Island View Presents "The Therapeutically Friendly Classroom"

Mental health issues are the primary and most urgent reason that students are placed in treatment facilities. This presents a particular challenge for teachers because students often arrive to the therapeutic setting emotionally unavailable for learning. Island View teachers have embraced this challenge by promoting the integration of emotional well being skill development and content instruction within the classroom.

Through creative curriculum planning and instructional design, Island View teachers allow for many opportunities for students to build their emotional well-being skills through the content that they teach. Teachers focus on skills such as developing self-esteem, and responsibility, building resiliency, problem solving, building relationships, communicating effectively, and goal setting all while teaching to their core content standards. This is done through the strategic development of assignments, class projects, discussions, and assessments. For example, students are given the opportunity to develop effective communication skills through the use of Socratic Seminars (used often in social studies, English, and science classes). Within this instructional design, students must not only demonstrate their understanding of the particular content or topic that they are currently studying, but they must also demonstrate effective communication skills. Students are given explicit instruction in effective communication skills including verbal and nonverbal communication as well as active listening.

Teachers who promote emotional well-being in the classroom through skill development and practice create a classroom climate in which students can be emotionally available for learning. Brain research tells us that students who are emotionally available for learning are better learners, retaining knowledge for future use and application. As teachers provide opportunities for this kind of skill development they are also providing opportunities for therapeutic growth, and thus the classroom becomes a natural complement to the therapeutic process - a bonus for the clinicians. After all, the more work the teacher does in the classroom to develop skills such as those listed above, the more the student can transfer those skills to a social and therapeutic setting. As teachers provide opportunities for therapeutic growth a student will advance academically which, in turn, promotes additional therapeutic growth. It is easy to see the mutual benefits inherent in this cyclical process.

"The Therapeutically Friendly Classroom" was the subject of a workshop presented at this year's National NATSAP Conference held in La Jolla. Island View has been committed to providing quality education to its students for 15 years while supporting and promoting the therapeutic growth of its students. Island View's teachers and clinicians collaborate on academic and therapeutic issues to allow students to reach their academic and emotional well-being potential. It is through this thoroughly integrated process that Island View is able to help its students "Build Healthy Futures on a Solid Foundation".

Island View RTC is a program of Aspen Education and CRC Health Group, the nation's leading provider of therapeutic education programs for struggling or underachieving young people. Aspen's services range from short-term intervention programs to residential treatment, and include a variety of therapeutic settings such as boarding schools, outdoor behavioral health programs and special needs summer camps, allowing professionals and families the opportunity to choose the best setting to meet a student's unique academic and emotional needs. Aspen is a division of CRC Health Group, the nation's largest chemical dependency and related behavioral health organization. For over two decades, CRC Health has been achieving successful outcomes for individuals and families. For more information, visit www.crchealth.com.