The Importance of Residential Treatment and Trauma-Informed Care for Adolescents

In today's fast-paced and complex world, adolescents face a multitude of challenges that can significantly impact their mental health and well-being. Issues such as grief, PTSD, family conflicts, and depression are increasingly common, yet they are often misunderstood or overlooked. Residential treatment centers (RTCs) that employ trauma-informed care are crucial in addressing these problems and fostering healing and growth in young people. Residential treatment provides a structured, supportive environment where adolescents can receive intensive therapeutic support away from the stressors of daily life. These centers offer a safe space for youth to work through their issues with the guidance of trained professionals. The residential setting is particularly beneficial because it allows for continuous monitoring and support, ensuring that each adolescent receives the care they need around the clock. Trauma-informed care is an approach that recognizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery. It emphasizes physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both providers and survivors, and creates opportunities for survivors to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment. This approach is essential in residential treatment for several reasons: 1. Recognizing the Impact of Trauma: Trauma-informed care starts with the understanding that trauma affects everyone differently. This understanding shapes every aspect of the care provided, from the initial assessment to the ongoing therapeutic interventions. By recognizing the diverse impacts of trauma, RTCs can tailor their approaches to meet the unique needs of each adolescent. 2. Creating a Safe Environment: Safety is a fundamental aspect of trauma-informed care. RTCs strive to create an environment where adolescents feel physically and emotionally secure. This sense of safety is crucial for young people who have experienced trauma, as it helps them begin to trust again and opens the door to healing. 3. Empowering Adolescents: Empowerment is another key principle of trauma-informed care. Adolescents are encouraged to take an active role in their treatment, making decisions about their care and setting goals for their recovery. This empowerment fosters a sense of agency and helps rebuild self-esteem, which can be severely diminished by traumatic experiences. Residential treatment centers utilize a variety of therapeutic modalities to address specific issues such as grief, PTSD, family conflicts, and depression. Here are some of the most effective approaches: 1. Grief Counseling: Grief can be a profound and isolating experience, particularly for adolescents. Grief counseling provides a space for young people to express their emotions, process their loss, and develop healthy coping mechanisms. Through individual and group sessions, adolescents learn to navigate their grief in a supportive environment. 2. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT): TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment specifically designed to help individuals who have experienced trauma. This approach combines cognitive behavioral techniques with trauma-sensitive principles to help adolescents process their traumatic experiences and develop healthy coping strategies. 3. Family Therapy: Family conflicts can exacerbate other mental health issues, making it crucial to address these dynamics in treatment. Family therapy involves working with the entire family unit to improve communication, resolve conflicts, and build healthier relationships. This approach helps create a supportive home environment for the adolescent’s ongoing recovery. 4. Mindfulness and Stress-Reduction Techniques:Techniques such as mindfulness, yoga, and meditation are increasingly incorporated into residential treatment programs. These practices help adolescents manage stress, reduce anxiety, and develop a greater awareness of their thoughts and emotions. 5. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT is particularly effective for adolescents struggling with intense emotions and self-destructive behaviors. This therapy focuses on building skills in four key areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. DBT helps adolescents develop healthier ways to cope with their emotions and interactions. A holistic approach in residential treatment centers integrates various therapeutic modalities to address the multifaceted needs of adolescents. This comprehensive care model ensures that each young person receives individualized support that encompasses their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. By addressing all aspects of their health, RTCs can foster more profound and lasting recovery. Residential treatment centers that employ trauma-informed care play a crucial role in addressing the complex mental health needs of adolescents. By creating a safe, supportive environment and utilizing targeted therapeutic modalities, these centers help young people heal from trauma, manage their emotions, and build healthier relationships. As we continue to understand the profound impact of trauma on mental health, the importance of these treatment approaches becomes increasingly clear. Investing in residential treatment and trauma-informed care is not just about treating symptoms; it's about giving adolescents the tools and support they need to thrive.

Safety is an essential part of learning.

