Oxbow Academy
Springville, UT

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Oxbow Staff Participate In
Sexual Dependencies Workshop

Recognizing and treating teens with sexual dependencies was the topic of a recent training workshop in Portland, Oregon for child behavior experts.

Heather Green and Shawn Brooks, Clinical Director and Executive Director at Oxbow Academy, were guest presenters at the continuing education seminar. Oregon's Catherine Freer Wilderness Therapy Programs sponsored the gathering.

Sarah Mack, Director of Marketing and Referral Relations for Catherine Freer, said clinicians are often unaware of the resources available to them to treat teens with sex specific issues. "What Oxbow is doing is so unique in the industry we felt local professionals needed to be aware," Mack stated.

Oxbow experts taught local clinicians, mental health professionals, school counselors and juvenile probation officers how to distinguish normative teen sexual behaviors from those that are abnormal.

Green and Brooks explained how sexually dependent teens use inappropriate touching, paraphillias, and pornography for gratification or stress release. They also discussed the therapeutic effectiveness of group dynamics in sex-specific programs.

The Oxbow experts outlined the differences between adolescent therapy and treatment protocols typically used with adults, as well as how adolescent sex-specific therapy has evolved.
They presented examples of when it might be in the child's best interest to move from outpatient to residential therapy.

Oxbow Academy is a residential treatment center specializing in troubled teen boys ages 13-17 who, in addition to sexual issues, may also struggle with depression, ADHD, adoption, self-abuse, or other family concerns.

Catherine Freer Wilderness Therapy Programs was founded in 1988. The company offers an expedition-based wilderness program, a therapeutic boarding school, and a transitional private foster care program. Nationally accredited, Catherine Freer is one of the only wilderness programs where therapists live in the field with their students.