As a therapeutic milieu, much of the therapeutic support at Academics West occurs in the organic interactions between staff and students. Of course, all our students benefit from individual and group psychotherapy. Academics West’s licensed mental health clinicians primarily utilize cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) because it is the most evidence-based treatment approach to treat young people with psychological disorders. Additionally, Academics West is committed to training its mental health clinicians in the most up to date clinical interventions. Our clinicians benefit from our weekly didactic series delivered by outside specialists from all over the country.
Support Services Integrated into Each Student’s Program:
- Art Therapy
- Yoga/Mindfulness
- Individual Therapy
- Group Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Social Skills
- Parent Psychoeducation Groups
CBT: Individual/Group
All students are required to attend both individual and group therapy sessions (session frequency and format is defined by the Clinical Director who assesses each student’s needs). Our Clinical Director is responsible for making sure our clinical staff adheres to strict standards of evidence-based practice. In addition to supervising each therapist, the Director invites experts to train our staff in topics that are deemed most vital to the needs of our student population. As a result, our staff are constantly being trained in the most up-to-date treatment modalities.
CPI: Crisis Prevention Institute
All our student-facing staff are trained and certified by our in-house trainer in this evidence-based de-escalation intervention process. Academics West is committed to implementing the least-restrictive response to ensure the safety and well-being of our community. This focused training trains the staff to recognize the stages of an escalating crisis and how to use research-based techniques to appropriately de-escalate.
Parent Connect Program
It is vital that parents are directly involved in the therapeutic process at Academics West. In addition to continued access to their student’s lead clinician, parents are required to participate in our monthly Parent Connect Program where they receive psychoeducational instruction on topics our clinicians feel are most helpful to our parents.