Students need to feel safe in their environment in order to learn. If a person is worried about getting beat up - physically or verbally, that person cannot open his or her mind to effectively put things into long term memory. Effective teaching requires that teachers create an atmosphere in the classroom where students are free to ask questions without fear of being made fun of or being made to feel stupid. The tapestry of life is woven from discovery and memory. From the moment of birth, we are exposed to a continuous flow of sensory experience — sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Our remarkable brain takes the images and sounds, the feelings, scents, and tastes of each moment and creates an internal representation of the external world. In the beginning of life, all is new: each experience is a first. Each image, melody, scent, and caress bathes the newborn's brain in data as it attempts to organize and make sense of this world. Over time, we create memories, and we learn. Learning is fun when it is curiosity driven. In the words of one of my former students whom I refer to as “the great philosopher Ned”, “Math only sucks until you get it.” The difference between a student “getting it” or just trying to survive by memorizing enough information to pass the test is whether the learning is curiosity based or fear based. It comes back to safety in the classroom. The fear response is essential to the health of the human brain and body. Under threat of any kind — hunger, thirst, pain, shame, confusion, or too much input coming in too fast — we respond in ways to keep ourselves safe. When the fear response is triggered, our minds will focus only on the information that is, at that moment, important for survival. Fear kills curiosity and inhibits exploration. Hear at SRS, most of my students come into my classes with math anxiety: a fear of math (and the experience of learning math in a group) which requires that they never ask a question which could expose them to an uncomfortable social experience, and a fear that I will find out just how much they don’t know. To combat this self-imposed barrier to effective learning, I tell them about what I call the “basic agreement.” This agreement stipulates that I will do my best to teach them from where they are at any given moment. As a result, they don’t need to pretend to know things they don’t know, and if they ask a question, I will do my best to answer it in a way they can understand without editorializing about when they should have learned it and how many times it has been explained before. Their responsibility is that they will do their best to learn. This means asking questions to help me learn how they learn. Once I know how they learn, I can teach in a way that allows them to understand and remember. All of us can vividly recall a situation (perhaps many) when a teacher reviled a student with words like, “How many times to I have to tell you?” or “You should have learned this in 1st grade.” The anxiety is present in students of all subjects, not just math, and teachers play the dominant role in creating physically and emotionally safe places for students to learn. I find that after the initial “I hate you” phase, students who receive consequences for aggressive behavior toward peers quickly become champions of protecting other students from aggression. Here are some key behaviors I try to use in creating a safe classroom here at SRS: • Maintain a clean, organized classroom. All people feel safer and more comfortable in a clean organized classroom • Be the same teacher yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Follow through on promises. Be consistent in discipline • Be kind, and let students know you care. I chose this profession to make a difference, and I want my students to know that I care about the long term effects of my teaching. I want to my students see higher goals for themselves and help them believe in their abilities by helping them master challenging tasks. • Protect students from misbehavior. Always follow through on discipline for students that threaten others. Demonstrate that you care enough about not to allow bullying, triggering, coercion, or intimidation. These behaviors can help students overcome learning anxieties in any classroom environment, but they work particularly well among our population at SRS

Academics at Sorenson’s Ranch

Sorenson’s Ranch School is a fully accredited high school found in a pristine valley in the Fishlake National Forest. Students can complete their high school graduation requirements and receive a high school diploma. Sorenson’s Ranch School prepares students to go directly into the workforce, go on to college, or finish a vocational training. Sorenson’s Ranch School accommodates students who struggle, average students, or accelerated students. Sorenson’s has recently added new CTE classes including Business Management, Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Photography and Customer Service. Other elective classes include Child Development, Adults Roles and Responsibilities, and Keyboarding for middle school students. Students can actually be prepared for entrance into the workforce or for entrance into college. Some online college courses may be available for students. Students are given chances for career exploration in the CTE courses. . We can help students form realistic and reachable career, personal, and educational goals. This does not imply that the goals are not challenging. The most motivating goals are those that are within our reach if we use some effort. Only someone who knows a student well and cares about his or her well-being will be able to help that student form reachable goals. Students do not attain reachable goals on their own. Like any of us, students are more likely to move ahead when they know that there is a path to get there. We here at Sorenson’s Ranch School help with the path Sorenson’s supports an independent study format. Students are able to finish their high school courses independently and at their own pace. Students may work at a slower pace if they are IEP students or move at a faster pace. We provide teens with a lot of guidance in a more restrictive environment to help them successfully navigate the adolescent years. We provide surroundings that abolish many of the distractions and triggers that accompany a public school education. We have a low student to teacher ratio and students are able to know what is expected of them. They are better able to predict their own consequences if they break the rules. In addition, the more one-on-one time your teen gets with trusted and experienced instructors and counselors, the more likely he is to get his individual needs met and become a disciplined and mature individual. One of the limitations of our educational structure is that relationships with teachers, especially in secondary school, may be caring, but they are not easy to sustain. Yet at-risk youth need relationships that are both caring and stable. They need to build a sense of trust and have the time to communicate the difficulty, obstructions, and positive aspects of their lives in and out of school. ​All Utah High School graduation requirements are met here at Sorenson’s and students graduate with a regular high school diploma. Sorenson’s Ranch School is a mastery school. Students are required to reach mastery or 80 percent before passing classes. Teachers work with students on an individual and personal basis. Sorenson’s Ranch has small class sizes with low teacher to student ratio. Students are expected to be respectful to teachers and staff at all times. They are taught discipline and respect to teachers, staff, and fellow students. Students are required to listen and follow instructions. Students will learn behavior management in the classroom. Principal, teachers and school staff develop a personal education plan for each student. Students are monitored closely by teachers and are able to learn at their own pace in a safe, secure environment. Credits are made up if students are behind in credits for graduation. At Sorenson’s Ranch we recognize the difficulty of trying a new path and both prepare students for obstacles and support them when they run into problems. This can be highly challenging, as some of the students' flawed actions may violate school rules or perhaps even legal boundaries. We handle such cases individually and with sensitive judgment. We incorporate engaging settings in the school that permit students to experience a sense of belonging and pride.

