Aspen Ranch offers a minimum 9 month program of integrated treatment and academics to troubled teen boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 17.6. Teens come to the ranch struggling with defiance, learning difficulties or academic underachievement, substance abuse and a host of other problems, and they are taught, respect, responsibility, integrity and relationships skills. We use the healing power of horses and horse therapies as well as a host of conventional therapies to induce readiness for change and eventually change, and with 24 hour a day support and guidance from experienced youth staff, we assist your teen in finding their personal strengths and peace.

Therapeutic Program

As an immersive therapeutic boarding school, therapeutic programming is intertwined with academic, residential and recreational life and activities; and it is this integrated therapeutic intensity that provides much of the healing power of the Aspen Ranch experience. In addition to this integrated therapeutic component, each teen will also spend time working in more conventional and stand alone therapeutic sessions.

• Each student will work over a course of stay with a primary therapist, during one hour weekly individual therapy sessions. The primary care therapist will report to the family on progress made during weekly half hour phone calls.

• Adolescents respond very well to group therapy sessions and at Aspen Ranch they will engage in a variety of therapeutic groups each week. Some of the different therapeutic groups offered include psycho educational groups, addictions groups, skills based groups, issues groups, peer mediation groups and others.

• Family involvement is a vital aspect of the therapeutic program and family members will participate in phone-in family therapy, as well as engage in parenting effectiveness training outside of the facility.

Equine Program

Students at Aspen Ranch will spend a lot of time working on and with horses. Horsemanship is taught, with students learning bareback riding, jumping, barrel racing and the care and grooming of the 35 horses and 5 steers living at Aspen Ranch, but the horses offer much more than recreation.

The equine therapy program is a cornerstone of our healing curriculum. We learn much about ourselves through a structured working with horses, and although a reticent teen might feel reluctant to share in a clinician’s office, through natural interactions with a horse, an observing clinician can learn much about the issues and challenges facing each teen.

Horses mirror our emotions. They act and react with honesty and they are not easily manipulated. Horses are large and intimidating animals that cannot be bullied or pushed around; working with horses requires self confidence and personal courage. Working with horses requires trust; you need to trust your mount to work well together, and working with horses almost always inspires affection or even love. There is something magical about a horse, something elemental that is not easily ignored. Through extensive time spent working with and caring for a particular animal, each student will bond deeply.

• Horses reveal to others emotions that we try and mostly succeed to keep hidden
• Working with animals teaches us the interpersonal skills we need to succeed with people; teaching us how to care and be responsible, how to be assertive but not bullying and how to act with confidence and honest integrity to another.
• Working with horse teaches us courage and builds our self confidence
• Working with horses can unlock even the hardest of hearts

Students will participate in at least 2 lengthy therapeutic sessions with the horses per week and as they gain horsemanship skills and earn the privilege of extra time with the animals, they will be able to spend far more time each week riding and caring for their horses.

Although many students come to the ranch apprehensive or even against the idea of working with horses, all students leave having developed a deep love for these animals.

Academics

Many students come into Aspen Ranch with a history of academic underachievement. We offer small (single gender) class sizes (no more than 12 in a class) that give State of Utah licensed teachers the time to focus on the academic needs of each individual student.

We recognize that while some students thrive in a classroom setting, others do not, and so we combine an extensive experiential learning program into our academic curriculum – students will spend half of each day outside of the classroom environment, engaged in “real life” academic pursuits.

We recognize that by planting the seeds of a love of learning we can encourage a lifetime of success and intellectual growth, and so we strive to make the curriculum meaningful, challenging and relevant to each and every student. The academic program at Aspen Ranch is truly a student centered program.

Students have an opportunity to earn high school credit, graduate from high school and even begun initial college level courses while in residence. Adolescents motivated to succeed can work through additional credits to make up for time wasted prior to entry into the Aspen Ranch program.

Life at the Ranch

Students are assigned to a group of 12 same gender students that form a residential team, a team that becomes in many ways, a family away from home. Students live and participate in therapies with their team members and are supervised 24 hours day by experienced youth workers.

Residential workers assist students in building self esteem, responsibility, assertive communication skills and respect for others, and will provide therapists with information about any student facing particular difficulties. Support staff assists teens in maintaining appropriate hygiene and cleanliness, in eating well, in making good decisions and in general daily living. Support staff is available after school every day to assist students with homework or tutoring.

Team units will also engage in recreational therapy, including participating in our challenging ropes course and in off campus outings.

Financing

Aspen Ranch works with the private loan company, Clark Behavioral Health Financing to deliver financing solutions to parents who would like to defer the upfront costs of tuition over manageable monthly payments.