Elk Mountain Academy is a residential treatment center for teenage girls troubled with life-controlling issues or misbehavior that may be threatening their future.
Our therapists work with girls who are acting out or making inappropriate decisions due to emotional issues stemming from: major trauma or loss in their life, physical or mental abuse, death of a loved one, or attachment disorders related to adoption. We also specialize in treating eating disorders and self-harming.
The Elk Mountain Academy Experience is Not Short-term
Our program is designed to last for a minimum of twelve months. If we could help your girl have lifelong success with a shorter-term program, we would do that, since there is an ongoing need for help by families across America and around the world.
We’ve learned that one year is the minimum time required for most girls to: become open to change, accept that they need help, learn from our therapists, and to put new behaviors and thinking into habitual practice.
For some girls, it can take many months of counseling before they even begin to get to the bottom of their internal issues, and then more time is needed to work through those issues and the ways for the girl to cope more positively.
Elk Mountain Provides Innovative Therapeutic Intervention
Elk Mountain Provides Innovative Therapy, including individual, group and family counseling. We also provide specialized help for students dealing with trauma and/or abandonment issues.
The goal is to uncover the psychological factors contributing to the student’s unhealthy behavioral choices.
"The Elk Mountain Academy students learn therapeutic tools that will assist them for the rest of her life... to be a healthy young woman."
Students at Elk Mountain Academy live together in our beautiful lodge and meet regularly with their therapist, who help them confront fears and gain confidence in a safe, nurturing and structured environment.
Girls who are having emotional and behavioral problems tend to be failing in school. So, our on-site, accredited academic program is intentionally computer-based and assisted by a licensed teacher, so that girls get caught up and even get ahead in their schooling.
Regular academic progress reports are available at any time.
Elk Mountain Academy is a Fully Accredited High School
Elk Mountain Academy is an accredited school that provides a recognized transcript for classes.
Elk Mountain emphasizes a healthy, nutritionally-balanced diet along with regular physical activities, restful sleep and fun times; all designed to teach a healthy lifestyle. Girls participate in many outdoor and recreational events during the year, as well as organized team sports.
Girls in our care also enjoy periodic camping and hiking outings in the beautiful and rugged mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
For spiritual support, girls are given encouragement and instruction by our Christian staff and attend non-denominational church services.
The girls are required to attend church services, youth groups, and Bible study, but they are not forced to participate in these activities.
What Your Daughter Will Learn About Herself, God, and Others
Your daughter will learn to evaluate her relationships in life with God, self, and others. She will learn to determine what her weaknesses are, how they affect her behavior, and how to eliminate them.
She will learn to listen to her conscience and develop it to be more attuned to her weaknesses. Your child will begin to monitor herself – something teens rarely do on their own.
But one of the most beneficial results of this process is that she will learn to control her impulsive, emotionally driven decisions and begin thinking about the impact of her actions and responses on others around her, including her parents and family.
"At Elk Mountain Academy your daughter will restore her awareness of right and wrong actions and become forever grateful."
The serenity and beauty of God’s creation in Idaho encourage the softening process and reinforce this understanding that God is the Master of Life and the lover of every troubled teen’s soul.
The transformation is amazing! Girls and their families who thought they wouldn’t make it another month are now living in renewed peace and grace.
Read about the experiences of some of the girls that have come to us.
Our Goals:
Our goal is to help girls work through their emotional issues and develop a positive self-image. Girls in our care receive expert therapy, tools, and lifestyle training which will benefit them throughout their lives.
Young women at Elk Mountain attend individual, group, and family therapy sessions with our skilled, professional staff. Art and animal-assisted therapy give girls other ways to release and work through their emotions. Through around-the-clock interactions with our trained staff, girls receive constant feedback and mentoring in their thoughts and actions.
Our mission is to help teenaged girls rejoin their families and face the world better equipped with the skills necessary to succeed. For younger teenaged girls who come to Elk Mountain, we offer:
- Academic instruction
- Professional counseling
- Animal-assisted therapy (dogs and miniature horses)
- Individual and group therapy
- A focus on creativity through art, music, and writing
- Trauma recovery
- Physical fitness
- Assistance in understanding life
- Guidance in grasping their place in the world
- Skilled mentors to assist them in areas beyond the grasp of their families
- A non-threatening, supportive, nurturing environment to solve overwhelming problems that they face
- A supportive, knowledgeable environment for dealing with an unplanned pregnancy
- A trustworthy environment where the scars of sexual abuse and physical abuse can be healed
- Assistance in overcoming an eating disorder
- A safe place to deal with adoption and abandonment issues
- Substance abuse recovery
Our therapeutic boarding school welcomes young women from across the nation. We are proud of what our team of experts helps these girls accomplish, and we would love the opportunity to help your young girl as well...
Student & Family Profile:
The typical Elk Mountain student is a younger teenaged girl who is acting out or making inappropriate decisions due to emotional issues stemming from: major trauma or loss in their life, physical or mental abuse, death of a loved one, or attachment disorders related to adoption. Physical aggression and violence are not tolerated at the Elk Mountain campus.
Each student is asked to evaluate her present life choices and then to explore various ways in which she can improve herself. Through this process, we help students focus on how to set goals and to take the steps necessary to achieve those goals. Our students receive behavioral training tools that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
Behaviors Which Typically Bring Girls to Elk Mountain Academy:
- Inconsiderate of Others – does things that are damaging to others
- Low Self-Image – often feels put down or of little self-worth
- Authority Problems – does not want to “be managed” by anyone
- Misleads Others – draws others into negative behavior
- Easily Misled – is drawn into negative behavior by others
- Aggravates Others – treats people in negative, hostile ways
- Easily Angered – often irritated
- Stealing
- Alcohol or Drug Abuse Problems
- Eating Disorders
- Inappropriate behaviors stemming from adoption/abandonment issues
- Lying or Cheating
- Acting – puts on an act rather than being real
At Elk Mountain, girls receive an individual treatment plan aligned with their medical, emotional, and psychological needs. Our expert and seasoned therapists care for over 20 girls at our gorgeous mountainside facility. Our multi-disciplinary staff is dedicated to helping each resident choose a new and more productive path in life.
Our clinical staff includes a psychiatric specialist, a primary care physician, a dentist, and licensed psychotherapists as well as teachers, mentors, and residential care staff. Each student receives coaching and one-on-one mentoring. Recreation opportunities include snow and water skiing, snowboarding, hiking, boating, swimming, camping, snowshoeing, sledding, rock climbing, and river rafting.
Faith Life:
Elk Mountain Academy Faith - Elk Mountain is a Christian community of faith. By providing the mentoring and opportunities to develop a faith life, Elk Mountain girls grow as much spiritually as they do emotionally. All our students are required to attend church services, Sunday school, Bible study, and Youth Group. The girls pray at meals and other special moments. They get together and talk about what they are discovering about their belief in God. All of these activities are lead by people who wish to support our students in any way they can.
The girls’ faith life also involves service to others. Students at Elk Mountain help serve meals at the local senior center and other various locations. In addition, they do many projects for the local community.