TABE Adaptive Testing at Sorenson's Ranch School

One of the principal aims of the accreditation process is identifying with some clarity the strengths and weaknesses of the school being evaluated for accreditation. Areas of strength are identified as “powerful practices” and commended in the final report. Areas needing improvement are also identified so that efforts toward school improvement can be focused and effective. Corrective measures aimed at improvement in those areas must be addressed in a report to the accreditation commission via AdvancED twenty four months after the date of the school evaluation. The primary area of focus for Sorenson’s Ranch School during this accreditation cycle is the establishment of a comprehensive assessment system which will allow us to quantify, to a much greater degree than we ever have, the progress that students make academically while they are with us. As one component of this goal, we have instituted semi-annual testing of the entire student body using TABE Adaptive. TABE stands for Test of Adult Basic Education. For years TABE has been a very reliable and widely used instrument for assessing academic achievement in adult education programs across the nation. Due to increased demand for a reliable test that could be used for students aged twelve to eighteen, the developers of TABE, McGraw-Hill, normed a version of the test for use with this younger population. In addition, the test was formatted for administration on-line, and TABE Adaptive was born. The word “adaptive” in the title indicates that the on-line test adjusts future questions based on the responses given by the student. For example, if a student misses two questions in a row, the testing software will make next question easier. If a student continues to get correct answers, the software will increase the difficulty of the ensuing questions until the student answers incorrectly. Through this process of making the questions harder or easier based on student performance, the grade level equivalent of the test subject can be more accurately determined than was ever possible with a paper-and-pencil test. TABE Adaptive results are given as a scaled score and as a grade equivalent (GE) score. Scaled scores are useful for comparison to previous and subsequent test administrations, but do not mean much in isolation. GE scores are also useful for comparison, but because they indicate a grade level, they are also instructive when used alone. For example, a student may earn a GE score of 9.2 which indicates that the student’s performance is equal to what would be expected from an average student in the second month of the ninth grade. Students are tested on reading, language usage, mathematics computation, and applied mathematics. A score is computed for each subtest, and a composite score is computed for total math and the entire battery. The bottom line for SRS is that we now have a highly accurate way to determine the academic performance of our students when they arrive and at sixth month intervals while they attend our school. New arrivals are given TABE Adaptive within about a month of their arrival and are then tested with the rest of the students every March and September until they discharge from our facility. We will use the data generated from testing to adjust our curriculum and teaching practices to better serve our students’ needs.

Proper Teaching in the Classroom Involving the Scientific Method

I always try to incorporate the scientific method into my classroom teaching. Let’s take a research report for example. Students always ask me what the steps are for writing a research report. I then respond stating the scientific method steps which flow like this: 1) State the problem (Find a problem to solve) 2) Collect data and research the problem 3) Form a hypothesis 4) Test the hypothesis 5) Come to a conclusion about the problem 6) State whether it has been solved or not (Theory step) Take the following example for instance. Suppose a baseball player breaks his bat at baseball practice. At this point, he obviously has a problem. He needs a new bat! He then begins to ask his coaches about what bats are the best bats to hit with. He also goes to the local sporting goods place and asks about the best bats. He also searches the internet for the best bats and then formulates that the Demarini T6 bat is the best. The coaches also mentioned that the Easton Stealth was a good bat. To test these bats, he then approaches the sporting goods owner and asks if he could use the two demo models. He takes 100 swings with the Demarini and hits 5 home runs, 10 doubles, and 7 triples while at practice. He then swings 100 times with the Easton Stealth and hits 4 home runs, 6 triples, and 7 doubles. He also notes that he likes the feel of the Demarini much more. He then draws a conclusion that the Demarini is better and forms a theory, that until proven false will mean that he will purchase and use the Demarini. I then explain that this problem solving method can be used with any problem in life that students may encounter. As students become better at recognizing and applying the steps of the scientific method, this technique taught in the classroom will make life much easier for students in the future.

New Data-management Program Streamlines Record Keeping at Sorenson's Ranch School

The combination of therapeutic and academic goals common to facilities such as Sorenson’s Ranch School causes challenges not found in regular, September-to-May types of educational institutions. Our open-enrollment, individually-paced program necessitates a greater amount of flexibility and an accompanying amount of complexity. Along with this flexibility and complexity come correspondingly complex record keeping problems. To try to meet these needs, the management of SRS contracted with a computer firm in Salt Lake City to design a custom program for the school which would work in concert with the behavior management tracking software already in place.
The new program allows the school staff to have all academic records at their fingertips. Gone are the days of separate roll books, grade sheets, registration records, class change forms, and transcript files. All previous academic data is entered into the program when a new student enrolls, and this foundation information is then updated whenever a change is made at SRS. The new program automatically calculates days in class, grade point average, and credits earned. Our old system required us to type each transcript using word processing software. The new program will allow us to generate and print a transcript with a key stroke. With the old system, the monthly report card process was very labor intensive with each teacher having to manually enter the current number of days enrolled, assignments completed, grade, and comment code. Now, the only information items entered manually each time are the teacher comment codes.
The switch to the new program has not been without its problems, but such is the nature of the process when any new system is adopted. The teachers have spent many hours transferring the data from their old record keeping formats into the new program. Some of our faculty have been employees of other schools when new programs of this nature have been implemented, and they have reported that the number of glitches (or “bugs” as the computer professionals call them) with our new package has been less than what they have experienced before. Our requirements are much more complex than those schools which require only an academic data program, as ours must coordinate with our “tracker” program as well. The head programmer on our project has been very responsive to our “bug reports” and has made every effort to have us up and running in time to meet our deadline of February 1st for doing report cards for the first time on the new system.
Even though the changeover process has been very labor intensive and somewhat frustrating at times, the teachers are reporting satisfaction with the new one-place-for-everything approach. We will be adding some new features in the near future which should make it even simpler for us to meet all of our students’ needs.

