Posts Tagged ‘residential treatment center’
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
Rick Lee, the Academic Director at Oxbow Academy, recently received this email from one of our student’s parents. We’ve ommitted their names in order to protect their privacy. “This,” says Rick, “is why I stay in education. I have such great, no, Awesome, staff here at Oxbow.”
Mr. Lee,
I am about to send off … application. I input all of the classes (he) has either taken or will take this year. I did this based off of the progress report we received at our last parent teacher conference. It looks to me like … will need to finish 1 credit of Social Studies to graduate. This process gave me the opportunity to review all (his) coursework while at Oxbow and I am stunned! I just can not thank you and your staff enough – I think you have helped save his life.
M.
Tags: ADD, ADHD, college applications, Education, high school graduation, oxbow academy, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, substance abuse, teachers, teaching, therapy
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Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
Recently one of the clients with whom I work was able to see his sibling for the first time in a year. Their meeting over Skype was possible due to this student’s progress in the program. That progress consisted of working through two clinical phases, gaining insight into his behavioral patterns and making changes to these patterns in order to provide more safety in his relationships. He also gained empathy for others, worked weekly with his parents, completed the Clarification process with four other people and has maintained a good standing in the program. He has spent countless hours in preparation for this moment.
Prior to the meeting. this student expressed nervousness and excitement. He was ready for this day. He had with him his letter of accountability that he had worked on for weeks, fine tuning it to personal perfection. In his letter, he took into consideration terminology that his sibling many not recognize. He provided breaks to clarify his intentions and showed critical attention his sibling’s needs. Even with all of this preparation, my client did not know what to anticipate. The anticipation built up over the months of preparation that has led up to this day has been a growing experience for him.
My student greeted his sibling and asked if he was ready to hear what he prepared to share. After a confirmation, my client proceeded to explain what he had done and why. He showed empathy by expressing recognition of what he put his sibling through and explained ways that he is planning to provide safety in their relationship from here on out. The sincerity that my client showed was true and it was miraculous.
It is powerful to see the changes that these boys are willing to make in order to heal and to be healed. One of the most profound aspects of this process is the student’s realization that although life will never be the same as it was before the abuse, there is a recognition and desire to commit to make things better from here on out. There is a new determination. There is commitment and a heightened awareness of the necessity of change in order to create a healthy life for themselves and others.
The behaviors that this client showed last week instill a new hope in a family that once had very little hope to hold onto. Change is possible, and it is made possible through the sincere honesty and care demonstrated by a teenaged boy overcoming sexual behavioral problems. Rachelle Gallup, Therapist
Tags: ADHD, counseling, family, family therapy, mood disorders, RedCliff Ascent, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, struggling teens, substance abuse, teen therapy, therapy, troubled teens, victim
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Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
As I have worked with Oxbow over the last six years, I always felt like we were making a difference. But I always wondered how much of a difference we were making with our boys. I wanted to be able to measure the difference between a boy when he first came through our doors, and when he completed the program. For the past three months I have been able to administer the outcome tools that were able to confirm my initial feelings.
As our students participate periodically in our outcome studies, it is clear that we are making a difference in their lives. Although we are still in the beginning stages of our studies, we are able to see significant differences in our students as they allow the therapeutic process to heal their lives and their relationships. I am excited to see where our outcomes take us in the future and how we may be able to use it to fine tune our treatment. - Alan Kendall, East Campus Residential Director
Tags: family, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, troubled teen, troubled teens
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Friday, March 23rd, 2012
When I started working with Chase he let me know up front that he was dumb and wasn’t planning on graduating from high school. He wasn’t being defiant or belligerent……just stating the facts as he saw them. I worked on English and History for a little while with Chase in a group setting and I could see that he was much more capable than he knew.
I was asked to tutor Chase, one-on-one about 3 months ago. We started to practice actual reading and finding answers to put on worksheets. Chase still didn’t plan on doing anything except the minimum to meet his goal for the week.
During the month of February, Oxbow formed a basketball team to play in a league here in the community. I attended one of the games and was visiting with the man who was running the scoreboard. He asked me if Chase did well in school because he played a smart game of basketball and really used his head.
When we got to school the next day I told Chase what this man had said just from observing him on the basketball court. He was a little shocked and a lot pleased. He started to work a little more independently and a little harder at his schoolwork.
