Real. Life. Change.
Our goal is to help every teen girl who comes to Sunrise
become a confident, healthy, and independent young
woman.
Real. Life. Change.
We've worked hard to construct a team of like-minded
therapists and educators who are driven by our mission
at Sunrise to bring healing to hurting young women.
The result is a group of professionals that functions like
a team and cares like a family.
Real. Life. Change.
Sunrise's is committed to helping as many families
as possible find their path to healing. We continuously
research and publish free resources for parents and
helping professionals.
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At Sunrise, we know each girl is different
We founded Sunrise Residential Treatment Center on the belief that each girl we meet is unique. Your daughter has her own experiences and talents, her own relationships, and her own struggles. To best meet her needs, our residential treatment program focuses on a customized approach to healing.
By combining the best features of a boarding school, treatment facility and transition program, we give our students the support they need to overcome emotional or behavioral struggles that can keep them from living fulfilling lives and having healthy family relationships.
Sunrise’s unique, all-in-one treatment allows many girls to complete all phases of their healing process in a single program. Our length of stay tends to be shorter than many other residential treatment centers because we individualize each girl’s treatment plan and maintain a small community for our girls.
" We are very excited and looking forward to the future. You and your excellent staff have done great work guiding us and our daughter through this time. Words are not enough… "
− Alumni Dad
" I haven't seen her smile as much as she has been over the past several months. She is holding two different jobs, and in one she is being trained for promotion because of her ability to deal with customers well. She is also doing runway modeling work, and is absolutely gorgeous. We spend a fair amount of time together, and she is back to being the girl I knew before all her teenage outbursts "
− Alumni Dad
" Our daughter has been very responsible. She is now working three part time jobs. Our relationship with her has changed dramatically. We can trust her, we can discuss things without raising voices even if we disagree. If she realizes she had a bad attitude (like we all do from time to time) she’ll apologize the next day and it is from the heart. We joke around about a lot of different things and have fun together. When she comes home in the evening she tells us all about her day. The things we learned through your program and the weekly family sessions using skype has helped us in relating to our other children as well. Other people have noticed a change not only in her, but also in us! We would like to thank all the staff there at Sunrise. You all have a very challenging job, but you do it so well! I know that if we hadn’t sent her to Sunrise we might be grieving over her death or at least a few more hospitalizations. I hope you are encouraged knowing of her success. Keep up the good work! "
− Proud Parents
" Our daughter has adjusted well to main stream life. If she had the full semester in school she would have made the honor role. She is a leader in her support group and really enjoys going to the meetings. With her Wilderness Therapy and Sunrise treatment she will have the tools necessary to turn her back on some issues and people who could be a bad influence. So far so good. "
− Alumni Dad
" So far my daughter is doing great and I am thrilled to have her back physically and emotionally thank you. "
− Alumni Mom
" I personally want to thank you for all the help you gave us with my daughter. She is a changed daughter, for the better. We get along great. She has a good relationship with her sister and her mother. You were a choice for us at a time when we did not know where to turn. I thank God for giving me back my daughter and directing us to you. "
− Alumni Dad
" It was a truly positive experience. We are very impressed with every aspect of Sunrise, from the quality of the therapists to Kelly's cuisine! Please extend our recognition to all staff members."
− Alumni Mom
"Our family’s experience at Sunrise has been overwhelmingly positive. A year ago, 18 months ago, 3 years ago it would have been impossible for me to imagine feeling as hopeful and positive as I do now. The program here strikes a wonderful balance between keeping their students (and their families) grounded in reality and realistic expectations and looking forward and staying positive. "
− Mother
The Latest From Our Blog
Top 5 DBT Skills to Use at Home
‘Breathe in for two, hold for two, breathe out for two, and hold for two.’ Have you ever done that? Have you ever taken in a few deep breaths to help you avoid an unwanted reaction to a difficult situation? Yes?! It’s quite possible you’re using DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) skills without even realizing. That's the beauty of DBT. The skills that are taught can be done in home, at work, at school, wherever they are needed. All the tools needed are easily accessible. As a residential team member I am continuously coaching DBT with the students, and then answering to the statement, “this wouldn’t be normal to do outside of treatment.” Sure, asking a boss if you can use "Dear Man" to get your needs met might cause a little confusion. However, learning the skills and practicing them can be effective in all aspects of life. I do it everyday and want to share my favorite DBT skills to use at home. My five favorite DBT skills to use at home: Distress Tolerance: TIPP It is sometimes difficult to come home after a long day at work and realize I still have to do dishes, or laundry, walk the dog, bathe and …
Family DBT Skills: Preparing For Change