Mathematics at Sorenson's Ranch School

There are two questions every math teacher answers repeatedly. “Why do I have to do this?” and “When am I ever going to use this?” At times it is difficult to help students understand why we do difficult things, and it is even harder to help them understand when they may use math in life.
Let’s start with the “why mathematics” question. The purpose of mathematics is to train the brain for critical thinking and problem solving skills. Mathematics requires that creativity and common sense work together to solve complex problems. Mathematics follows the basic, real-life model for problem solving below:
1) Explore
Examine problem.
What do you know? What do you need to know?
2) Plan
How do facts relate to each other?
Make a plan to solve the problem.
Estimate your answer.
3) Solve
Use your plan to solve the problem.
If your plan does not work, start over.
4) Examine
Is my answer reasonable?
Does it make sense?
If not, try again.
Although we use mathematics to teach this problem solving strategy, it is clearly a way to approach any problem one may encounter throughout life. From financial decisions to fixing a car, the decision making process learned from mathematics is critical to productive living.
Now let’s look at the “when” question of mathematics. It is true that many people will not use many of the things that they learn in mathematics after graduation from high school or college. We will use the basic math skills and problem solving abilities forever, but not many of us will need to know how to write the standard form of an equation of a hyperbola. This is what makes the “when” question difficult to answer. Truthfully, unless you are going to be an engineer, computer scientist, actuarial scientist, doctor, business administrator, or many other high-paying jobs, you won’t need higher level mathematics. Nineteen of the twenty highest paying and highest demand jobs rely heavily on math. One of the comments I like to use is: “If you don’t learn something, it is certain that you will never have the chance to use it.” Those who know more are able to do more, especially knowing mathematics. Encourage students to do well in all subjects, even if they don’t like them or feel that a given area of study is too difficult. There will be opportunities for them to use the knowledge they gain, and they will thank you later.

Mastery Learning

Here at Sorenson’s Ranch School, we have worked hard over the years apply curriculum and instruction techniques which have been demonstrated through research to be effective. Because we are a non-traditional school operating within a residential treatment facility, our challenges in providing an adequate education to our diverse student body with its inherent diverse needs are many. One of the ways we try to ensure that we meet the needs of our students is our focus on Mastery Learning.
Mastery Learning is defined as an instructional model which presumes that all children can learn so long as they are provided with a learning environment and accommodations that are commensurate with their learning needs. A foundation principle of Mastery Learning is that in order for a student to move on to more complex learning objectives, he or she must demonstrate ability to apply the current objective with eighty percent proficiency.
The nature of our facility and the diverse nature of our students require us to operate on an open enrollment basis. Our students come to us from almost every state at varying levels of educational accomplishment. Frequently they are more than one year behind schedule for graduation due to causes which include Reactive Attachment Disorder, drug and alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety, and poor family dynamics. All of these factors make it very desirable for us to be able to provide a way for our clientele to “catch up” in school. Mastery Learning is the mechanism that allows us to meet this need.
In a “regular” school setting, credit is earned in lock step with the other students in the class. Assignment due dates don’t change, no matter how far in advance a student completes the required work. Within a Mastery Learning environment, once the student demonstrates proficiency at the eighty percent level, he or she can move on to the next assignment. Mastery Learning does not guarantee that a student will earn credit at an accelerated rate, but it does provide that opportunity.
Another integral part of the student experience here at Sorenson’s Ranch School is the level system which rewards appropriate student behavior with increased privileges and opportunities for enrichment activities. The level system is organized according to a number system with level 1 at the bottom and level 5 at the top. No student is allowed to progress above level 2 unless he/she is on schedule for credit in all classes. This reinforcement of academic achievement through the level system provides extra incentive for students to stay current in school.
Not every student who attends our school will make up all of the credits that he/she is behind, but many do. It is almost always necessary to get a student’s behavioral issues under control before he/she will buy into the system and start to progress adequately in school. The real issue is that once the student experiences a change in behavior and begins to have success in the program, school progress at an accelerated rate, without the necessity of extra school days, becomes a possibility.

Learning About Nutrition

Over the past few years there has been a lot of controversy on whether or not classes in the family and consumer education area (formerly known as home economics) are important in high school.
Classes such as foods and nutrition are becoming more and more important. The steady rise in obesity in the Nation’s youth population has come to the forefront of our awareness. Obesity in youth has become a top priority for health professionals in the U.S.
A big percentage of obesity in childhood and adolescence can be related to poor eating habits. One effective way to manage obesity is to change eating habits. Making students more aware of dietary needs helps them learn what goes into foods, and the best ways of cooking healthy recipes to benefit them in their later years. Besides being a basic life skill, cooking can instill a feeling of accomplishment and pleasure.
Learning to cook their own meals can help students make more nutritious choice rather than always defaulting to fast food or junk food. High school students are at a stage where it is crucial to learn about the importance of proper nutrition. Teens often do not follow recommended dietary guidelines; they consume many of their calories from sweets and fats.
Nutrition should be an important part of a high school curriculum to teach students eating habits that will benefit their health. Teaching nutrition as part of standard curriculum can help students understand how to make good choices.
In our foods and nutrition class, we teach a balanced mix of nutrition and basic cooking skills that will come in handy later in life. The students aren’t always thrilled about the nutrition portion of the course, but definitely like the cooking labs!!
Teaching students to make good nutrition choices and how to cook are skills that will improve health, save time and money at the grocery store, and promote good health for the rest of their lives.