There was a point where Chase became a little frustrated and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong – he was doing great in school. After a few conversations I found out that he was regretting not taking an actual interest in school and his abilities before this point in time. He felt like he was so far behind that he would never be able to get caught up and be where he’s supposed to be academically. We made a deal and talked honestly about the work that it would require for him to get to that point, or at least close to it, before his time here at Oxbow is gone. We set some goals and went to work.
He did really well finishing up the concepts he was already working on but then we started World Geography. It was new and a little daunting. Chase looked at it, threw his hands up and said, “This is too hard. I can’t get this.” I wrote that quote down, dated it and had Chase sign it. I told him I would bring him a reward if he would at least try, work hard and get to a point where he could do the worksheets on his own and take the test on his own and score above 90%. He didn’t think it was possible, and honestly, I didn’t know if it would happen before he left Oxbow. He’d never done his own work or his own reading up to this point. However, we continued to work and practice and just last Wednesday Chase brought a concept to me that was finished except for the last two pages. I hadn’t helped him at all and he’d never taken work home before so I was a little skeptical.
I looked over the work and gave him a testing pass with the conditions that he had to score above 95% or he’d be required to finish those last two pages and all pages of all concepts from that point on. He assured me that he knew the material and went down to get the test.
He came upstairs and worked on that test, using the notes that he had taken. When the grading slip came upstairs I braced myself for some frustration and shut down on his part. He looked at the paper and had a look on his face that I couldn’t really read but I was ready for anything. Anything except the 97% he had achieved!
I couldn’t have been prouder if he had been my own child. He was on cloud nine. I got out the little sticky note with “This is too hard” written on it and we attached that grade slip to the note.
Chase has increased his goal by one concept per week and has met that goal, is taking concepts home each night and on weekends and is working more and more independently on school nights. A little practice, some positive reinforcement and a belief in himself and his abilities have made a huge difference.
I hope that as Chase leaves here he feels confident and secure in his abilities and will apply what he’s learned as he works toward a high school diploma. - Cindy Johansen, Teacher, Oxbow Academy
Tags: ADHD, family counseling, family therapy, learning, learning disability, oxbow academy, residential treatment center, school, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, struggling teen, substance abuse, teacher, therapy, troubled teen, tutor, tutoring
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Monday, March 12th, 2012
As a mother who works full time, I have to leave my own child with someone every day. I always hope and pray that she is in good hands. That she is being protected and taught the correct things while I am away. That someone is loving her almost as much as I do (which I know is a high demand, because my love for her seems to have no bounds). That they are taking the time to play with her and give her the attention that she needs- that she deserves. And the reason I do this is so that I can take a similar role for someone else’s child every day.
Some of the boys that I work with have parents miles and miles away. Some haven’t been home in over a year, because they have been at other programs. The role I play in their lives is a sacred role that I can not lose sight of. I think of the many parents who are miles away from their sons just hoping that whoever is with them is taking care of them, and loving them almost as much as they love them. That someone is teaching them, and helping them to get back on track- since they have wandered so far from the course. I can never replace the role as their parent, nor am I supposed to. But my role is to care about them and help guide them back so they can be reunited with their family- whatever that may look like.
When I look at the picture of my little girl on my desk, I can’t help but be grateful for the amazing trust these parents have put in me with their own sons. And I am honored to be part of their journey to help bring their son’s back home safely. Tiffany Winder, Therapist, Oxbow Academy
Tags: family, family therapy, Mother, oxbow academy, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, therapist, therapy, troubled teen, troubled teens
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Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
As therapists at Oxbow, we are here to help students develop insight into their thought, feeling and behavioral patterns. We love this work and are privileged to work with wonderful students and families. As our students change, their families change. And as the families that we work with change, we are influenced for the better.
There is no set time line for how quickly one gains insight. Insight comes in its own time, dependent upon the individual’s willingness to “go there”. True insight cannot be given away and cannot be forced upon anyone. All that we can do to assist in this process is to encourage the student through interaction and hopefully foster a desire within him. Throughout this often long process, patience is tried and tears are shed. Nights of sleep are lost and stress can frequently seem overwhelming.
