Teen Program Overview

The Mirasol Teen Program Improves the Mind

Treating the whole child involves improving the client's mind. At Mirasol we do this by having an onsite, accredited school, offering neurofeedback, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and cognitive skill building activities.

1. Desert Willow, an accredited onsite school is available to clients. The school can accommodate special needs, gifted students, and students with learning disabilities. Upon admission, school records are reviewed and a schedule is developed from information from the client's home school, as well as interviews with the parents and the teen. An individualized treatment plan is developed with input from parents, teachers, the psychologist, and members of the client's treatment team.
2. We use neurofeedback in treatment as a learning strategy that helps the brain improves its ability to regulate bodily functions. A more efficient brain can help with:
• anxiety and depression
• attention management
• emotions management
3. Neurofeedback can be used for many conditions and disabilities in which the brain is working at less than capacity. ADHD and more severe conduct problems, specific learning disabilities, and related issues such as sleep disorders, teeth grinding and chronic pain all can be helped by neurofeedback.
4. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT uses cognitive interventions to produce changes in thinking, feeling and behavior. CBT focuses on how the teen interprets his or her experience rather than the experience itself. It helps patients see how thought and behavior are related.
5. CBT helps children build new more effective ways of looking at the world. It has been applied to a variety of childhood disorders including depression, anxiety aggression, attention-deficit, and learning disabilities. We have found that when kids are taught a wide variety of coping strategies, it results in less anxiety for them. Theoretically, a student's cognition about social situations encountered throughout the school day can be examined and modified through verbal self-regulation.
6. Cognitive skill building consists of therapies that can assist patients in building what can be called a new "coping template." With practice, students learn to react in a completely different way, and eventually not to react. They are helped to understand their own internal logic and to evaluate the effectiveness of that logic in reaching the goals they choose. This process works the same for all skill-building including:
• management of eating disorder behaviors
• interpersonal skill building
• anger management
• problem solving

In summary, many times teens (as well as adults) can successfully avoid pharmacology or medication by exploring neurofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy, and cognitive skill building. Of course there are always cases where this is not enough - and medication may be necessary - but not always. It is always important to be aware of alternatives.

The Mirasol Teen Program Strengthens the Body

Most clients come to us with compromised physical conditions. Our onsite physician at Mirasol is a naturopathic physician. The differences between a regular physician and a naturopathic physician are important: A regular physician's emphasis is on illness and a naturopathic physician's emphasis is on wellness. Naturopathic medicine believes that health is regarded as a balance in all aspects of being: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. At Mirasol, our naturopathic physician is our Medical Director. Of course, we also have regular physicians on call when and if needed.

Physical exercise is an important part of our approach to healing the whole child; strengthening the body while clearing the mind while rejuvenating the spirit. Depending on a client's treatment plan and physical condition, they will participate in experiential educational activities such as hiking, rocks and ropes, adventure therapy, challenge courses, and "Flight into Aerial" combining dance with low-flying single point trapeze.

One of our goals is to provide our clients with the experience of normal eating. We're proud of our cooks, who create a wide variety of delicious meals and can easily accommodate needs such as food allergies and vegetarian/vegan lifestyles.

At Mirasol, clients make their own food choices from meals that are served buffet style. Along the way, they're given guidance in re-establishing accurate portion sizes and meeting nutritional needs according to personalized guidelines worked out with our staff nutritionists.

Rather than focusing on rules, we focus on intuitive eating and we help clients relearn what it feels like to be hungry and full. Thus, we emphasize normal, healthy and mindful eating.

Therapists eat with clients, providing structure, safety, and immediate support. In the course of treatment, we offer the opportunity to practice new skills in a safe environment that supports change.

The Mirasol Teen Program Heals the Spirit

Girls with eating disorders are unique, creative, and sensitive individuals who may struggle to find a connection with their true inner spirit. To recover from an eating disorder, the person must develop a sense of their own spirit and self. They must have a deep belief in their own self-worth as well as knowing that their emotions are valid and important.

In helping to heal the spirit, one of the goals of treatment is for the teen to begin to define her personal identity; to begin to discover who she is and who she wants to be in a world that is complex and disturbing. It is her birthright to be given the freedom to define herself.

Teenagers can choose to redefine life on terms which are of true value and meaning to them, rather than on cultural pressures to pursue a body size and shape that denies their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs.

The Mirasol Teen Program is Based on the Development of Personal Responsibility

Each girl is faced with the challenge of learning responsible thinking and behavior. They learn that they are truly the only ones who can make decisions for themselves, including what they are willing to eat and what they're not willing to eat! Even though teens are not developmentally ready to make many decisions for themselves, there is much that they can learn to be responsible for. In treatment at Mirasol, girls will learn how to be responsible for:

• accepting full responsibility for eating disordered behaviors
• eliminating eating disordered behaviors
• recognizing negative influences, beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors
• developing self-discipline and control
• developing skills for becoming productive, contributing members of society
• developing problem-solving and decision making skills
• recognizing and accepting feelings and expressing them appropriately
• developing healthy coping skills
• behaving appropriately

Our teen program consists of the following areas:

• arrival and orientation for the family and their daughter
• complete assessment by physician
• psychiatric evaluation
• individual and group therapy
• neurofeedback
• 24-hour supervision
• body image group
• school
• meal planning and meal prep
• individual exercise consultations and exercise education groups
• individualized meal plans and consultations with nutritionist
• Food and Feelings group
• experiential groups such as dance/movement, rocks and ropes, challenge courses and art therapy
• yoga
• specialized skill building groups
• Family Program
• discharge planning and Focused Continuing Care

Our program addresses the issues of eating disordered teens in a positive way. We treat the whole child - mind, body, and spirit. We utilize primarily a group model that is highly successful along with individual modalities which make our program even more successful for each child.

Each child is considered an individual with her unique set of issues and should have treatment that is individualized for her specific needs. Our program is small (only 8 beds) which permits us to offer individualized treatment.

Recommended Length of Stay

We have flexibility in lengths of stay depending upon the severity of the symptoms. The recommended length of stay will be between two and four months with two months being the minimum length of stay. The length of stay depends upon individual treatment goals and the person's progress towards reaching those goals.

Unstructured Time

An important part of the program is teaching teens how to use free time in their daily lives. The ability to creatively use leisure time and relaxation as a part of life is a skill! This is one of the keys to being a well-balanced individual.

With client input, group activities may include events, games, movies, adventure activities, and other outings.

Unscheduled time may be used to do therapy homework, socialize with others, relax with a hobby, or enjoy a good book.