Aspen Achievement Academy

Aspen Achievement Academy
98 South Main Street
Loa, Utah 84747
http://www.aspenacademy.com

Program Description

Being a teenager is tougher in today's society than it has ever been. Our teenagers are exposed to drugs, gangs, and violence. They lack the clear cut structure, support, and rites of passage of a simpler society. Without such clear-cut rites of passage into adulthood, many of our teenagers and families struggle with the transition from youth to adulthood.

Aspen Academy recently participated in a landmark study of wilderness therapy that showed a dramatic improvement in teen behavior after participation in a wilderness therapy program.

The Academy creates a modern “rite of passage” designed to assist adolescents in making the transition to responsible young adulthood. We guide each participant toward deeper insight and self-reliance and generate a sense responsibility for self and community. Aspen’s clinical focus is on insight-oriented therapy, rather than behavior modification. The model helps our students gain awareness of their emotional and behavior habits. This unique, nurturing approach allows our students to address individual issues, become engaged in their personal success, and begin the process of bringing families back together.

We have a flexible length of stay, with a minimum enrollment of 35 days. The program provides a multidimensional method of treatment by combining an extensive diagnostic assessment with individual components of traditional therapy, experiential education, and "hands-on" outdoor learning. Aspen uses creative approaches with its outdoor experiences and a cooperative family-like environment to enhance traditional treatment methods. The Academy is founded on the philosophy that the combination of experiential learning and cognitive process is the most effective means to treat our students.