In September 2020, Turn-About Ranch released a candid, student-led video tour of their facilities on YouTube. The tour is led by a recent student who walks viewers through the school, residential loft, basic aspects of student life, and his student goals. The purpose of their videos is to allow potential parents to see the inside of the ranch environment through the eyes of students.
In this video, the student talks about some of his personal experiences and the things he has learned from the opportunities available to him. He discusses learning to love Les Miserables, getting to read Anne Frank’s Diary, the time he has spent writing in his journal, and even the sense of accomplishment felt from doing chores at the ranch. He also talks about the “Solo”, a day students get to spend on their own in a nearby cabin to reflect about going home.
While discussing his goals, the student shares some of the therapeutic writing exercises he’s done in order to move up through the program’s four levels. These exercises have helped him learn and grow — experiences that he willingly opens up about on the tour.
“If a kid comes here, it means their parents genuinely love them,” the student says, sharing something that he’s been contemplating during his time at the ranch. “They wouldn’t send them to a program to get help if their parents didn’t just love them.”
When asked how this student is doing since the tour, Shane Young, Admissions Director, is happy to report that the student has since graduated and has also returned to the ranch just to visit — he even asked to haul hay! Turn-About Ranch is proud to foster a healthy and loving treatment environment for struggling teens. The teen treatment center regularly sees teens return just to say hi and get a taste for ranch living again.
About Turn-About Ranch
Turn-About Ranch is a wilderness therapy and residential treatment program located in the heart of Southern Utah’s canyon country. Students experience life on a real working ranch while undergoing treatment to improve their life back home. Surrounded by multiple national parks and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Turn-About Ranch is the ideal location for youth of today to have the space they need to find healing and purpose. If you have any questions about Turn-About Ranch, please call their admissions office at (800) 842-1165 between the hours of 8am and 6pm Mountain Standard Time.