The Setting: Hurricane, Utah
Our in-town location gives us an opportunity for another kind of community that is unusual for residential treatment facilities. The town of Hurricane, Utah is a manageable community that has reached out to support our girls and the work we do at Sunrise. Here are some of the things we love about the Hurricane community and how we leverage this great resource for our girls' healing and growth:
Community Service
- Sunrise teen girls participate on the Hurricane Beautification Committee on a regular basis.
- Sunrise was awarded the Mayors Award for the excellent service our students have provided to Hurricane, UT.
- Sunrise girls volunteer on a regular basis at the local day care, rehabilitation center, welfare farm and cannery, at local triathlons, food drives, and fairs.
- Students have been employed at Lin's Supermarket, as well as local restaurants, learning critical life skills in an authentic environment.
- Nearby Washington City has an annual Cotton Days festival that our girls volunteer and help out with.
Important Topics
Teaching Self Advocacy
In a treatment setting, school is often the laboratory for practicing skills learned in therapy. One such skill—self advocacy—has both emotional and academic implications. In this blog InnerChange academic director, Kathrine Whittekiend, M.Ed., discusses the importance of self advocacy skills for student success in and out of the classroom.
The Importance of Academics in Treatment Settings
The best way to structure academics in a treatment setting is to make the faculty active members of the treatment team. We have to do this in order to be effective—both as teachers and as participants in the treatment process. This means having access to and input into treatment team objectives, case management discussions, and treatment strategies. This way, when the therapist is working on an issue in treatment, we can support that work in the classroom.
PARENT TO PARENT: TIPS FOR TREATMENT
Through the process of treatment we came to understand at a very deep level that we’d made the right choice. We were saving our daughter’s life, our family’s health…and maybe even our marriage. But in retrospect, we wish we’d had other parents to talk to prior to enrolling Rachel. Parents who were a few clicks further down the road who could help normalize the process and give us some assurance that we were doing the right thing.
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