Building Trust
At Sunrise RTC we try to instill positive values within our students on a daily basis. One of these values is trust. There are many ways to establish trust… (continue reading)
Building Relationships through Communication
Aww February, the month that we celebrate Love – or should I say relationships. Relationships play such an important role in everyone’s lives. The phases that we go through in our relationships just prove that no one is perfect in building and keeping them. Relationships grow and change with time. It’s important that we cope [...]
Alumni
I recently was talking with an alumni from Sunrise and asked her to put some of her thoughts on paper. She described her experience at Sunrise and I thought I would share this with you. Below are some of her thoughts and advice to what her experience has been during and after treatment. I appreciate [...]
Graduation Reflections
It was an early Monday morning at Sunrise Academy. At 8:30 we were all attending the graduation of one of our long time students. The situation is always a happy one when the time arrives for our students to go back to their parents and their lives at home. As is tradition for our students [...]
The Power of Validation
A conversation that we have often in our work at Sunrise is that of the importance of validation. The concept of validation is simple yet often overlooked in our relationships. I am sure everyone has experienced a time (or lots of times) that we left a conversation feeling totally unheard. I know for me, those [...]
Adolescent Bipolar Disorder
Adolescent Bipolar Disorder Typically, Bipolar disorder is characterized by a combination of alternating depressed moods and mania. It is quite common for healthy teens to display mood swings and irritability. So how do you know if your teen has diagnosable symptoms of Bipolar disorder? It is vital for a licensed mental health clinician to determine [...]
Perserverance
I love to see the change in our students over the course of their stay at Sunrise. Several of our students will be graduating soon. As I think about the changes they have made in their life, I marvel at all they have been through. There is a greater sense of self, accomplishment, maturity, and [...]
Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life
“Today is the first day of the rest of your life” Author Unknown What does this quote mean to me? When I was a little girl my mom had this plaque on the wall with this quote on it. My dad had made it himself with a cheap wood burning kit but it looked surprisingly [...]
World Religions
So many of our students at Sunrise are working on figuring out who they truly are. They are looking for positive ideas, safe hobbies and clearer perspectives with which they can identify. The students here come from a large variety of belief systems and religious backgrounds. While some are unsure what they believe and others are very sure, in World History we study the religions of the world in the hopes that while gaining a larger perspective they can also find their own bits of truth to develop into their belief system or help them improve their way of living.
“I Haven’t Missed it After All!”
This week the girls attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s children’s production of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I was especially excited to take our students to this show because it was a tradition for my family to see it every year. I grew up with the characters of Bob Cratchet, Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, [...]
Man’s Search For Meaning
I finally made time to read the book “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl, and I am sure glad I did. What a perfect time of year to read this book. With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas coming fast it really brought the feelings I was wanting. The reading helped me be grateful [...]
Transition group
We recently had a student transition group. This group consists of girls who have returned home (some for several years) and those who are preparing to go home. The group is aimed at assisting them make a smooth transition home. It is interesting to see the transition process each girl and family goes through when [...]
Catching Girls’ Attention Through Books
In my recent reading I ran across a quote that echoes my feelings about reading and books. “Books are not ‘lumps of lifeless paper’, but minds alive … speaking to us mind to mind, heart to heart.” – Gilbert Highet Our librarian, Steve Irving, came yesterday to conduct a book talk with the girls. He [...]
Home Visit
I believe the transition from residential treatment to home is critical and needs to be given extra attention. Sunrise offers several options for families during transition. One of these options is a home visit. This allows us to take what the family has been learning and help them to begin to apply there skills at [...]
More Love
As the holidays are upon us (so fast this year!) I look back on the past year. I am so grateful for the job that I have and the opportunity that I get to teach everyday. The people that I work with are caring and really know how to work with these students to help [...]
A Thankful Heart is a Peaceful Heart
Practicing gratitude is something we encourage here at Sunrise. Many girls here keep something called a gratitude journal. This is actually part of level 5 work but some choose to do this prior to it being a requirement. A gratitude journal is just that, a journal in which we write down those things that we [...]
The Power of Gratitude
Reflect On All That You Have To Be Grateful For And You Will Receive More To Be Grateful For. … goodness sends.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson In 2003 Robert Emmons conducted a study among students at UC Davis. He assigned students to keep journals as part of a semester-long assignments. Some of the students were required [...]
Try exercise this holiday season.
As we approach the holiday season, it is important to remind ourselves that stress is a big part of the holidays. If you are anything like I am, when Aunt Edna starts to get on your nerves, the ready remedy is a big piece of fudge. Or perhaps it’s the extended stay of your beloved [...]
Paintball: An Exercise in Using Lifeskills
The brush and trees made excellent cover as balls whizzed past us. One struck Katie on the helmet and bright orange paint splashed all over my mask. A ball struck painfully into my arm before I could return fire. The score was 2-0. The girls were ambushing the staff from two sides when a student [...]
Sunrise’s Comprehensive Approach to Self-harming
Cutting is generally not done with suicidal intent, though teens who engage in self-harming behaviors are at a statistically higher risk for suicide. Despite what teens may report, Sunrise views these acts of self-mutilation as not representative of typical or harmless adolescent behavior. Self-harming behavior is symptomatic of serious underlying emotional or mental health issues [...]
Gratitude
November seems to be a month of reflection as people contemplate the meaning of Thanksgiving and what they are thankful for in life. Throughout this month, I have reflected on the meaning of gratitude and how I express it in my life. Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. [...]
Siesta
Today I walked into our 4th period Spanish class just moments before class started. I had just come from a lunch-time faculty meeting and the stress of the previous six hours of the day were really wearing on me. I hurriedly got the girls started on the “Bienvenido,” an activity where a student welcomes the [...]
Einstein
I love this quote by Albert Einstein. I believe that we have all experiences what this is like. Either through us, or through someone we may know. We know our strengths and the strengths of our students. Our students are very talented and all talented in different ways. We try our best to bring out [...]
Sunrise Expedition to Havasupai (Grand Canyon)
We recently returned from an amazing trip to the Havasupai reservation in the Grand Canyon. This trip provided our students with the opportunity to enjoy nature and the outdoors, build healthy connections, challenge themselves physically, and have fun! Our trip lasted 4 days and included 20 miles of hiking in one of the most beautiful [...]
Seeing Change As a Gift
Change is a topic of conversation in many of my sessions with girls and their families. Obviously, this is what occurs at Sunrise through hard work and dedication of the individuals and families that are here. “Who Moved My Cheese” is a book that many are familiar with, we read this book and discuss it [...]
Improving Mental Health Through Physical Exercise and Education
It was a beautiful, crisp fall morning. Birds flying across the brightening sky line, the sun rising through the clouds at the track. In the distance you can see the Students at Sunrise Academy; they are counting the laps they had run around the football track. 8 laps was the required amount for a passing [...]
