop-in at two locations, clinical sessions, life coaching meetings and on-call therapeutic services. Tracy and I live in the heart of the city within a mile from all of our current members. Most importantly though, our members have a supportive peer group to bounce ideas and mistakes off of in addition to all of that professional support.” Fraize adds “there are lots of places out there doing incredibly good work with emerging adults. We want to be the place that helps keep that work alive in the real world.”
¹http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.557.5207&rep=rep1&type=pdf
About Onward Transitions
Onward Transitions (OT) in Portland, ME is a small, independent, owner-operated program for bright, motivated, emerging adults in the final stages of learning to live on their own. OT supports actual sustainable independent living and autonomy from two city locations. Participants (members) ages 18-29 never live with us; they live in their own apartments, scattered throughout the city. Members' challenges include anxiety, depression and executive functioning.
As a holistic adventure-based therapy program, Trails Momentum is committed to helping young adults ages 18-25, develop healthier habits in a variety of areas. Trails Momentum is excited to announce that Charlotte Christensen, MS, has joined the team as a Nutrition and Wellness Specialist, overseeing the kitchen, nutrition education, and culinary lessons.
Charlotte has a Master’s in Functional Nutrition from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon and focuses on the connection between what people eat, how they feel, and how proper nutrition can heal their bodies. Since finishing her degree, she has studied biology, ecology, organic agriculture, and holistic healing. She has a wide array of experience in the food industry, from teaching healthy cooking classes for youths and adults, to planning and coordinating events for health food stores.
“Charlotte’s background in Farm-to-Table concepts, using food as medicine, teaching healthy cooking classes, and developing new recipes make her the perfect fit for our program’s Healthy Living Model,” describes Program Director Todd Ransdell.
At Trails Momentum, Charlotte will teach healthy living classes & culinary lessons to equip young adults with the skills and tools they need to carry on nutritional living practices beyond graduation. Charlotte continues to strengthen the "Farm-to-Institution" model by partnering with local farms and even working to build the small farm on-site.
Learn more about the life skills development at Trails Momentum by visiting https://trailsmomentum.com/life-skills or by calling (877) 296-8711.
Trails Momentum is an alternative to traditional wilderness programs for young adults ages 18-25 who are struggling to launch themselves into adulthood. Students are guided on a journey of self-discovery where they develop self-concept and are empowered to make the transition into independence. Adventure programming, clinical services, family involvement, college coursework, and social skill development are seamlessly interwoven to maximize the transference of important life skills and address clinical and behavioral challenges.
Pure Life Adventure celebrates 6 years of therapeutic treatment and internationally recognized outdoor certifications in Costa Rica for young adults. Enrolling at Pure Life Adventure allows young adults to put their mental health first and, at the same time, allows them to gain life skills that transfer into job and adulthood. The partnership with Rescue 3 International and other certification companies provides clients with the unique opportunity to gain skills and challenge themselves in an outdoor adventure classroom setting. Clients walk away from Pure Life with: Wilderness First Aid, Swift Water Rescue, and Technical Ropes and Rescue Certifications along with the skills to understand their emotional life.
Certification courses not only provide skill development, they also carry an intentional therapeutic purpose. The courses allow Pure Life therapists to assess the client’s ability to focus and follow through in a classroom setting. It is not uncommon for a client to thrive in the adventure activities, believe he/she is ready to go back to college, and then struggle significantly with a certification week. Andrew Taylor, founder and owner of Pure Life, states, "Experiential skills build your 'work' resume while gaining emotional and therapeutic skills with a backdrop of being out of the country." The 'certification weeks' help clients build therapeutic strategies for success in college and careers while gaining functional skills.
For many who attend Pure Life Adventure, their primary goal has been to matriculate and complete college. Putting mental health first feels like a step backwards for many of these students. Providing an opportunity for a young adult to work on their mental health and experience success in a new setting while achieving certifications for their resume provides empowerment, where there might not have been empowerment before. Five day certifications include advanced first aid skills, rescue skills for rafting and rappelling, wilderness first responder and leadership skills to lead adventure tours of their own. Clients graduate with the proper certifications to be a River Guide, Leadership Development Counselor or Field Staff in the Outdoor Adventure Industry. "Through my Time at Pure Life I found a passion for being outdoors. With my certifications I was able to transfer those skills to a job as a river guide in Idaho, while I finished college," said Hannah, graduate in 2017.
