Monarch Center for Family Healing is a wilderness therapy and treatment program designed for adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18. Appropriate candidates may struggle with substance abuse, poor academics, legal problems, ADD/ADHD, or may be rebellious and angry, depressed or have low self-esteem.
In using "Gestalt Therapy," an experiential therapy, the ratio of therapists on staff to students is one to two. Group sizes for expeditions are no larger than 10 students per group. At least one certified Wilderness First Responder or EMT accompanies each that group.
Every third week of the child's treatment, families are encouraged to attend "Family Week", which offers at least one session with their child's therapist, multi-family sessions or "Intensives," a structured social event with other families and parent discussion groups.
Wilderness therapy expeditions last two weeks and precede and follow each family week. Depending on the time of year and capabilities of the group, expeditions that are offered range from rafting, rock climbing, hiking and biking to camping, snow shoeing, fishing or wilderness survival skills.