If you are one of the bright people who recognized that there is a problem in your family that can’t continue without negative side-effects, then congratulations! You are already off to a good start. You didn’t tolerate a problem forever. Recognizing that something must change is often the first step in a long journey toward new family strength. However, there are many families in this world who will live unhappily ever after, unless the entire family is involved in the process of change. Building family DBT skills is a big step in the right direction for those families that recognize change is needed. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a proven model for creating family-shifts that help alleviate the agonizing pain that can sometimes be experienced in relationships. Despite its proven effectiveness with individuals battling emotion regulation, families fall behind in learning the skills that create lasting change. Why is it important that the whole family learn DBT skills in addition to their child who is in treatment? Here are a few core reasons: DBT is not just a theory. DBT is a skills-based approach to learning how to regulate emotion. Family DBT skills are important to know and share if you are …
Using DBT to Aid the Treatment of Eating Disorders
One of the big dialectics of DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) is the acceptance of clients in their current distress, while at the same time giving them skills to alter their dysfunctional behavioral patterns. Those that struggle with eating disorders, tend to use disordered eating as a means to regulate their own emotions. Bingeing and bulimic behavior has often been explained as a "result of trying to escape or block primary or secondary aversive emotions that may be triggered by thoughts regarding food, body image, perfectionism, the self, or interpersonal situations" (Linehan and Chen). Basically, it functions to provide an escape from physiological responses and feelings, because the client lacks other emotion regulation skills. DBT focuses on 5 specific core areas, wherein skills are taught that lie within each of these: Mindfulness Distress Tolerance Walking the Middle Path Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness Many of the skills in each of these areas can help in the treatment of eating disorders. Some of these include: Using mindfulness as a means of decreasing mindless eating, and being more aware and present with what is occurring. Being aware of one's emotions and cravings, and using "opposite action", which is a skill where urges to engage in dysfunctional behavior …
How Do You Do This Every Day?
Oftentimes at Sunrise, we are given the opportunity to have people tour our facility whether it be parents, families, education consultants, therapists, and other organizations. After talking about the program, and showing the around the building, I am sometimes met with the questions of how do you do this every day? How do you work with this challenging population every day? One evening I was having a particularly rough shift. It seemed that everywhere I turned there was one problem or another. My phone rang and I let it go to voicemail. At the end of my shift, I looked at my phone and saw the call was from a previous resident - a student with whom I was close with. She left me a voicemail and as I listened to it, tears sprang into my eyes. "Hey Amanda, I just wanted to call you and let you know I was thinking about you tonight and I just appreciate everything you have done for me and just your caring for me and just everything you've done for me over the time that I have known you. I'm just really grateful for you, and all the time you put into me even after I left …
Using CORE at Sunrise
InnerChange has adopted the CORE Philosophy over the past year. This has changed the way I interact with the families I work with, as well as the way in which I train the staff. Using CORE is easy to do with the students, and helps to build my relationship with them. Here are some ways in which I'm able to use this method while at work: The C is Core stands for Connected: Each Wednesday we use this value in our Treatment Teams. Being able to communicate with the therapists, teachers, and nursing staff helps me to look at the big picture of treatment. Understanding that we are all connected, are part of the treatment process helps me to ask for support, and empowers me to give my input on the students treatment. O is for Outcomes: One of the ways I use Outcome's on a daily basis is by using the Student Satisfaction Survey. This survey asks the students a wide range of questions that measures how happy they are with the program and with the staff. I know that if a student is not emotionally connected to the staff I know to do more training with my team on how to be …
Self Injury Awareness
With self-injury awareness day it is a great opportunity to educate. One author from Cornell University stated, "Self-injury is an overlooked public health issue". It is critical to be aware of the impact and rampancy of the problem of self-harm. Self-harm "is defined as the intentional, direct injuring of body tissue most often done without suicidal intentions" The most common form of self-harm is cutting of the skin. It also includes behaviors such as burning, scratching, banging or hitting body parts or interfering with wound healing (2013). One recent study at Cornell University gathered statistic regarding self-injury among adolescents and young adults. "The research team found 15.3 percent of the participants reported a history of self-injury, and 6.8 percent had self-injured within the previous year. Most of the students 86.4 percent who had self-injured had done so more than once, and nearly half 42.8 percent reported self-injuring more than six times. The average age for starting self-injury was 15.2 years of age.(Stark, 2013)" Another study of adolescent age 15 to 16 in England found A lifetime history of deliberate self-harm was reported by 13.2% adolescents. Deliberate self-harm in the previous year was reported by 8.6% pupils, of whom 6.9% had carried out an act of …
Sunrise is Making a Difference One Girl at a Time