About Pure Life Adventure
Pure Life Adventure is located in the Central Pacific region of beautiful Costa Rica. Relying on decades of experience in the Costa Rican outdoor industry, the bicultural team provides a therapeutically sophisticated and holistic approach to helping young adults with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, executive function deficits, trauma and substance abuse. The students are individuals with very real challenges looking for lasting change. Pure Life utilizes traditional individual and group therapy in combination with outdoor experiential learning and adventure. The Pure Life integrated and dynamic approach includes an emphasis on fitness, mindfulness, life skills and cultural immersion and is AEE Accredited
It’s a question that parents and students ask regularly: "What do College Excel students do during the weeks between college terms? Do they stay in Bend, do they head home? Do they go on vacation?" The short answer is all of the above.
The breaks between terms vary between one and three weeks. Many students decide that a week in Bend without classes is a wonderful time to relax and better enjoy all that central Oregon has to offer. For many breaks, students decide that heading to their hometown is a great opportunity to catch up with family.
The policies of College Excel allow a student to do what’s best for them and their goals. Often the coaches work with student on creating a plan for how best to manage the time at home.
When a student is attending independent college they have the space and opportunity to practice balancing a schedule that includes travel and free time. College Excel aims to create an atmosphere that mirrors independent college in as healthy a way as possible. It’s through experience that a student develops a schedule that works best for them.
About College Excel
Founded in 2003, College Excel is the nation’s leading residential college support program located in beautiful Bend, Oregon. At College Excel, post-secondary adults (18+) with diverse learning needs requiring extra support are provided the structure they need to move forward, both academically and personally. Using a proprietary, blended coaching model rooted in Harvard research-based neurocoaching and behavioral coaching techniques, College Excel students receive daily support from a team of credentialed and experienced Academic and Student Life Coaches while earning transferable college credits.
Trails Carolina announces the results of outcome data gathered from program parents in the pre-teen population (students ages 9-13). Throughout the research initiative, parents sent reports of their child’s symptoms and behavioral problems at four stages: upon admission to Trails, graduation from Trails, three months after graduation from Trails, and a year after graduation.
Upon admission, parents reported the following about their children:
- 65% of parents reported that their children experienced clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression, and 49% reported that their child was withdrawn
- 61% of parents indicated that their children exhibited aggressive behaviors.
- 36% of parents reported that their children struggled with attention issues, 35% reported that their child was showing rule breaking behaviors, and 42% of parents reported that their child experienced social problems.
- 65% of parents said their child was internalizing behaviors, and 55% of parents said their child was externalizing behaviors.
One year after the completion of Trails, parents reported:
- 20% reported that their child felt anxious and depressed, and 9% said their child felt withdrawn.
- 5% of parents said that their child was behaving aggressively.
- 10% reported that their child was experiencing attention issues, 5% reported that their child was exhibiting rule breaking behaviors, 10% said their child was experiencing social problems.
- 25% said that their child was experiencing internalizing behaviors, 5% said their child was experiencing externalizing behaviors.
This data was collected from 2014 to 2019 in partnership with the Center for Research, Assessment, and Treatment Efficacy (CReATE) and the Arkansas Institute of Developmental Science in conducting an outcomes study which explores the therapeutic effectiveness of wilderness therapy.
More findings from this study will be reported in the coming months. Learn more about the research initiative and outcomes study by visiting https://trailscarolina.com/does-wilderness-therapy-work/.
Trails Carolina is a wilderness therapy program based just outside of Asheville, North Carolina that offers a multi-dimensional wilderness therapy model to troubled adolescents, ages 10-17. Trails capitalizes upon the profound effects of a student’s wilderness experience, and then combines that experience with strong clinical assessments and therapy. For additional information about Trails Carolina, please call 800-975-7303.
Spanish Fork UT - New Haven RTC is proud to announce the re-opening of its Eleanor Roosevelt Home. This house has been open for over twenty years and has been home to hundreds of girls throughout its existence. This past year New Haven took the opportunity to give this beloved home some well deserved love and attention and it’s now open and ready for new students!
