Welcome to Equine Journeys
Equine Journeys offers two types of program services: ADOLESCENT RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT and YOUNG ADULT RESIDENTIAL SUPPORT. The basic difference between residential treatment and residential support is in the provision of treatment services. In our RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT program therapeutic services and experiential programming services are provided by Equine Journeys’ staff. In our RESIDENTIAL SUPPORT PROGRAM experiential programming services are provided by Equine Journeys’ staff and therapeutic services are provided by Rocky Mountain Behavioral Consultants, an outpatient treatment program which uses our treatment model and works closely with Equine Journeys staff. Costs for all services are included in the Equine Journeys’ tuition for both programs. The following is a basic overview of the programs and their services.
Equine Journeys utilizes a unique and highly effective equine and program-based treatment model which has been developed by the owners over many years of work with adolescents and young adults in program settings. We are a small, family-oriented and operated treatment program with a maximum capacity of 20 adolescent residents and 8 young adult residents, small therapist case loads, and a focus on individual attention and treatment for our residents. We, the owners of Equine Journeys, have all worked for larger, more institutionalized adolescent programs and came to realize that, while those larger programs could be effective, they lacked the personal touch, individualized attention (one on one), and relationship-based family atmosphere that smaller programs with fewer residents could provide. So, we developed a program which has all of the expertise and therapeutic rigor offered by larger programs but in a more comfortable, familiar, and personalized setting.
At Equine Journeys, we believe in a return to basic values and hard work as the foundation for treatment. This is best accomplished in a remote program setting where the day to day operations necessitate continual focus on accountability, responsibilities, sacrifice, endurance, goal accomplishment, and resiliency. Our program is intentionally located in a remote area away from the corruption and distractions which may be present in more metropolitan areas. Students typically don’t have access to television, video games, cellphones, unsupervised internet, email, or other forms of media while in the program. This environment combined with treatment and educational services create the perfect environment for refocusing and redirecting problem behaviors as well as developing habits of responsibility, reliability, and recovery.
At Equine Journeys, our residents live in a program housing facility on Main Street in the small town of Loa. Located less than a half mile away is where the residents will participate in horsemanship training; training horses; raising beef, hogs, and chickens; raising feed for stock; pasture and crop management, irrigation, and various other related and required chores necessary to keep a program operational. Some of our students have purchased and manage their own small cattle herds and horses while in the program.
Our treatment model is experiential and equine-based. Each resident has a master level therapist who provides treatment services such as weekly individual, group, family treatment sessions, and addictions treatment. Additionally, each therapist is certified as an equine co-facilitated psychotherapist and will work in conjunction with an assigned horse to conduct a multitude of equine related therapies outside of the regular treatment service regimen. Our residents will be riding, training, and/or caring for horses every day of their participation in the program.
It is our basic belief at Equine Journeys that time spent with positive role models is critical to the treatment process and not only time but significant attention and focus. For this reason, therapists have smaller caseloads than other, more institutionally organized programs. Furthermore, the experiential treatment model we utilize has the therapist working alongside the residents throughout the day. The therapist will be present and participating in equine and program activities with the residents to provide ongoing, in-vivo therapeutic support through all aspects of the program and to ensure that no therapeutic opportunity is missed during the relatively short duration of the program.
High school education for adolescents and adult education for young adults is provided at Equine Journeys through an accredited online high school program, Park City Independent, proctored and supervised by a qualified staff who remains present in the classroom to assist with the online coursework, tutor, and provide supervision and oversight for the academic experience. Residents will participate in academic work at different times throughout the week, depending on the experiential schedule and may participate in coursework during evening and weekend hours if falling behind or if needing to get work done in advance of a cattle drive or other multiple-day off-campus activity.
For more detailed information about Park City Independent High School go to: www.parkcityindependent.com
Additionally, young adults may participate in online college or local university extension education programs if desired.
