Looking for RTC as next step after wilderness program
Our 16 year old son is currently in wilderness therapy in Utah. Our Ed Consultant has recommended both Catalyst in Brigham City and The Heritage Community Elevate Program in Provo as our next step. I am looking for families that have experience with either of these programs and whether you would recommend them. Were you happy with the therapists and the academics? Was the facility well maintained? We are planning to visit both next week.
I appreciate previous posts about how difficult this is and all the words of encouragement. As a new BPN member, I feel the information posted here is sooo much more useful than scary internet searches. Thank you!
Feb 12, 2020
Parent Replies
We're a Heritage family and I would say a RTC success. Steve Sommers was our therapist and he was excellent. I very highly recommend Heritage.
One thing to keep in mind is that even the Ca-accredited RTC's do not meet A-G requirements, so if you're thinking what happens after RTC in terms of education and presidential potential college, there's some more advocating to be done.
My son attended Heritage as a step down from a level 14 in southern Utah. I think that coming from a Wilderness program you have the best chances of a solid success at RTC. One staff member intimated that the students that arrive at heritage directly from home or hospital don't do as well as the students that step down at Heritage.
If you child is a runner, this may not be the best fit.
There seem to be a lot of bay area heritage families.
Have you worked with Willows in the Wind?
And a visit is worth a thousand words. Best wishes and feel free to contact me directly.
Best wishes. This is a really difficult situation and I want you to know that it can get better.
I hope you receive some good responses to your question. I want to let you know about a Facebook group called Wilderness Therapy and Residential Treatment Search Support which has been invaluable to me in this process. There is a related group called Parents with Kids in Residential Treatment that is also extremely helpful. Just search for the group on FB and ask to join. They are both private groups. Best of luck, I can relate to how hard this is and how scary internet reviews can be.