The Eleanor Roosevelt home was the second home opened on New Haven’s campus. As New Haven’s program grew it became important to still give families and students the care of a small campus feel. The home was named after Eleanor Roosevelt to help each girl learn to embody a spirit of service, strength and grace as they work through challenging emotional and clinical issues. https://www.newhavenrtc.com/roosevelt-house/
About New Haven RTC
Founded in 1995, New Haven Residential Treatment Center has been an industry leader in treatment for young women since its inception. We serve adolescent females, ages 12-18. New Haven is clinically intensive with an emphasis on family involvement, healthy relationships, academics, love and service. New Haven is a fully licensed professional Residential Treatment Center, located in rural Utah, south of Salt Lake City.
Northwest Passage, a residential mental health treatment program for children located in northwestern Wisconsin, has a unique way to usher in the change of seasons while promoting time spent in nature. They call it the November Outdoor Challenge - specifically the “Prairie Challenge” at their Prairieview campus and the “Peninsula Challenge” at their Riverside Campus. It is a month-long nature treasure hunt that changes daily.
"Time Spent in Nature" is one of the eight core elements of the PassageWay approach to living a therapeutic lifestyle. In addition to traditional approaches to residential treatment, Northwest Passage fosters Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes in their clients, which they call the PassageWay. The PassageWay includes the elements of relationship building, balanced nutrition, exercise, service to others, recreation, relaxation, spiritual meaning and time spent in nature.
The November Outdoor Challenge achieves not only time spent in nature, but also exercise, relationship building, and recreation, to name just a few. Each day groups head out into their “backyard” and search for clues, make scientific observations, document signs, and sightings of wildlife, identify plants, and look for hidden objects. They also check photos on the wildlife cameras and log distance hiked to earn points for their house. It is important to clarify the term “back yard”: the Prairieview Campus is 20 acres of rolling grassland crisscrossed with over a mile of trails, while Riverside Campus is a 12-acre peninsula on the Clam River covered with 100-year-old white pine trees.
This activity is an extension of and brings focus to similar activities that take place regularly at Northwest Passage throughout the year. The strategic timing, however, is an important factor in encouraging outdoor activity during a time of year that is not necessarily conducive to getting outside. November is typically the beginning of winter in Wisconsin. Winter snow cover can often extend into April. Encouraging year ‘round outdoor time is important at these latitudes, as is educating clients on dressing appropriately for the weather.
Given the long winters in Northern Wisconsin, this activity is just the beginning of winter long outdoor recreation that includes snowshoeing, cross country skiing and wintertime nature photography.
About Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage is focused on blending traditional mental health treatment with arts and nature-based therapy to restore hope in their clients. By investing in the lives of marginalized youth, Northwest Passage is influencing and changing how mental health is ultimately treated and viewed. The transformations seen are no less than extraordinary.
Equinox RTC, a residential treatment center for boys ages 14-18, is dedicated to helping boys improve their relationships offline. Following a screening of the documentary Screenagers at their last parent seminar, Equinox staff members attended a screening of the sequel, Screenagers, The Next Chapter, to learn more about how growing up in the digital age has affected teen’s mental health.
The series Screenagers highlights how struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction affect family relationships in terms of time spent together, levels of trust, and the way families communicate. The movie suggests that overuse of devices may be related to the uptick in depression and anxiety in society today and emphasized that teens deeply need face-to-face social connection and good sleeping habits — both of which can be negatively impacted by the overuse of screens.
“This message is consistent with our clinical approach at Equinox RTC. Often, we see that teens who are struggling with depression or anxiety are also using devices as an escape, which unintentionally exacerbates their emotional challenges,” reports Executive Director Kyle Gillett. “It definitely invited me to reconsider how I can better approach kids about their device usage and their emotional needs.”
While reducing screen time may feel impossible in today’s world, watching movies together can help facilitate important conversations around the forms of electronic media teens are consuming. Documentaries can be a tool for teens and their families to talk about issues they are dealing with and may offer solutions around what to do next.
