|
Posted September
23, 2003
|
VisionQuest's Madalyn Program
Kathi
Miller, Admissions Director
Okeechobee, Florida
407-649-4944
"VisionQuest's Madalyn Program at Warrington Ranch is a gender-specific
treatment program for girls ages 12 - 17. "The program's goal
is to provide the structure and support that helps young women
to clarify the past, deal with the present, and prepare for the
future." The activities scheduled throughout the day are "designed
to nurture mind, body and spirit." They include: "structured
daily living, gender-specific programming, individual and group
counseling, educational emphasis with a strong academic program,
extraordinary therapeutic experiences involving equestrian programs
and outdoor adventure programming, and specialized services that
include substance abuse services, professional counseling, and
special education."
They serve girls who: have difficulty with structure and authority,
don't recognize the needs of others, and participate in unhealthy
risk-taking. Usually they have deteriorating academic performance,
low self-esteem, poor communication skills, depression, and/or
uncontrollable anger, aggression and defiance.
At Madalyn, all girls participate in individual, group and family
counseling sessions. Individual sessions are with a Master's level
clinician, the frequency determined by each girl's treatment plan.
An important treatment focus is to help the girls develop strong
skills for self-care and self-sufficiency. The girls participate
in formalized life skills curricula through VisionQuest's Competency & Awareness
Series and Specialized Treatment Groups. These groups are designed
to: raise girls' awareness; teach basic skills and competencies;
and provide a vehicle for in-depth group discussion of significant
issues, including the mother-daughter relationship, achieving through
adversity, conflict resolution and anger management. There are
also specialized treatment groups which cover various topics such
as drug and alcohol, grief and loss, survivors of abuse, children
of substance abusers, and intimacy. All the activities emphasize
the concepts of valuing the female perspective, honoring the female
experience, celebrating the contributions of girls and women, and
empowering them to reach their full human potential.
The Madalyn program has found that working with horses and other
large animals can be "a powerful vehicle for learning about
relationships, trust, the ability to care for and be supported
by others, and having control without using force. For many girls,
this is a very important modality for exploring and healing prior
histories of abuse, abandonment or neglect; it also builds nurturing
and leadership skills…At the Madalyn Program, skilled wranglers
teach the youth about "horse whispering" and other techniques
of natural animal training that emphasize respect and leadership
rather than punishment and force."
Program participants also engage in "quests: challenging
adventures that build character, ability and pride." These
activities include hiking, bicycling, cross-country running, and
ROPES course activities.
"For over 25 years, VisionQuest has been teaching troubled
kids how to succeed in life" providing "innovative" treatment
programs for at-risk youth, including: residential treatment, community-based
probation and aftercare alternatives, behavioral health services,
group homes, assessment centers and shelters, and alternative schools."
"Youth are typically referred
by probation officers, caseworkers,
judges, school officials,
attorneys and/or parents. "Studies
by prestigious institutions
- such as the Rand Corporation
and the University of Pennsylvania
- have found VisionQuest's
approach successful at reducing
recidivism and putting at-risk
youth on a more positive,
productive path." |