Troubled Teens and Consequences

The problem with a lot of troubled teens is that they haven’t made the connection between their behavior and the outcomes of their behavior. Why is this so? For many it is because they have been rescued by their parents and not allowed to experience the consequences of their actions. This is usually not because their parents are over-indulgent, but because of their deep concern and care for their children. If a child does not learn to put the two together, though, when they are young, then they are heading for trouble by the time they reach adolescence.
There are two types of consequences that parents need to be aware of, natural and logical. In years past, when children grew up on farms natural consequences were an integral part of their lives. If a child was given the chore of feeding the chickens each morning before going to school and didn’t, the natural consequence would have been that the chickens would suffer and their egg production would dwindle, affecting the whole family. The child learned that their actions had consequences beyond just that of being disciplined for not doing a job.
Logical consequences are consequences that have been set in place by the parent or person in authority, such as, “If you don’t eat your dinner, you can’t have dessert.” Here at Sorenson’s Ranch School we have a program in place to teach troubled teens that their actions have consequences. The program is based on a point system. The students learn that certain behaviors lose points and certain behaviors gain points. Based on the number of points a student has, they can be on level one, two, three, four, or five. Each level, going up, has additional privileges for the students.
Initially, teens arriving at Sorenson’s Ranch School with little or no prior experience of connecting their actions to consequences struggle for a while. As they gain experience in managing their own behavior, they are able to gain privileges by moving up the levels. They are able to see the results of their good behavior as well as their bad behavior. Teaching a struggling teen that their actions have consequences not only for them but also for those who are concerned for their welfare is a process that takes some time and is not something that can be changed overnight.
Sorenson’s Ranch School augments its behavioral modification program with a quality education, excellent therapeutic services, and experiential learning opportunities that one can only get on a working cattle ranch. Troubled teens find a place away from the hustle and bustle of modern life where they can concentrate on learning and changing maladaptive behaviors.

The Holiday Season for Those with Troubled Teens

The holiday season is a time of excitement and anticipation as families plan for get-togethers, holiday meals, and gift-giving. It is a time of year that families usually look forward to with happiness and joy in their hearts. However, for some families there is a shadow hanging over them as they anticipate the coming holidays. For families who are struggling with a troubled teen that is out of control there is the hope that the holidays will go well and as expected, but also the fear that everything may come apart at the seams. Will their adolescent join in on the family functions and be congenial with family and friends? Or will their teen be surly, flippant, or even obnoxious to those around him, ruining the festivities for everyone present?
Many parents of troubled teens hope that if the holiday season goes well, it will mean that their teen has made a turn for the better, and that what they feared most will not have to come to pass. No parent wants to have to send their child away, even if they know it may save their life. We all want to think that we can do this ourselves. We are good, capable, and loving parents. And yet, for some of us, all the love, care, and concern that we have been giving to our troubled teen just gets thrown back into our faces. Rules are ignored and scoffed at. Behavior is beyond unacceptable. There is a feeling of a loss of what to do in order to stop the downward spiral.
Sorenson’s Ranch School has helped parents faced with the agonizing decision of what to do for their troubled teen for over 25 years as a residential treatment center for troubled youth. Before that we were a seasonal camp for troubled inner-city kids to get away for the summer. Over the years we have grown into a fully staffed and JCAHO-accredited residential treatment center for troubled youth as well as an accredited high school, grade 7 through 12. We have licensed therapists trained in dealing with the most difficult problems, such as RAD, BPD, and addiction issues.
If you are a parent with a troubled, out-of-control teen this holiday season, let us give you some hope with some words from other parents who also faced the difficult decision of what to do for their troubled teen:
“While we are fully aware that we must be diligent in our efforts to remain drug free, we feel the people at Sorenson’s Ranch have helped tremendously by developing our daughter’s love for animals…We are in awe of the changes she is making daily.”
“When our son came here, his future was dim and small. Now, thanks to you, it’s bright and big.”
“Last year at this time was very lonely for me and for my husband. Our son was with you for just over two months and we were trying to adjust to his being in someone else’s care. It was so hard and uncertain as to the outcome. Today I am relieved and loving every bit of being a mom. My husband and I are both so thankful for your love and care of him.”

Life Skills Activity Nights Are Back at Sorenson’s Ranch School!

Beginning in November at Sorenson’s Ranch, Rhonda Robinson and Tina Somers will be bringing back Life Skills Activity Nights for both the boys and girls. On Monday and Thursday nights, the students will be attending classes that will offer them some much needed skills. Troubled teens tend to be lacking in many skills that are needed in life.
In November they will not only learn to read a recipe, but also how to make the recipe. We will be making Rice Crispy treats, and we will begin creating our own recipe books. Each week the teens will add a new recipe to their books. When they get out on their own, they will have a collection of recipes they can use.
Some of the other activities will include crafts, learning to do laundry, learning to keep track of finances, learning how to place orders for items, learning how to budget money in order to live on their own, as well as other life skills. The students really enjoy these activities, and they learn many valuable lessons.
Many teens that have experienced behavioral problems while going through adolescence drop out of school and enter the “real world” without a clue as to how to do any of the things that will be taught in these activities. Along with these types of activities, Sorenson’s Ranch School offers troubled teens a wide range of experiences that help them grow into well-rounded adults capable of facing the challenges of a complicated, busy world.