“I believe that Screenagers 1 is more valuable to our staff, students and parents at Equinox as it examines more deeply the impact of screens in our lives,” describes Clinical Director Dan Keith. “Screenagers 2 is perfect for the average family who may be less aware of emotional health needs and how to best support their kids — including the consideration of seeking therapy. If anyone knows a family who is starting to struggle with their kids or adolescents, it would be a fabulous introduction to how to go about getting your child the support they need.”
To learn more about how social media and internet addiction affects teens and their families, check out https://www.equinoxrtc.com/blog/category/technology-addiction/ or call 877-279-8925.
About Equinox RTC
Equinox RTC is a leading residential treatment center for boys ages 14-18. Equinox is unique in its focus on Trauma, Loss, and Attachment, providing clinically intensive treatment for boys struggling with anxiety, depression, OCD, ASD, learning disabilities, and other emotional and behavioral needs. Equinox offers a combination of clinically sophisticated support with a whole-person approach including adventure therapy, integrated Cross-Fit program, and a whole foods diet. Equinox provides a fully accredited school, with broad course selections taught by licensed teachers in a college-preparatory environment.
Did you know that Sunrise Residential Treatment Center is a fully adherent adolescent DBT program for girls? This doesn't just mean that the girls get a DBT group once a week, or a skill taught here and there, but it is a truly comprehensive program.
A fully adherent (also known as fully integrated) dialectical behavior therapy program offers standard DBT groups for clients, and then goes above and beyond. In order to fully integrate the DBT skills into a student's life, the skill must be fully integrated into the program. At a fully adherent program, every employee on campus-not just the DBT therapist- is at a minimum foundationally trained in DBT. Dialectical behavior therapy is integrated into activities, academics, therapy sessions, and relationships.
Sunrise is one of the only fully adherent residential DBT programs for teen girls.
By maintaining the four pillars of DBT- Skills, Consultation, Phone Coaching, and Individual Therapy- Sunrise students are able to decrease life threatening behaviors leading to a decrease in therapy-interfering behaviors, which result in a decrease of quality of life-interfering behaviors and an increase of skills acquisition to replace ineffective behaviors.
Sunrise's Executive Director Brad Simpson, and Senior Clinical Director Craig Simpson recently attended ISITDBT Conference and learned that adherence to DBT reduces suicide attempts and treatment dropout. Please see slides below.
A fully adherent DBT treatment center offers application, not just learning. Sunrise offers the entire family full therapeutic healing in an environment that is constantly coaching in DBT. The therapist will work with the family to identify what skills are needed to succeed at home. When the girls have healed from past struggles, and dialectical behavioral therapy skills are a part of her everyday life, she will be better able to triumph over the challenges she will face in the future and build a life worth living.
About Sunrise RTC
Sunrise is a residential treatment center for adolescent girls ages 13-17 aimed at uncovering the academic, social and emotional potential of girls who have been held back by emotional or behavioral struggles. Sunrise combines the warmth of a home, the safety and clinical expertise of a residential treatment program and the community access of a transition program.
Logan River Academy is excited to announce the recent opening of Logan River Transitions (LRT). Logan River Transitions is a transitional living program designed for young adults (from the ages of 18-25). The transition program specializes in assisting clients to develop the necessary skills for succeeding in school, work, and socially. Logan River Transitions' highly qualified team will help guide clients through the transition to independent living through life skills coaching, counseling, and psychiatric support.
LRT is conveniently located in one of the safest towns in the United States (Logan, Utah), where each client has the opportunity to attend high school, college, or enter the workforce. Clients have access to Logan River Academy’s fully accredited high school program in addition to having the opportunity to attend nearby Utah State University or Bridgerland Technical College. In addition to a plethora of academic opportunities, Logan, Utah boasts an unemployment rate of only 4 percent, which gives clients plenty of opportunity to enter the workforce.
LRT assigns a primary therapist and life skills coach to each client, providing support and guidance as clients navigate the transition process. Some of the skills that develop include money management, executive functioning, organization and time management, healthy living, and technology management. The curriculum is tailored to the individual needs of each client according to his or her personal goals. Clients also have the support of a 24/7 resident assistant, there to assist with their developing independent living skills.
