The Science of Gratitude: A Pathway to Teen Healing & Happiness
“Gratitude really is good for you,” assured health and wellness reporter Christina Caron readers of The New York Times last year. “Giving, receiving and even witnessing gratitude can improve your well-being, especially during difficult times.” Two decades ago, psychologist Robert A. Emmons explored the benefits of gratitude in a landmark scientific study. “Dr. Emmons’s findings—which […]
Let’s Start the New Year Right: Helping Teens Become Competent Goal-setters
“Goal setting and monitoring are a collaborative means of mapping and tracking a course of mutually accountable treatment,” wrote Magill, Martino, and Wampold in their 2021 study on the principles and practices of goal-setting in the treatment of substance use disorder. It’s one of the cornerstones of the services provided at Turning Winds. “We’re all […]
Celebrating Gratitude For Thanksgiving
At Turning Winds, our teenage clients typically stay many months in the program—frequently an entire year. “It can be long enough to really help young people,” says John Gordon, MD, Turning Winds’ medical director. “A lot of the kids here have been in other programs before that either were not long enough, or there was […]
When Difficulties Become Breakthroughs
The treatment program at Turning Winds is all about effecting positive change. Therapeutic approaches—many particular to the Turning Winds boarding school environment—include character education, health, and wellness of body and mind, outdoor experiential education, evidence-based clinical care, and academic success, along with continuously improving each aspect of our therapeutic program through measuring outcomes in each […]
Give It Time—Trust The Process!
The Turning Winds program is all about effecting positive change. “The simple, singular focus of our treatment program is to help each student improve their self-image and their self-confidence and change the behaviors that have been hindering their growth by teaching them to create stable patterns of living through education, process groups, and individualized treatment […]
Treatment as a Change in the Family System
Families come first at Turning Winds. Two of our treatment goals are increasing the healthy autonomy of our students while promoting better integration into their families and assisting their return to live successfully within their family system after completing the program. Family connection is one of the 12 character virtues taught in our program: students […]
Celebrating Milestones And Achievements In Adolescent Treatment Programs: A Guide For Parents
Treatment at Turning Winds typically takes a much of a year—nevertheless, it is only the beginning of a new life for your teen and your family. “The real test, for both you and your teen, comes after discharge,” author Tim Thayne advised parents in his book Not By Chance. “While both of you have made personal changes, […]
Give Them Enough Time
Many residential treatment centers for teenage clients are not set up for long-term care, focusing on 30–90-day treatment periods instead. This is great for getting teens in crisis to stabilize but it is often not enough time to facilitate lasting change. In our experience, adequate time is a must for the growth and change required […]
The Turning Winds Kitchen Got an Upgrade!
Good nutrition is an important requirement for growing bodies in recovery. “You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body,” advised the Roman poet Juvenal nineteen centuries ago—making that motto famous ever since. For teenagers with mental health and substance misuse issues a healthy diet is key to a positive treatment outcome. In […]
The Power of Staying Connected
The Turning Winds model of care is based on therapeutic support in a setting that emulates a functional family system. Since its founding, the idea of family has remained a foundational precept of the program. Staff is carefully selected based on their ability to comfortably and productively operate within the home-like, non-institutional atmosphere of the […]
