Here’s an example of how this single gender hybrid approach benefits struggling teens. (We changed the student’s name to protect her identity.)

Janet always had to have a boy in her life and that had led to some pretty poor decision making. She was willing to do anything to feel liked by boys. In her therapy at the ranch, she’d been on a restricted protocol that allowed her no interaction with boys. In therapy sessions, she said she was sure now that she saw her thinking errors when it came to her behavior around boys. It was all just lip service.

Janet thought she could fool her therapist and Discovery Ranch staff. She tried to leave sexually explicit letters where male students would find them.  Of course, her plan didn’t work. And it gave her therapist a new opportunity to help Janet realize how much time and effort she was wasting in her life trying to get attention from men.

Her therapist noted, “Janet is a hollow shell. She doesn’t even dare look at herself. Her entire self-worth comes from external sources – boys especially. Being able to discuss her behavior as it happened, but still within a safe, therapeutic setting, gave us the environment she needed to build awareness.”

Discovery Ranch is not intended to protect students from their emotions. The hybrid approach is deliberately designed to help students have an emotional experience in place where they can safely work through those emotions.

As one therapist noted, it’s a little like planting trees in a protected biosphere. Scientists realized that without the wind, biosphere trees simply didn’t develop a strong enough root system to help them survive and thrive.

Discovery Ranch’s hybrid approach gives students a chance to face their emotions and master them.

Trail Ride Jan. 2012

January in Utah is usually snowy and cold. But this year we caught a break from Mother Nature. With little or no snow up Diamond Fork Canyon we took the opportunity to take our advanced equine students on a two hour trail ride.

This ride was extra special because the horses are “graduates” of our colt training program. We’ve raised these horses practically since they were born. Teaching the horses to trust us and to learn how to be good saddle horses is a therapeutic exercise for our students. It was very rewarding for our students to see how much progress these horses have made to get to the point where they can be safely ridden.

The students themselves have made a lot of progress. They had to pass a riding test and an education test in order to be eligible for the advanced equine group. We call it advanced equine but it’s actually advanced relationships. We use this experiential activity as an opportunity to teach higher relationship principles like honesty, respect, and responsibility. The students understand we have higher expectations for them because of the trust required to earn privileges such as the trail ride. by Jerry Christensen, Equine Director

Watch the video: To see the colt training process and the therapy that goes with it click on www.discoveryranch.net/videos  “Colts & Kids”

Lexi is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Substance Abuse Counselor. She specializes in treating adolescent girls. Welcome, Lexi!

Not so, says Jerry Christensen, Experiential Director at Discovery Ranch. “Girls aren’t as soft in this environment as people may think,” he says. “They’re willing to get dirty and sweaty and work hard to do the things you need to get done on a ranch.”

Jerry admits he was surprised himself at how willing the female students were to get down to the nitty gritty and “get ‘er done.”  He says, “They’re willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work. They really enjoy it and want to do it.” In fact, he adds, the girls often seem intent on proving they’re every bit as capable at running a ranch as the boys are. According to Jerry, in many ways they’re better.

“It’s not that the girls are better leaders, but organizationally the girls are stronger,” Jerry explains. “Even when we’re just stacking hay, the girls are more conscientious.”  Jerry adds Discovery Ranch girls also seem to take more pride in their work. “The mixing rooms where we make the formula for the calves are cleaner and better organized,” he says. Female students also tend to take better care of tools and equipment, returning them to proper storage areas. “They do better in most leadership positions because of how much more they seem to care about the animals.”

Leadership isn’t the only area where Ranch girls shine. “From a care giving standpoint, they’re much better care givers,” Jerry says. “We have boys that are compassionate but the don’t seem to have the same nurturing instinct when it comes to the animals’ health. The girls seem to instinctively have the ability to do what needs to be done and they put the time and effort into it.”

Every Discovery Ranch student is given a calf to raise as soon as they arrive at the Ranch. Students are responsible for feeding and watering in the animal, as well as cleaning its pen and monitoring any health concerns.

Equine activities are also mandatory for both sexes. Students are required to do “ground work,” or experiential activities that do not involve riding. As students progress through their therapy they have opportunities to participate in advanced horsemanship, or riding activities, if they choose.”Our horsemanship  program very much dominated by girls,” Jerry notes. “Some have ridden before the ranch, some haven’t ridden at all. They’re more passionate about it.” 

One of Jerry’s favorite experiences is watching girls who may be timid or shy overcome their fear and set boundaries in the corral for a thousand-pound horse. “It’s really empowering when a girl can set boundaries for a big horse. She’s learned she can set boundaries for a boy or anyone else in her life.”

Caring for the calves and working with horses gives girls a visual representation of some of their own struggles. Girls dealing with trust issues see those struggles played out in the corral as they try to win the trust of the horses they work with.

“Girls gain a lot of self esteem and benefit from taking care of animals and learning how to set limits, Jerry says.  “Just because it’s a ranch and work can be tough and challenging doesn’t mean it isn’t a great therapy venue for girls.”

Rodeo 2011

Jerry and Jake were the judges. It was a perfect day for a rodeo. The stands were filled to capacity, the smell of food cooking on the BBQ was in the air, the judges were mounted on the finest horses in the country -  even John Wayne would be envious.

The American flag entered the arena and the national anthem was sung with pride/ Then the announcement was made, “Let the Rodeo Begin,” and the crowd went crazy. The contestants entered the arena riding the finest horses west of the Mississippi, dressed in DR (“The Strength is in the Struggle”) apparel. The sight took our breath away.