LRT is the perfect place for young adults preparing to take the next step in life, but who need a little help getting there. Learn more about Logan River Transitions at https://lrtransitions.loganriver.com/.
About Logan River Academy
Established in 2000, Logan River Academy has nearly 20 years of experience providing high end therapeutic care for adolescents and young adults. Our goal is to help each student develop the necessary skills to live successful and fulfilling lives. We provide a sophisticated approach tailored to each students’ individual needs. Through the concerted efforts of the family, the treatment team, and an individualized treatment plan, we help our students down the path of developing lifelong healthy habits that will lead to their success and prosperity. For more information call (435) 755-8400.
STRiV is spreading warmth this season, hosting a coat drive to collect clean, gently worn or new, warm coats for those in need. The students and employees at STRiV invite friends, neighbors, and colleagues to make a difference by donating to the coat drive and helping them reach their goal of collecting 100 coats and $250 (each dollar received warms one person).
“We embrace the principle of paying it forward, and are thrilled to partner with One Warm Coat to help those in need this winter. There are 39 million Americans living in poverty, who are struggling to pay their bills and support their families and are often unable to afford warm coats. In the Provo/Orem area alone, there are about forty-one thousand residents living in poverty. One Warm Coat’s program gets coats to those in need, for free. Everything we collect will be distributed in our community and help our neighbors stay warm this winter,” said Clark Hammond, Coat Drive Ambassador and Executive Director at STRiV.
Last year, more than 500,000 coats were distributed across North America to children, women and men in need through One Warm Coat’s Coat Drive program. “We are so grateful for our Coat Drive Ambassadors. It is because of our incredible volunteers that so many people receive the gift of warmth each year. The health effects of extreme cold are life-threatening. Thanks to STRiV’s efforts, many people in their community will be safe and protected this winter”, said Beth W. Amodio, President and CEO of One Warm Coat.
One Warm Coat is a national non-profit organization that works to provide a free, warm coat to any person in need and raises awareness of the vital need for warm coats. One Warm Coat supports individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country by providing the tools and resources needed to hold a successful coat drive. Coats are distributed in the communities where they were collected, to any person in need, without charge, discrimination or obligation. Over the past 27 years, One Warm Coat has worked with its volunteers to give away more than 6 million coats.
About STRīV
STRīV is a social, emotional, and therapeutic support program for emerging adults struggling to navigate the challenges of college life and the road toward independence. Located in the heart of Utah County, STRīV students have access to traditional academics as well as vocational training opportunities through Utah Valley University.
In 2013, a study* found that over 80 percent of Internet users, or about 93 million Americans, have searched for a health-related topic online. Online resources are a great option for people searching for mental health support for themselves or for others. Depending on your level of need, these resources can be used alone or as a way to find quality therapeutic providers, but with so many online resources, the challenge remains in finding and filtering through quality information once online.
To help people find quality mental health information, Aspiro Adventure Therapy has spent well over 100 hours this year researching & updating online guides and resources for families in crisis. Aspiro is a wilderness therapy program that has therapists who are experts in the following areas, and through these therapists, Aspiro has been providing top notch therapy for over 13 years. Even if you feel like you have good mental health, these articles can help you learn more about healthy behaviors and coping strategies that will lead to better psychological health.
About Aspiro
Asprio Adventure has treatment-specific programs located in Utah and Costa Rica, Aspiro’s mission is to be the most clinically-advanced outdoor behavioral healthcare program in the world, providing safe, dynamic, highly effective treatment modalities that are backed by empirical research. Aspiro Wilderness Adventure Therapy is a short-term wilderness program serving adolescents ages 13-17 and young adults ages 18-28 with varying degrees of social, emotional and behavioral challenges.
*http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077086/t/more-people-search-health-online/#.XeWJtedKh-U
One of the underlying challenges that plague many young adults is that they tend to still hold a strong child-like dependency for monetary, emotional needs and for their parents to solve problems for them. This challenge can be amplified by parents who consciously or subconsciously sends a message that their young adult child cannot work through their challenges on their own and therefore must depend on their parents' support.
By tracking outcomes of clients and families, Pacia Life has seen that the chances of success are increased significantly among families who learn empowering communication skills, increased accountability for their young adult, and the patience to trust the process.
