Our Program
The wilderness has been used as a therapeutic tool for centuries, with US treatment programs formally researching, advancing and documenting its power as a treatment milieu for over 100 years. For the right young man at the right time, a wilderness program can accelerate the treatment process, providing powerful intervention, assessment, stabilization and first-phase treatment for emotional and behavioral problems. Elements is designed specifically to meet the needs of 13 - 17 year old boys—especially those who are struggling with mood dysregulation, oppositional-defiance, low self-esteem, difficulty with family and/or peer relationships, or early to mid-stage substance abuse. By focusing on this highly wilderness-responsive population and selecting treatment modalities specially suited to these young men, Elements achieves faster results than most short-term treatment programs. Our success is partly the result of specializing on a specific population and designing approaches just for that population. Our affordability allows families to continue the treatment process more easily, which is part of our mission at Elements.
One of the keys to our effective treatment program is its balance of intensive whole-staff training, a consistent core therapeutic curriculum and the ability to customize based on individual need. Our small size makes frequent, intensive, whole-staff training possible so that the entire team is synchronized in their application of core treatment approaches, wilderness safety and risk management. Team members all receive the same in-services, field trainings, and certifications, along with ongoing peer review and mentorship. This helps our team continuously improve and ensures that we are on exactly the same page regarding best treatment practices.
Our core therapeutic curriculum means that all of our boys benefit from the expert delivery of several treatment approaches we believe to be critical for this population. Our core approaches include milieu-based Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, the Seven Challenges approach to substance abuse management and recovery, a phase system, and other treatment approaches that we consistently train our staff to implement and support. A core treatment curriculum gives us a solid foundation of quality treatment upon which to build the customized plan that each boy needs.
Balancing the consistency of a staff training program and a core treatment curriculum is our emphasis on customizing treatment to meet each young man’s unique needs. Again, it’s our size that allows us to do this, since individualized treatment strategies require a highly coordinated approach involving team members who know each other and every student in the program quite well.
