Treatment

The treatment provided at Santiam Crossing is client-centered and individualized. Each student is assigned to a master’s level therapist who oversees and guides his or her progress in the Santiam community. A variety of therapy approaches are used including individual therapy, group sessions, psycho-educational groups, substance abuse and recovery, wilderness therapy and family therapy.

Students participate in multiple group therapy sessions each week. Groups focus on a range of topics including substance abuse, recovery, adoption, grief and loss, self-defeating thoughts, anger management, and self-management of behavior.

Family Therapy
Family therapy occurs via phone every other week. In addition, parents join with their students on campus one weekend per month to work toward successfully reuniting the family. Therapy issues addressed include family structure, communication, parenting consistency, trust and responsibility, and managing together the child’s behavior and future.

Levels System
Santiam Crossing integrates a level system within the treatment and educational program. This integrated system is built to honor the achievements of the students. Advancement though the level system opens the door to leadership opportunities, expanded privileges, increased family interaction, treatment and academic advancement, and preparation for program completion.

Therapy at Santiam Crossing

• Students participate in at least 8 hours of group therapy each week
• Students have at least bi-weekly family therapy via phone sessions
• Students have weekly individual therapy sessions
• Students participate in family therapy during family weekend
• Students have 1:1 check-ins as appropriate for additional peer accountability and support
• Students have therapeutic support from cabin staff

Therapeutic Milieu
The therapeutic milieu at Santiam Crossing provides students with a social environment that creates a safe and therapeutic space from which healing, recovery, and growth can occur. Our therapeutic milieu is based on the belief that every interaction between a student and a staff member has therapeutic potential for personal discovery and learning new ways of interacting and negotiating with others in a healthy way.

The milieu setting allows for the opportunity to closely observe and develop an understanding of how students’ interpersonal relationships deteriorate and become problematic and how certain situations trigger dysfunctional responses. The milieu perspective also recognizes the importance of identifying and empowering the client’s own internal resources, helping them to expand upon the strengths they already have in an effort to facilitate healing and recovery.

At Santiam Crossing, the entire staff is part of the milieu team. We work closely together to generate an overall understanding of the student and the community as a whole, as well as develop a comprehensive approach to working with each student.