How Diamond Ranch Academy Elevates Programs for Troubled Teens And Repairs Families
Diamond Ranch Academy is elevating therapeutic residential treatment for troubled teens to a new level of excellence. Nestled among the beautiful red rocks of the Southern Utah landscape, a therapeutic boarding school is transforming the lives of hundreds of teenagers. Driven by the motto “Healing Families, One Youth at a Time,” the sprawling 55-acre Diamond Ranch Academy is a cutting-edge residential treatment center that provides a wide range of enriching activities to supplement its five world-class residential treatment programs. From tending farm animals to sports activities to scholastic competitions, there’s a place for everyone to feel welcome and at home at Diamond Ranch Academy.
The Diamond Ranch Academy Family Legacy
Diamond Ranch Academy is special among the many dozens of residential treatment centers in Utah.
Diamond Ranch Academy is an industry leader not only because of its unique therapeutic methods and practices, which have enhanced the lives of thousands of kids over several generations, but also because of the special story surrounding Diamond Ranch Academy’s founding.
Launched as a labor of love in 1999 by Rob and Sherri Dias, Diamond Ranch Academy was inspired by Rob’s desire to help young people become their best selves, despite the tremendous difficulties they’re facing at home. By remembering the stories told to him by his own parents regarding tumultuous childhoods, including many of the themes present in the homelives of children at residential treatment centers, Rob was uniquely equipped with a perspective and authentic empathy to help families find solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. Add to that his years of experience and training as a teacher, scout leader, and coach, it’s little wonder Rob decided to create a program to help thousands of troubled teens.
“As a teacher, helping a child here or a child there was tremendously satisfying,” Rob says on Diamond Ranch Academy’s website. “But I began to wonder out loud how we could help even more young people – hundreds more, or maybe even thousands.” In 1999, that powerful drive to help as many young people as possible manifested in the formation of Diamond Ranch Academy. “I’d studied programs for struggling youth for years. I learned the techniques and the philosophies of why they did what they did, and yet, I just couldn’t find a single program out there that I thought had the answer to the biggest question of all – how do we truly help these youth in the long-term?”
Diamond Ranch Academy’s Long-term Residential Treatment Solutions are Built to Last
When Rob and Sherri established Diamond Ranch Academy, they did so with the long game in mind. For them, it wasn’t good enough to merely create a 30-day program to change behavior, even though that’s what many residential treatment centers were doing. Instead, Rob and Sherri were determined to build a program that would deliver long-lasting results, with youth exhibiting positive changes long after their time at Diamond Ranch Academy.
To do this, they created a program for troubled teens and delivered in an authentic environment with a normalized treatment process. “If you create an artificial environment and teach the child how to function appropriately in that environment, you’ve accomplished something worthwhile,” Rob says. “The problem is, for many youths, the things they learned in that artificial environment don’t translate to the real world once they leave the program. It’s my opinion that is the reason recidivism is high in the youth treatment industry.”
A major part of Diamond Ranch’s superior learning environment includes having a top-tier, state-of-the-art therapeutic component. And that includes having a highly-qualified staff, including state-licensed therapists with master’s and/or doctorate degrees. Moreover, Diamond Ranch Academy functions on the principle of delivering a program uniquely tailored to each individual according to their unique circumstances and challenges. “When asked how much therapy we provide to our students, our answer is always the same: as much as it takes,” Rob quips. “It has always been clear to us that any successful program would have to abandon the one-size-fits-all mentality. Every child is unique, with distinct talents, gifts, and abilities. By the same token, every child has their own specific challenges.”
Tailored Therapeutic Boarding School and Programs for Troubled Teens
There’s a reason why Diamond Ranch Academy is on a sprawling 55-acre campus in beautiful southern Utah. Its diverse range of therapeutic programs requires it! From horseback riding to creating music, from hiking to playing basketball, the therapists at Diamond Ranch Academy spend hours getting to know each student through fun and recreation. Through becoming acquainted with students through a myriad of activities, the staff at Diamond Ranch Academy can effectively design therapeutic interventions targeting challenges specific to each youth. And because the staff has formed close relationships with the students through Diamond Ranch Academy’s activities, those therapeutic interventions are more effective.
When it comes to relationship building at Diamond Ranch Academy, authenticity is key. Coercion is not part of the therapeutic approach. Because Diamond Ranch Academy employs a highly-qualified staff with state-of-the-art facilities and resources, students can find therapy tailored to a broad range of issues.
Some of the therapeutic models the staff are trained to use include:
- Cognitive Behavioral
- Therapy
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Experiential Therapy
- Narrative Therapy
- Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Crisis Management
- Narcotics/Alcoholics Anonymous
- Smart Recovery/Addiction/Substance Abuse Counseling
- Structural Family Therapy
- Solution Focused Therapy
- Psycho-Educational Therapy
- Trauma Based Approaches
- Art Therapy
- Equine Assisted Psychotherapy
As far as staff credentials are concerned, Diamond Ranch Academy hires teachers and therapists with Bachelor, Master, and/or Doctorate degrees who meet the stringent Utah state licensing requirements for counseling and education.
Are Diamond Ranch Academy’s Programs for Troubled Teens Right for you?
Southern Utah is a magical place with a picturesque landscape, storied history, and excellent communities. While tourists from all over the world are flocking to this area of the world to experience the breathtaking beauty of southern Utah, there are also a growing number of families that are coming to this area to find healing and hope for challenges that seem almost insurmountable.
This is where Diamond Ranch Academy is stepping in as they help youth realize their potential for families to be strengthened. Now in its third decade of operation, Diamond Ranch Academy has helped nearly 4,000 families from 22 countries around the globe. The word is getting out about the extraordinary work happening on this 55-acre campus nestled among the red rocks of southern Utah.
Learn more about Diamond Ranch Academy by watching videos on the Diamond Ranch Academy YouTube Channel.
