SUWS of the Carolinas Welcomes Clinical Director Jesse Quam

SUWS of the Carolinas, a therapeutic wilderness program with a focus on clinical intervention and assessment, is pleased to announce Jesse Quam as new Clinical Director.

Jesse brings significant wilderness and clinical experience to the position. He began his career working as a field staff at Aspen Achievement Academy. There, he was promoted to Graduation Coordinator facilitating three-day reunions with families. He later assumed the position of Field Director. After a year working at a high-level care group home in Northern California, Jesse returned to wilderness therapy to work as a senior field staff for Passages to Recovery, a spiritually based 12-step recovery program. From this experience, Jesse realized he wanted to return to school to become a therapist. After earning his Masters of Clinical Social Work from Boston College, Jesse worked as a Field Supervisor for Seasons at SUWS of the Carolinas and then became Program Manager.

While in graduate school, Jesse worked as a residential counselor and individual therapist at The Walker Home and School, a residential program serving emotionally disturbed children and their families. Through this experience, Jesse gained valuable insight into how the therapeutic milieu acts to regulate and stabilize clients in healthy, adaptive ways. Jesse also provided group and individual therapy and conducted assessments with homeless veterans with substance abuse issues at the Brockton Veteran's Administration.

Jesse's theoretical underpinnings are based in locating and building upon client and family strengths. He believes in ongoing case formulation as new patterns and family dynamics emerge during treatment. He possesses an undying commitment to the efficacy of wilderness therapy as a path to healing and as a bridge to extended care. Not only is Jesse a well-trained, experienced clinician, he also is conversant with best practices. Lately he has been reading up on attachment theory, genograms and how family ethnicity both affects and informs the treatment process.

"At SUWS of the Carolinas we offer an unparalleled wilderness experience in which students are both supported and held accountable," shares Jesse. "This treatment process includes ongoing assessment that helps inform the best next step for the family system. Our community includes some of the best clinicians and outdoor professionals in the industry; we all hold a stake in investing ourselves in our work, one family at a time."

Jesse is enthusiastic about his position leading the talented clinical team as the Clinical Director of SUWS of the Carolinas.

SUWS of the Carolinas is a program of Aspen Education 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.aspeneducation.com.