| From Strugglingteens.com Visit Reports Tucson, Arizona
These stages also include young adults seeking personal independence, financial independence and learning what they want to do in life. The issues that brought them to Cottonwood are unearthed through focusing on these developmental stages of young adults. For example, when young adults explore how to achieve independence, they naturally bring to the forefront their particular problems in life and how those problems block their ultimate achievement of appropriate developmental attainment. While Cottonwood is known for their substance abuse program, they work with all emotional and behavioral issues. A full 25 percent of their patients are dealing with trauma, depression and other disorders, with no substance abuse issues. The program employs best current practices including cognitive behavioral therapies and stages of change with all counselors knowledgeable in Motivational Enhancement Interviewing approaches. The focus is often on helping patients to explore what the patient wants in his or her life, while looking at their strengths, needs, abilities and preferences. They believe that a program can not force feed patients, but they can help them see for example, how drugs are keeping them away from what they want to achieve in their life. Group therapies using cognitive behavioral approaches take place two hours a day, five days a week. Lectures and small therapy groups are run throughout the week. These include trauma, nutrition, mood and food, sleep disorders, depression and co-dependency. Experiential work includes mind, body, meditation, psychodrama, mind/mood, kick boxing, challenge courses and equine therapy. The evenings include 12-Step groups in the community and additional lectures. The typical length of stay is five to six weeks. The adolescent program, called Sweetwater, also works with a variety of problem areas, not only substance abuse. It was reported to me that the program's strengths are in the refinement of differential diagnoses, family focus and working with a "softer" girl. They screen out oppositional defiant and conduct disordered girls. The adolescent girls program has many of the same approaches and shares some resources. For example, family groups include both the adults and adolescents with adolescent specific breakouts. The adolescent program includes the treatment of substance abuse, mood disorders, sub-acute eating disorders, and includes those who are at risk of self-harm. The adolescent program also stresses cognitive behavioral therapies as well as extensive experiential therapies including rock climbing, art therapy, equine therapy, expressive arts and others. Cottonwood's adolescent patients also receive individual, group and family therapy and attention is also paid to full psychiatric and medical assessments. Their treatment model attempts to address the girls through a holistic approach, involving the mind, body and spirit. During my two hour visit, all patients were in treatment groups and I was unable to speak with any of the girls. My general impression of the program was that for parents who want a thorough assessment of the various issues going on with their daughter and a short term intervention, Cottonwood is a good choice. Cottonwood has a comprehensive and clinically intensive program that heavily involves the family. Families who are looking for a best practices clinical program that includes other innovative approaches would be happy with Cottonwood. © Copyright 2012 by Woodbury Reports, Inc. |