The other day I was reading a comment made by Dr. Mary Pipher. She said, “We need our families but we don’t always behave well in them. We love and hate them, yearn for them deep in our bones and feel so disgusted with them that we want to spit (Piper, 1996, p. 4).” That [...]
In our therapeutic work with families, we often see patterns of interactions that seem to be common among family members. One of these patterns is when two or members in the family create triangles or alliances, which can often be unhealthy. To demonstrate this principle to a family, I recently used stuffed birds to illustrate [...]
Ever since I was a little girl I have loved and understood horses and I have always felt at home around them. It wasn’t until I started doing this work that I understood how much THEY understand ME. Horses have an incredible ability to read people. They see so much more than we do. The [...]
Relationship-based treatment is the use of the client-provider relationship to inspire, motivate and facilitate healthy adaptation in the life of a client. Relationship-based treatment is systemic by nature, and considers and utilizes the relational exchange between the client and their environment, social networks, primary support networks, cultural and societal influencers, etc. in determining and implementing [...]
Some people spend their lives working because they have to work, but I’ve had the luxury of being passionate about what I do for years now. Over the course of my career I’ve been able to work with people from all walks of life. Some were trying to reach personal goals, others were changing decade-long habits, and still [...]
Rhett Gagon was born and raised in Sandy, Utah. He is the second oldest of eight siblings and has always enjoyed spending time with family and the relationships he shares with them. He received his Bachelors degree in Spanish from Brigham Young University in the summer of 2008, and looks forward to eventually seeking a [...]
The 2012 annual Green River trip turned out to be a great experience! Families were able to spend quality time together, having fun away from the distractions of day to day living. The red-rock ridges, desert flowers and a winding river made the canvas for these memories all the more serene. One parent expressed this to [...]
Monica joined New Haven after working for nearly 20 years with adolescents and adults in outpatient and hospital settings. She earned her Master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Social Work and continued working with adolescent girls and their families throughout the next many years. Her love of the work and belief in the ability [...]
Another fact to go along with Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month: Did you know that victims of Sexual Assault are three times more likely to suffer from depression? The girls in our Trauma Group came up with wonderful words of encouragement for anyone struggling from trauma: Trauma is who you are, it’s part of [...]
Another fact to go along with Alcohol Awareness Month: Did you know that Alcohol and Drugs are the leading factors in teenage suicide?
The girls in our Recovery Group came up with wonderful words of encouragement for anyone struggling with those issues: “Keep yourself clean, because you are the window through which you have to view the world.”
One of the main reasons I became a Recreation Therapist is because of my love of nature and the joy that I experience from being outside. I remember as a child, especially in the summer time, my siblings and I would spend hours roaming outside, exploring and using our imaginations to go on adventures and [...]
This can be a common belief among most middle and high school aged girls. Teen girls’ priorities become more focused on what is considered to be acceptable by others, such as: boys, social groups, sports, and extracurricular activities, not including the science Olympiad, of course. Even though females tend to excel in science even more [...]
There is one debate that stands out in human history. It is an ancient debate–common to every human discipline that attempts to understand human behavior and the human condition. The debate is often called determinism vs. freewill, however, dozens of terms can be attributed to the debate. Both sides of the debate have derived evidence [...]