Oxbow Academy Honors Kevin Bailey
Kevin Bailey is a clinician at Oxbow Academy. As a native of Sanpete County, Kevin has known about Oxbow for many years. He heard about Oxbow’s positive reputation in both the local community and treatment community. That positive reputation made Kevin decide to seek out an opportunity to work for Oxbow, and we are fortunate that he did.
Healing and Horses
Kevin makes a point to begin each week with Equine Therapy. All of the young men that Kevin works with participates in Equine Therapy as a group. He values this time as an opportunity to touch base with each of his students. While Kevin reads reports about things that happened over the weekend, he values the opportunity to meet with his students in person.
“I am able to have that connection with each of the boys to start the week off. Because even if they are doing equine therapy, there is always some time if we have questions or if they want to fill me in on something that happens over the weekend, then they have the time to do that,” Kevin said.
Kevin has participated in equine therapy before; he feels that the equine therapy program at Oxbow is different.
“I have done equine therapy before at other programs, but I didn’t really feel like it was equine therapy. It felt like we were doing therapy and there happens to be a horse nearby,” Kevin said.
The Oxbow Equine Therapy program gives Kevin the flexibility that he needs to address the issues that the boys are focusing on in therapy. According to Kevin, therapy becomes more effective because it is more relevant.
A Culture of Collaboration
Equine Therapy is not the only thing that is different about Oxbow. Kevin appreciates the culture at Oxbow because at Oxbow Kevin can receive feedback from everyone. The openness and teamwork that he experiences at Oxbow make a positive change from other environments where Kevin has worked in the past.
“I can have a relationship with everyone at Oxbow, and I like that Oxbow is set up that that is okay to do,” said Kevin.
The sense of being on a team also makes it easier for people from different departments to communicate. The ability to communicate lets each person working with a teen develop a better understanding of how that teen is doing. In addition, a clearer understanding of the teen’s situation enables people to better contribute to the teen’s success. Succeeding in treatment is important because it enables teens to return to their families, which is where they belong.
Being Good Parents
Like everyone at Oxbow, Kevin’s ultimate goal is to help teens return to their families. Kevin also wants parents to understand that by seeking help for their son’s sexual issues, they are being good parents.
“I think that is sometimes tough for parents to accept that they need help,” said Kevin. “But reaching out when you need help is part of being a good parent because parents are trying to take that step to do what is best for their kid.”
When their teens are struggling, parents have a tendency to blame themselves. They feel ashamed of not being able to address all of their teens needs on their own. Oxbow helps parents to get beyond the blame and the shame to help families to heal.
The flexibility and teamwork that Kevin sees at Oxbow enable him to do what is necessary to support and heal families. During the years that Oxbow Academy has been treating troubled teens, the program has developed a consistent, effective program. “I like that there are clear objectives and milestones clinically for the youth,” said Kevin. Oxbow depends on caring, hardworking professionals like Kevin to help Oxbow Academy continue to succeed.