Changing Negative Thought Patterns

Sorenson’s Ranch School helps troubled teens learn how to change negative thought patterns. We all have that little voice inside our heads that attempts to hold us back through the use of self-despairing statements. Whether the statements are about our looks, abilities, or the core of who we are, these statements become part of who we are and keeps us from becoming who we can be. These negative self-talk statements are worse for people who have depression and for those with low self-esteem, because these statements keep the person trapped and do not allow them to move forward easily.
Replacing negative thought patterns is addressed through the use of the DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and in individual therapy. The Sorenson’s Ranch School DBT group addresses identifying negative thought patterns by introducing the idea of cognitive myths and teaching the students to challenge these myths that they say to themselves. An example of a myth that students learn to challenge is: “It will kill me if he does not talk to me.” A possible challenge is: “I won’t like it, but I will move on if he does not talk to me.” Other myths include, “It does not matter; I don’t really care.” This one is generally used to avoid sharing feelings and managing emotions. Many students challenge this one with “I really do care and this is why.” Students are then taught to identify their own myths and challenge these and use these challenges every time that myth comes to mind. They practice replacing that thought with the challenge.
The next step in the Sorenson’s Ranch School DBT group is to learn about cheerleading statements. Students are taught to make their own cheerleading statements to give themselves encouragement and to empower themselves. These statements are particularly helpful for overcoming fears and helping the student to feel better about their self and to build upon their strengths.
Learning to change negative thought patterns is a very powerful tool in learning to feel better about oneself and in turn change behaviors. Remember our thoughts are directly related to our behaviors.

Salt Lake Bees Game

On July 23, 2010, Sorenson’s Ranch School staff took all the Level 4 and 5 boys and girls to a Utah Bees minor league baseball game as a reward for their good behavior. The Bees played the Denver Sky Sox and lost 12-1. It was a very disappointing game, but I don’t think the teens minded much. They were just glad to be able to participate in such a fun activity away from campus.
We arrived at the ballpark in Salt Lake City at 5:00 p.m. and enjoyed a picnic lunch of all you-can-eat hotdogs with condiments, chips, beans, watermelon, and soda pop. We sat in a shaded area of the ballpark where we ate and had a great time talking with each other. This was a good time for the teenagers to relax and interact with each other in a positive way.
At 6:30 p.m. we went into the game, and our seats were perfect. We were right behind home plate and also in the shade. The first Bees batter got up to bat and on the first swing, the bat broke. It was amazing. It's not very often you get to see a bat break in a game.
After the game was over, the teens watched an outstanding fireworks show! It lasted about 30 minutes, had great music, and the adolescents’ faces were glued to the sky. They were more like little kids again, instead of troubled teens that had been sent to Sorenson’s Ranch School for intervention.
These activities are great because they reward the kids for their good behavior and hard work. It is a great motivator to keep them on the right track. They look forward to such activities here at Sorenson’s Ranch School. Special activities such as this augment our regular activities of horse riding, camping, fishing, etc. When higher level students return to campus and excitedly tell their friends what they did, it gives the lower level students incentive to keep their behavior in check so that they can get to a level to be able to go the next time.


Holly McCulla
Sorenson's Ranch School

A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!

The Berkshire Juvenile Court in Massachusetts has found an imaginative way of dealing with troubled teens that have had some minor run-ins with the law. Instead of sentencing these teens to highway cleanup for their minor offenses, the Court sentences them to participate in a 10-week performance program with the Shakespeare and Company. The program is called the Shakespeare in the Courts Project.

This innovative program forces troubled teens to step outside of themselves and learn skills the heretofore would never have considered. The goals of the program are to encourage group participation, develop listening skills, self-esteem, responsibility and commitment for a project, leadership skills and to foster a sense of accomplishment.

These are some of the same goals we hope to accomplish with our teens here at Sorenson’s Ranch School, but instead of learning to perform Shakespeare, they learn horsemanship skills in order to perform and compete in local 4-H competitions. The 4-H program encourages group participation as they learn together the ins and outs of how to care for livestock, how to ride a horse, and how to compete in local county fairs. Learning to ride a horse with a group of other riders develops listening skills as they have to pay close attention to what those around them are doing and saying as they train their animals. Winning awards in the 4-H competitions builds self-esteem and gives participants a sense of accomplishment.

Many of Sorenson’s Ranch School’s troubled teens have come from urban areas where they have never been near a horse or seen a buffalo. They have no concept of how food is grown or what it takes to manage a herd of cattle. It is their first experience in the processes of growing hay, from daily having to move large sprinkler lines to helping load the bales of hay onto the flatbed trucks.

Our country is faced with many troubling complex issues today, not the least of which is our youth, and with so many teenagers having difficulties Sorenson’s Ranch School commends programs like the Shakespeare in the Courts Project. Many families are in crises these days, and parents need all the help they can get. We at Sorenson’s Ranch School strive with great diligence to change the lives of those troubled teens in our care in order to give them a brighter future. So that one day they may “Be not afraid of greatness.”

