What sets us apart from other therapeutic boarding schools?   

• With an enrollment of about 20 girls and up to 20 staff, we offer individualized treatment, engaging educational enrichment, and 24/7 support.
• Located on a ranch just minutes from Bend, a thriving recreation destination, we have tranquility on campus, easy access to outdoor pursuits, as well as great opportunities for community involvement. 
• Our horses are for more than just riding: caring for them teaches connection and responsibility, and our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy  helps girls explore their relationships experientially.  
• We offer intensive family support to accompany girls’ individual therapy treatment.  
• We are one of a small handful of therapeutic schools across the country who have achieved national accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA). Organizations pursue accreditation to demonstrate the implementation of best practice standards in the field of human services. Our affiliations, partnerships, and accreditations demonstrate our commitment to excellence.
• Combine these with our wellness programs, unique and individualized academic experience, and evidence-based therapies, and you will understand why we have one of the best therapeutic boarding school programs in the nation.
• We value diversity and welcome young people from all backgrounds. We do not discriminate based on ethnicity, cultural identity, sexual orientation, disability, or religion.
• International Students – The Academy at Sisters is authorized under Federal law to enroll nonimmigrant alien students. 

As a therapeutic boarding school for girls, we see how individuals have great power over their environments, inside and out.

Students learn how brain-body awareness is key to learning how to live their potential

Adolescence brings intense emotion for all teens. Yet, to some, challenges are minor, while other girls’ hurdles seem overwhelming. Even in families with multiple siblings, one teen often struggles more than others. Parents can feel confused and panicked as they watch their daughter contend with serious issues such as anxiety, conflict and crisis, dropping grades, depression, substance abuse, and problems with social media. Unhealthy behaviors can become entrenched in a dynamic that is toxic or dangerous. Locked in this cycle, a girl’s beliefs and self-talk shape her experience. 

Awareness and mindfulness comes in small steps. Learning how mixed-up thinking can impact feelings and then behaviors is a process. Cognitive awareness is, in essence, thinking about thinking. Being mindful is not the same as trying to control emotions. By identifying and interrupting problematic thinking, self-talk like “I have to be perfect,” “I am unlovable,” and “I can’t succeed,” girls can begin to see how it has impacted their emotions and behaviors. 

It is important to distinguish between thoughts and emotions. By learning what physical sensations accompany underlying emotions, students can begin to choose more helpful, adaptive thoughts. This in turn can interrupt negative emotions. Being mindful and nonjudgmental of our emotions is an important tool to regulate their intensity. 

The girl that is consistently using attack and blame as a tactic may be struggling with mistaken beliefs around power and control. The daughter that is failing school may be telling herself “I can’t succeed, so why bother trying?” Mindfulness and self-awareness offer tools to understand herself and interrupt the downward spiral of emotion. Our boarding school’s therapeutic approach offers a combination of therapies and interventions directly targeting these beliefs and self-talk. 

We use a variety of therapeutic approaches to help the girls and their families find what works for them to heal and grow: 

“Top-down” or brain approaches, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), help clients shift problematic thought patterns and learn healthy communication skills. “Bottom-up” or body approaches, like Eye-Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP), help clients work through trauma with mindfulness and body-based coping skills.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): When we become aware of how our internal dialog impacts how we feel and respond to the world, we can learn ways to reframe that dialog and change our lives. A core component of CBT is Cognitive Restructuring.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Directly targets the emotional dysregulation that comes from beliefs and self -talk. 
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Is based in the research that memories of trauma are not stored in the brain in the same way normal memories are, and that they become like a wound in the mind that doesn’t heal.
• Trauma Informed, Strength Based interventions. 
• Positive Reinforcement: We help the girls break down their long-term goals into small, attainable goals, based in the strengths they do have. 
• Experiential Therapy and Growth: Equine Therapy, Art Therapy, Recreation including skiing, horseback riding, hiking, camping, rafting, etc. 
• Individualized and Family Therapy: Individual treatment plans and 90 day assessments, personal special programs and goal work, and regular sessions including family. 

If you would like to talk about the various therapies we use and whether a therapeutic boarding school for girls might be a good fit for you daughter, please give us a call at 800-910-0412