One family recently showed great patience with their son’s journey to insight. This family has waited patiently as their son played games that hurt them and avoided his treatment for months. This family waited in their pain and showed their patience with their son by being available for every contact made; whether it be a weekend phone call with little depth of conversation or a family or parent track session where they were asked to gain insight into their family system and how their personal functioning contributed to the family dynamic. This family showed patience with the Oxbow program by following the recommendations given by the Oxbow treatment team, regardless of how difficult these recommendations were. Due to working together as a team, their son is making progress.
I congratulate your son for the efforts that he has invested in his therapeutic work and for the maturity he has chosen to gain and to show. He is beginning to investigate his personal emotional depths. He is, at last, ready to learn from his own experiences.
I congratulate you as parents. I congratulate you for all of the work that you have invested physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I congratulate you for the personal growth you have decided to gain and for your willingness to not only teach, but to learn. For your patience with your son as he struggled to make a decision to move forward in his life, to move beyond fantasy and sit in reality.
This process is painful and continues to be tender for the many involved. Hope is fostered through patience and understanding. Thank you for all of the above. Thank you to the parents and family members of all those who have been willing to look at their pain and to work through it in positive ways. Your sons notice your growth and it encourages them to move toward gaining their own insight, promoting internal changes. Your love and devotion cannot be replaced. Your influence is remarkable, life changing. by Rachelle Gallup, Clinical Social Worker
Tags: ADD, ADHD, family, family therapy, mood disorders, oxbow academy, parenting, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, struggling teen, struggling teens, substance abuse, therapy, troubled teen, troubled teens
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Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
I was having a conversation with a colleague of mine the other day, when he shared with me a story about something he had witnessed at one of our sister programs. It was a story that I instantly related to my own life as well as to the boys we work with everyday.
While on a tour with a consultant they were fortunate to catch an equine session in progress. The instructor was prompting the student to “apply just enough pressure” to the horse to get it to do what she was asking it to do; run in a circle. As the horse began to do what the student asked, she released the pressure, then the horse would turn before asked, or try to stop before told and she would have to increase the pressure. As the rhythm between horse and student came together, the student removed all pressure and asked the horse to stop. The horse then turned and walked directly up to the student in the center of the round pen, ears forward, nose down; looking for the next direction.
I recognize in myself a need sometimes to turn before asked or stop before I’m told. It looks a little different but essentially it is the same. We refuse to do what is asked of us and so we run in circles until we realize that if we would simply take the path of least resistance, attentive with our eyes and ears, all pressure would stop and we would be allowed to step into center.
Sometimes we need pressure to keep us going. Sometimes the things that we know are good for us are the hardest to do. That is how I feel a program like Oxbow helps these kids every day. Just enough pressure to help them understand that for all their running in circles, it will be better for them in the long run to stop and step into the center, ears forward and noses down. by Erin Nester, Admissions Coordinator, Oxbow Academy
To watch a video from our sister program demonstrating this concept, visit www.discoveryranch.net/videos “Colts & Kids 2″
Tags: ADD, ADHD, equine therapy, experiential therapy, family counseling, family therapy, horse training, horsemanship, lunging, mood disorders, oxbow academy, parenting, RedCliff Ascent, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, substance abuse
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Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
Oxbow’s Residential Director, Bill Pollock, shared this essay by MS, one of our students. “This is the reason that we take the kids out and let them experience what we do,” Bill says. “It is always fun to watch them work through experiences and accomplish things they didn’t know they could.”
The Journey
Early in the morning a staff came to me and told me to get my winter clothes on. My first thought was,”Oh great, another silly ‘task’ to get done, and this time it was out in the cold!” Once I was ready, me and several other students loaded up in the van and the staff told us we were going to go track a mountain lion. We pulled away from the warm cozy facility and headed east. The other students and I slept on and off as we traveled toward the snow and cold. Somewhere in my dreams I heard a loud motor and woke to find we were stopped and a four wheeler with our Residential Director on it right outside the van. We piled out and headed for the trailhead.
The trail had over a foot of snow, but it didn’t appear that we were heading for the trail, exactly. We took one step off the trail and sunk to our waists in deep snow. My heart sunk with my feet into the cold snow. We trudged and slipped, plowed, pushed, stumbled, and crashed through the snow, using branches and sheer will to move forward. Finally we plopped down at the top of a hill, huffing and puffing to catch our breath. Our director and guide on this misadventure then informed us that we had only gone about 100 yards and we had roughly another 900 yards to go. I did some quick calculations in my head, recalculated again and no matter how I figured it the math came up the same. We still had a long way to go.
