The Best of Both Worlds: Where Residential Treatment Meets the Wilderness
By Meghan Vivo
Residential treatment center or wilderness therapy? This is a choice many parents face when seeking help for their troubled teen. While both types of programs can be immensely beneficial, and in many cases the ideal solution is to consecutively enroll in both types of programs, some therapeutic programs are offering an approach that combines the best of both wilderness and residential treatment.
For example, at Aspen Ranch, a licensed residential treatment center for adolescents ages 13 to 17 in rural Utah, students experience components of wilderness therapy while attending boarding school, participating in counseling and equine therapy, and engaging in a wide variety of extracurricular activities.
Waking up in the Wilderness
Over the course of their time at Aspen Ranch, students have multiple opportunities to spend two or three days in the wilderness in small groups, hiking, busting fire using a bow drill, and participating in team-building exercises, returning to a cabin each night to sleep.
"If a student gets 'stuck' or begins displaying old behavioral patterns, the wilderness is an intervention that helps jumpstart the student's development again," says Steve Kern, a therapist at Aspen Ranch. "Getting out of the classroom and learning through hands-on experience can be incredibly effective for teens."
The wilderness experience, like wilderness therapy programs, gives teens a sense of excitement and accomplishment and helps them realize that they can change the way they're approaching life. Students are scored on their participation and cooperation and will participate in additional "vision quests," or wilderness expeditions, as necessary.
For many teens, the vision quests are a highlight of the program. Roughly 50 percent of students at Aspen Ranch have attended a wilderness therapy program in the past, and many look forward to putting to use the skills they learned in the field. Once students reach a certain level in the program's level system, they can experience "solo," a two-day, one-night supervised personal adventure in the wilderness. For others, vision quests are an assignment they simply have to get through, teaching the valuable lesson that sometimes we have to do things we don't necessarily want to do (like go to school or listen to our parents).
"We introduced vision quests in November 2007 as mini-wilderness expeditions to give students time to get quiet and in touch with themselves," explains Kern. "The wilderness piece is valuable, different, and unique, and is a natural complement to residential treatment."
Prior to returning to campus, the vision quest leaders work with students to set goals and discuss how to apply their new skills to life at the ranch. The staff sets three goals and allows the student to set one of his own so he plays a role in determining his own objectives.
Why Residential Treatment
In addition to all of the benefits of the wilderness experience, troubled teens attending Aspen Ranch enjoy the full spectrum of services offered through residential treatment.
The ranch is renowned for its equine therapy program, complete with bareback riding, barrel racing, young horse training, horsemanship skills, team-building activities, experiential learning, and therapy groups. With the guidance of the horses and the staff, students gain life skills, such as positive communication, trust, honest achievement, value congruent behavior, and anger management, which translate to a better life at home. Because working with horses is an exciting challenge, and a rare opportunity for many teens, students tend to be motivated to work hard and succeed.
Clinical therapy, in individual, group, and family settings, is another cornerstone of the residential treatment program at Aspen Ranch. Each student is assigned a primary therapist who works individually with the student and communicates with the family on a weekly basis. Licensed therapists also facilitate group therapy sessions addressing various issues, including addictions groups, psycho-educational groups, peer mediation sessions, equine-assisted learning sessions, recreational initiatives sessions, and others.
Though students participate in vision quests and wilderness expeditions, they also enjoy recreational therapy in the form of ropes course initiatives and off-campus trips (such as hiking, skiing, rock-climbing trips, and cultural events), which are facilitated by a certified recreation therapist and the team's primary therapist at least once a week. Teams are presented with a challenge and are required to utilize teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills to achieve their goal. After each activity, the team discusses the experience, evaluates their performance, processes any issues that surfaced, and draws parallels between this experience and real life experiences.
Academics are an essential component of residential treatment at Aspen Ranch. The curriculum is fully accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, licensed by the State of Utah for residential treatment, and is a California Approved Non-Public School. Courses are taught by certified teachers in small, single-sex classes in a wide range of subjects, including English, science, math, social studies, foreign language, and a broad selection of experiential courses and electives. Aspen Ranch students who have failed in other school systems have achieved remarkable success, often going on to attend college and receiving full scholarships to top schools across the country.
Living in single-sex dorms with up to 12 other students, students learn healthy eating habits, personal hygiene, cleanliness, and decision-making and communication skills. All residents are supervised around the clock by staff with experience working with youth. Through honest achievement, students move up in a five-tiered level system, earning more privileges and responsibilities as they demonstrate greater maturity and trustworthiness. Gradually, students graduate from simple compliance to a genuine desire to change.
A World of Opportunity
Students at programs like Aspen Ranch benefit from quiet reflection and the challenge of being in the wilderness, while reaping the many rewards of residential treatment. Nowhere else can teens learn to ride and communicate with horses, repel into a slot canyon on an experiential learning trip, master a ropes course, receive intensive therapy, build meaningful relationships with their peers, and get caught up in school – all in one place.
If you are the parent of a struggling teen, give your child the most memorable and productive time of their life. Learn more about Aspen Ranch at www.aspenranch.com.