With the understanding that family plays such a significant role in the young adult's process, Pacia Life continues to commit to new and better ways to address these critical family dynamics. This is why Pacia Life partnered with the Experiential Healing Institute (EHI). EHI and their team of parent coaches are dedicated to bridging the gap between therapeutic programming and “real life”. They work with parents to train them with the same skills that are being utilized by the staff who work with their young adults.
According to EHI, “Our Trainers bring methods and skills used in Wilderness Therapy and treatment centers to you at home and train the family to intervene before treatment is needed or to prepare a family for a loved one's return from a program.”
From day one, Pacia Life saw the value in utilizing parent coaches and began working with EHI. Through this collaboration, Pacia Life founder and visionary Randy Oakley has perfected a system in which parents of Pacia Life clients are connected to an EHI coach immediately upon their young adult child's enrollment. This system provides parents with the support they need during a difficult transitionary period. EHI and Pacia Life coaches work together to support the young adult and the family to create new healthier dynamics and habits.
About Pacia Life
Pacia Life was founded in 2013 with the intention and passion to fill a gaping void in the clinical needs, the transition from therapeutic programs to real life, education, life skills, grit, resiliency and personal needs for emerging young adults. Today, Pacia Life has grown into an international organization serving young adults from 17 and up. We currently offer six full-service locations and two step down locations. Each location is created to meet specific and unique needs.
Boulder Creek Academy is the place of new beginnings for two and four legged alike. Unwanted, unadoptable dogs are brought to foster at Boulder Creek Academy, and each and every one has a different story that shaped their life, just as the students do. With appropriate care and time, each one will eventually move on to a happy family life. The pastures at BCA are also occupied by an adaptable herd of equine inhabitants. They are used to teach students basic horse health care, farm management, and safe riding skills. (Equine therapy is also utilized using the EAGALA model, but perhaps the most versatile thing about the horses is that they become the teachers themselves.)
The dogs arrive exhibiting fear, agitation, and wild uncontrollable behaviors. Right away, the students swing into action, knowing their goal is to discover what each dog needs to be successful in its own world. Students know well that success looks different for each and every individual dog, just as it does for them. Some are so withdrawn and shy that the teens spend hours earning trust and showing compassion. Other pups have never experienced the expectation of self-control, so they have none. The dogs pose a whole different kind of challenge, and students must use repetition and routine with positive reinforcement to get them under control. No matter the task, students at BCA are willing to take it on because they have experienced how it feels to be misunderstood. They know that challenged does not mean broken or hopeless. They know success can be found if someone cares enough to help look for it. And, in the kennel at Boulder Creek, they have, for the first time, the power to make that difference in a life. Very often having the power to help others opens doors within themselves.
On a snowy day in February of 2019, one of the most anticipated members of the equine herd — a very shy miniature donkey named Spot — arrived on campus. He certainly looked different from everyone else in the field and they viewed him as strangely odd and therefore unwanted. At first, the other horses were agitated and even somewhat hostile toward little Spot. They chased him away repeatedly. But then one day Sonny, who is himself visually impaired, decided to become Spot’s protector and friend. They became inseparable friends, eating, sleeping, and grazing together at all times. Sonny refused to allow anyone to bully Spot. Eventually, all of the other horses came to know and accept Spot into the herd. By following his heart, a half blind quarter horse with his little donkey best pal taught the BCA community a real life lesson of tolerance and acceptance in a way that no one had expected, but everyone could understand.
About Boulder Creek Academy
At Boulder Creek Academy, students rediscover their academic and social confidence. The key to our success is that we reignite our students’ belief in themselves by utilizing time-tested and proven methods. Students begin to experience academic achievement, regain self-esteem, learn to embrace their uniqueness and become capable learners who are confident in themselves. Each day at Boulder Creek Academy is purposefully designed to maximize experiences that allow students to practice social skills, improve self-worth and develop healthy identity, benefit from therapeutic learning and to have fun.
Boulder Creek Academy has been creating a therapeutic learning environment for high school students ages 14-18 with anxiety, depression, untapped academic potential, interpersonal relationship difficulties, limited executive function skills and overlooked strengths and talents for more than 25 years.