So we continued, slipping, plowing, pushing, stumbling and this time sliding around the terrain. As I was focusing on my momentum and the gravity pulling me down the side of a mountain I heard the dogs. They were baying, a very good sign. We found them, about a dozen of them clawing and howling at a tree. Our Guide and several other students were staring up at the tree. At first a saw nothing but snow covered branches, but as I moved around the tree I saw the Lion. Our Guide saw the look on my face and Laughed, clapping me on the back. It was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.
About Twenty feet in the air, resting between several snowy branches was a full grown tom with paws the size of my head. I stood there shocked at how beautiful and majestic this creature was. I could clearly see the contours of his face and the way the natural colors of his fur blended together creating a stunning camouflage. He seemed content with his perch, despite the armada of canines at the base of his throne. His belly hung low over the branches, full of a fresh meal. He almost seemed to be falling asleep with his would-be captors only feet away. The epitome of feline nature, he sat with a cool head and crescent shaped eyes, looking down at the world as though he were king of it all. After some persisting he leapt from his perch in pursuit of a quieter one.
The trek out was equally as difficult as the one in but this one was peppered with taunts from our guide and staff about the delicious, warm dishes that awaited us. Most of my hydration was lost due to salivation over longing for that hot meal.
The day ended with no less than three pizzas and several boxes of cheese sticks from one of our favorite pizza haunts. It was an experience I will never forget and others that accompanied us will have to recover from. That exquisite face, proud eyes, and enormous body that peered down at us will live in my memory, as will the difficult journey required in order to see it with my own two eyes.
Tags: experiential therapy, family, family therapy, hunting, mood disorders, mountain lion, oxbow academy, RedCliff Ascent, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, struggling teen, substance abuse, therapy, trapping
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Friday, January 27th, 2012
Fifteen young men have graduated from high school at Oxbow Academy since I joined the program in 2008. Seven of them graduated just last year. At least three other boys finished therapy at Oxbow and returned home to graduate with their classmates.
While our first priority is addressing the therapy needs of our boys, we are in the business of helping students pick up the pieces of their academic lives too. We prepare them to enter the real world – either in the workforce or preferably in colleges. Of our students that graduated from high school while in therapy, five are currently in colleges throughout the United States where they are continuing their academic success.
We find success in therapy seems to translate to success in the classroom as well. It’s a model we want to build on. This week three students will take the SAT, an exam required by most colleges for admission. Two more boys will test later this year. High school graduation is just around the corner for two other students.
We are proud of our students and their accomplishments in the classroom and in therapy. Their futures look bright. by Richard Lee, Academic Director, Oxbow Academy
Tags: academic, academics, classroom, college, family therapy, graduation, high school graduation, oxbow academy, residential treatment center, SAT, school, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, therapy
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012
On a recent trip to California I was visiting with the family of a recent Oxbow graduate at his home. While we were talking his parents had a meaningful realization. They were talking about how they were so fearful, anxious, angry, and distraught the day that they brought their son to Oxbow. They talked about the devastation that they felt when the sexual issues were discovered and the trauma that they endured before they found the help of Oxbow.
In the next sentence parents reflected how they were in such a different place today. Today there were still challenges but these challenges were “dreadfully normal.” They talked about transporting kids to school, coordinating therapy appointments, helping with homework, their jobs, advocating to help their sons receive the school services they needed, but there was no mention of the pain, guilt, and shame that had plagued the family less than two years ago. Gone was the pain, anger, and shame and what they discovered as they sat in their home was hope that their son can have the future that they as parents dreamed he would have. As we said our goodbyes and gave the family a hug I asked the parents to take care of our son. I seemed to walk a little lighter knowing that we at Oxbow had played a small part in returning this boy to his parents and restoring their hopes and dreams that years before they had felt were lost. by Todd Spaulding, Clinical Director, Oxbow Academy
Tags: ADD, ADHD, anger, families, family, family therapy, guilt, oxbow academy, parenting, parents, RedCliff Ascent, residential treatment center, sexual abuse, sexual addiction, sexual trauma, shame, substance abuse, therapist, therapy
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