Distress Tolerance Skills

Sorenson’s Ranch School’s behavior modification program offers students many opportunities to engage in basic fun, entertaining, and educational activities as they learn to change and manage their behaviors. All of these activities have a purpose in assisting teenagers in managing their behaviors. Managing their behavior is a skill they can learn with help from dedicated therapists and staff.
Sorenson’s Ranch School facilitates a skills group entitled Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) developed by Marsha Linehan. The DBT group focuses on teaching skills to assist with developing Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Relationships, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance. The majority of students at Sorenson’s Ranch School have difficulty in at least one of these areas; therefore, learning the DBT skills can be an important part of their therapy.
Distress Tolerance Skills are skills for tolerating painful events and emotions when you cannot make things better right away. Distress Tolerance Skills were developed to assist individuals who have a difficult time managing their emotions in handling situations that they cannot fix quickly, including: death of a loved one, intruding thoughts of a trauma, getting along with others, and tolerating a situation in which they are not getting their way. Many of the students at Sorenson’s Ranch school have difficulty managing their emotions, and are impulsive and defiant. The DBT Distress Tolerance skills are designed to help students manage life changing events and daily stress.
The Distress Tolerance skills focus on teaching students crisis survival strategies through learning distracting skills, which include joining in activities and contributing to others through service. Sorenson’s Ranch School provides daily activities for students to use these Distress Tolerance skills. A few of the activities include educational fieldtrips, campouts, cookouts, fishing, boating, fun games such as capture the flag, organized sports, and service projects on campus and in the community. These activities are designed to teach social skills, help them learn to have fun while sober, and offer the opportunity to leave one’s worries and problems behind for the moment, until they can be appropriately worked through.
What might look like just a fun, time-consuming activity for your student is really a well thought-out and planned activity that has a purpose in teaching your student lifelong skills to manage their behaviors and emotions. If you would like to learn more about the DBT Distress Tolerance Skills be sure to ask your teenager’s therapist.
Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderlines Personality Disorder. N.Y.: The Guilford Press.

Addiction Recovery Support Groups

Each month there is a new topic in the Addiction Recovery Support groups at Sorenson’s Ranch School. The topic is this month is about the drug marijuana. “What is the big deal?” The students say. “It is just marijuana.” “Man, it is just natural.” “It isn’t that bad.” So, in groups we have drawn The Pot Circle on the white board. It all starts with boredom or a personal problem, so the individual decides to use some marijuana, and before long the individual finds that they are making some poor choices or taking inappropriate action. Their use of pot increases because they become discouraged about some of the consequences that they are experiencing. All of a sudden they are fighting with Mom and Dad. “You don’t trust me anymore.” “Your rules suck.” “I should be able to do what I want to, when I want to.” “It’s my life.”
The list goes on. So the pot use increases. Soon the report card comes out, and the teen finds out that they are failing in school. Maybe they lose their job. At home, problems increase with parents and following the rules. They don’t want to associate with parents or go to family functions. So in the Pot Circle all of a sudden the adolescent is dealing with failure and disappointment in their lives. Nothing is working out for them. So the smoking increases. It continues and soon they realize that they have reduced their options. The teen becomes more disappointed. They continue to hang out with people who are all in the same predicament as they are. Most of these adolescents by now have been kicked out of school, either for being tardy or being caught smoking pot at school, or other similar behavior. Maybe the teenager has failed so many classes that he/she is feeling overwhelmed and guilty. Thinking, “If they would just leave me alone, I was handling everything.” “If people would just back off and let me do it my way, it would have all worked out.” “It’s all my parents’ fault, or the teachers’ fault.” “Who needs all of that anyway?” “Man, we have the life.” “Who cares?” “ I just want to be left alone.” “Hey, you do your thing, and let me do mine.”
Teenagers sit around and talk about what they are going to do, but the motivation to go do it has left. So they continue to do more and more pot. “Why keep pace with those crazy people out there?” “All they’re doing is sticking it to each other.” “Why can’t they relax?” This brings us to the final spot in the Pot Circle, reduced motivation. So the Pot Circle becomes a vicious cycle. In the Sorenson’s Ranch School group discussions we ask the students, “Where are you in the Pot Circle?” “Do you think that you have a problem with marijuana?” “Where is your life headed?”