There were 3 event’s: break away, barrel’s,  and saddle bronc riding - which was not a planned event but it did occur. With the exception of a few minor injuries, the rodeo was a success from everyone’s point of view. Our Grand Champion was Lex, second place was Manny and we had a tie for 3rd with Brendan and Hannah. All four participants earned a trail ride with Butch Cassidy  and the Sundance Kid, affectionately known as Jerry and Jake.  by Leslie Giles, Residential Director

Dear Wendy -

I would like to share a few thoughts with you.  These are not meant to be ingratiating in any way but are truly meant with great sincerity.

While I have never doubted for a moment how hard all the staff at DR work, in our phone conversation week before last you mentioned reading each of the boys’ journals and suddenly I became overwhelmed with realizing just how full each day/week must be for you.  Assuming a case load of 8 boys, each week this means:

• 8 1-hour individual therapy sessions with each boy
• additional therapy time with each boy
• 8 1-hour phone calls for family therapy
• reading incoming/outgoing mail for 8 boys
• reading 56 journal entries
• reading the daily logs from residential staff and academic staff for 8 boys
• writing case notes for 8 boys
• process group
• equine group
• treatment team
• responding to phone calls and emails from parents
• dealing with staff issues
• dealing with crisis and emergencies
• handling and managing all the stuff I don’t know about or have not even thought of…..

I cannot even imagine how you get it all done. You never seem rushed, you never seem bored (even though you have surely read, heard and seen it all umpteen times before), and you never seem impatient.  Instead you exude grace, patience, warmth, humor and genuine care each and every time we interact with you.  

This note of thanksgiving is to let you know I feel truly blessed to have you in our lives.

Kellie, one of our former students,  called Clinton and said she was moving from Vermont  to California and wondered if she could stop in for a visit. He told her ABSOLUTELY! Terri Miller, our residential supervisor, was taking the day off but found out Kellie was coming so she came in to visit with her. Kellie’s boy friend was driving cross country with her and then when they got to California he was flying back to Vermont.

We were very excited to see and talk to Kellie. It has been 5 years and when Kellie left DR we were pretty sure we would not hear from her again. She looked fantastic! She talked about her journey after DR. It was amazing how open she was with us. When she saw Terri, she turned to her and told her she was sorry for things she had said to her and that it had bothered her for all those years. At that point, I was so grateful that Terri had come in to see and say hi to Kellie. Kellie needed to close that door and I know she knew that Terri  had forgotten.

Before Kellie left DR, when she would talk you could hardly hear her soft voice. Kellie has a tattoo on the inside of her arm that says “Speak.” This is to remind her to express herself and not keep everything inside. She told us that the most important thing she learned form DR was to take care of herself. (DBT Skill). She told Clinton and I that she still uses alot of her DBT skills (Craig wasn’t even there when she said it).

Craig asked Kellie if she would be willing to go and talk to the girls. I could tell she wanted to but that she was nervous. We told her she did not have to but she decided to face the fear. (DBT) We formulated a escape plan if she started to feel overwhelmed. If she said Pineapple (inside joke and also a special DBT skill made up by our nurse, Somer) we would get her out of there. Well, no rescue needed. She did great and the girls loved it!

We asked Kellie if she would like to brand the wall. We did not start branding the wall until after our first few kids left and we decided that we needed to honor those that came through Discovery Ranch. Kellie said yes! She and Jerry worked on her design and she put it on “The Wall”.  It was great to see her. She is an amazing person and we are proud of the person she is today.

As I started to lunge the horse, he wanted to run and didn’t like that I had the lead rope.  He seemed a little agitated and quickly jerked his neck. The lead rope came out of my hand.  At that point, it’s dangerous because he could step on the rope and buck.  The horse got really excited. He started to jump around and found his way out of the gate that I had left about 3 feet open –  since I hadn’t planned on being there very long.  The horse ran down the alley toward Jerry.  He was able to stop the horse quickly and I walked back to Jerry and the horse.  Jerry then handed me the lead rope again and instructed me to take off the harness and lead rope and just lunge him with out it..which is more of a training technique.  I was nervous and my heart was racing but I was willing to try.  

The horse was visibly excited or agitated but still followed me back into the round corral…he felt just like I did!  I followed Jerry’s instructions and began to lunge the horse by stepping into his “personal space,” which is about 20 feet from the horse.  I could control which way the horse runs based on how I approached his personal space.  However, the horse, who wants to be seen as more dominant, will reverse and run the way that he wants, which he did.  Jerry was watching and came over and coached me from the sidelines.\

As I put pressure on the horse, he would try and show he was in charge and tried to reverse his direction a few times.  I was able to push him through it.  He bucked a few times and even approached me a few times, which scared me to death, but I persisted and kept constant pressure.  After about 10 minutes of lunging Jerry instructed me that once the horse looks at me, to release the pressure and back away.  I did this 3 times and the last time, the horse approached me with his head down and just came and stood by me.  He was calm and now saw me as the leader.  I now could just walk around and he would follow me without a rope.  I had a new friend.  

I learned a lot from this experience.  Our students are much the same as this horse.  They test our limits and push things as far as they can to see if we will stay firm and consistent.  Once we prove that, they relax, feel safe to change, and a true relationship can be built. – Clinton Dorny, Executive Director

Watch a video that demonstrates this at: http://www.discoveryranch.net/videos/  “Colts & Kids 2″

Here are two links to learn more about the award they received and the value an independent educational consultant can bring to families struggling with troubled teens:

http://parent-empowerment-blog.com/2011/01/19/janet-greenwood-and-nancy-ike-receive-ispa-awards/

www.teenhelpconsultant.com