Sorenson's Ranch School Sleepovers

One of the fun things that average teenage girls like to do is have sleepovers. They enjoy getting together at someone’s house and doing girl things. They sing, dance, play games, eat fun food, and are able to relax enough to come out of their shells and be themselves. This is one of those ordinary activities during a girl’s formative years that a troubled girl misses out on. A night of wholesome fun with other teens her age is rare for a teen who is experiencing behavioral difficulties.
At Sorenson’s Ranch School girls are given the opportunity to be involved in wholesome activities. Every four to six weeks on a Friday night, we do a sleepover activity. Level Three, Four, and Five girls are invited to attend. We spend the evening cooking, dancing, doing crafts, facials, and watching movies. We choose a food theme, such as breakfast for dinner. The girls cook their own meals with their favorite ingredients. They can get very creative with their dishes.
We listen to music while we cook. They really enjoy dancing. There is a lot of laughter and fun as they teach each other dance steps. Sometimes we do karaoke, which can be very entertaining.
At the last sleepover we made bags from bandanas. The girls were creative in mixing patterns of bandanas. It’s fun to see their creativity. Many troubled teens with self-esteem issues do not realize how creative they really are. Sorenson’s Ranch School provides various opportunities for our teens to discovery their inner talents.
We sometimes have facials from homemade ingredients. They mix egg, honey, and olive oil. It’s interesting to see the reaction of putting such a concoction on their faces. They are always amazed at the results.
We bring in blankets and pillows, spread them on the floor, and settle in for a night of movies. We’re allowed to stay up as long as we want on that night. The girls really enjoy our sleepovers, and it shows them there are alternative ways to have fun. They learn cooperation, patience, and tolerance of each other in working together to create a fun night. They gain confidence in trying new things. They have a desire to achieve higher levels because no one wants to miss out on the fun.
This is just one example of the fun activities available for students at Sorenson’s Ranch School. As we move into the summer season, campouts will be a regular part of student life. Girls will be able to do many of the fun activities that they do during their sleepovers, but in an outdoor setting. Singing around a campfire is always fun. Troubled teens from urban settings are always amazed at how fun and enjoyable outdoor experiences are. Combining sleepovers with the outdoors, which is what a campout is, creates experiences that they will remember the rest of their lives.

Adoption and Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)

At Sorenson's Ranch School we have a lot of students who have been adopted. Most of these students were adopted at an older age and remember the abuse and neglect they experienced prior to adoption. Some adolescents do not remember the abuse and neglect they went through. Those that do not remember still have the experiences imprinted in their brains and experience symptoms from their earlier years of abuse and neglect.
During their treatment at Sorenson's Ranch School each student who has been adopted attends an adoption group. This group is offered to the students to help them recognize how some of the problems they are experiencing now stem from issues connected with their adoption. We help the students work through their feelings of anger and confusion related to their adoption. Students are also able to relate to each other and see that they are not the only ones that have certain feelings about their adoption.
It is important to note that the first two years of life are the most important and critical time for a secure attachment to take place. Children need to experience the cues of attachment from their primary caregiver. These cues are eye contact, touch, smiling feeding, heart connection and being in the caregivers arms. It is very important that the child’s needs are met during the first two years. Parents may wonder what some symptoms of a compromised attachment are that may be affecting their teenager. A brief list of these symptoms are low self-esteem, needy or clingy, extremely difficult time coping with stress and adversity, lack of self-control, behavioral and academic problems at school, lack of compassion and empathy, do not show remorse, aggression and violence, difficulty with trust, hoarding, difficulty showing affection, oppositional with parents and other authority figures, unable to develop and maintain lasting friendships, and negative view of self and the world in general.
Some of our students are diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and some have less severe attachment issues and do not fully meet the criteria for RAD, but still have some attachment issues related to their adoption that need to be worked on so that the adolescent can be successful in life and have successful relationships. It is important to get your child help early if they are experiencing symptoms related to attachment or their adoption.

An Essay into Teenage Physical Environments

Much has been said about the importance of helping teens through those difficult years we refer to as adolescence. The difficulty facing our youth today, managing their way through these perilous times, surpasses the troubles that the generations of the past faced. The availability of almost anything that may be detrimental to our youth is astounding, and somewhat daunting from a parent’s perspective. The information age has made it easy for the youth of today to find tempting yet self-destructive ways to negatively affect their future by making impulsive and immature decisions that may have devastating consequences on their long-term success.

Of the many hazardous situations that face today’s teens, arguably the most difficult to control are the environmental cues, which includes a teen’s peer group. A teen’s peers are one of the strongest influences that he/she tends to struggle with. The need for peer approval often supersedes that of parental approval, which then develops into a power struggle for control of our adolescent’s attention and influence. As the social beings that we all are, we are to a degree dependent on each other to develop social skills and personal awareness to ultimately succeed in family life and a work environment.

Because of the parent’s lack of resources in controlling peer influences for their adolescent, they are often left to the mercy of the prevailing peer group that will embrace their teen’s need for social interaction. Due to the urban settings of our modern era that most teens are growing up in, the possibility of the parents controlling all of the environmental variables such as peers is, in some cases, an insurmountable task if they attend school. Many other parents have either been worn down by their own teenage children or have an overall lack of interest in setting boundaries for their own youth, and so we become the scapegoat for why they cannot do whatever they please.

From the environmental standpoint, this is one of the areas where Sorenson’s Ranch School shines. On the working ranch, we can control their environment. Because of our remote location, there is no escaping the everyday fact of chores and responsibilities that coexist with a working ranch environment. By having control over the physical environment, we can stack things in the interest of what will be good and wholesome for the youth. Also by having been removed from an environment where they have spun out of control, they can work on reestablishing what they want to become and where they ultimately want to be. Although no one can create a perfect environment, we have invested 25 years developing the most idyllic set of surroundings to foster introspection and personal growth. This can be achieved without making a boot-camp setting, but in a more therapeutic, boarding school venue. Whereas boot camps provide harsh verbal rebukes, we can provide interventions that highlight cause and effect, propagated by personal choice and the rippling effect that has on each of our lives. A therapeutic boarding school setting also fosters the rebuilding of relationships between a parent and their children in controlled setting. Sorenson’s Ranch School is one of the few therapeutic boarding schools that is also a working cattle ranch, which is what sets us apart from the others.