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Therapeutic Services

Clinical Services

Northwest Academy’s clinical services are designed to maximize students' success by helping them develop tools which guide their day-to-day living. Using a relationship-based model, our clinical services are integrated into all aspects of the school, creating an optimally therapeutic environment.

Philosophy

Our clinical staff can be found interacting with our students around the fireplace, sharing a meal in the dining hall or playing games outside. In addition Northwest Academy students participate in regular family and group therapy, along with individual therapy as needed. Every one of our clinicians is licensed at one of several levels by the State of Idaho.

Individual Therapy/Group Therapy/Family Therapy/Specialty Groups/Recovery Program

Care Management

Care Management Teams include the clinician, parent communicator, team leader, assistant team leader, counselors, and teachers. This team meets weekly to plan, initiate, and review your child's progress and assure that planned interventions are clinically appropriate to meet your child's therapeutic needs.

Family Integration

Your child's ability to reintegrate into your family is crucial to ensure ongoing success. As the parent of a Northwest Academy student, you are required to participate in the therapeutic process. Family therapy sessions will occur weekly and may take place during on-campus visits or by telephone.

Psychiatric Support

Psychiatric support for students at Northwest Academy is provided through a contract with Northwest Psychiatric Associates. All students arriving at Northwest Academy who are taking medication for psychiatric issues will meet with Dr. Miewald for an initial assessment. Dr. Miewald visits our campus to follow the progress of these students. The psychiatrist will contact you whenever a change in medication is recommended.

Substance Abuse Treatment and Sobriety

Many students attending Northwest Academy come with issues of substance abuse or chemical dependency. Our program is completely qualified to help these students overcome their dependencies and begin a life free of addiction and chemical dependency.

Our Program Includes:

• On-campus and off-campus 12-step meetings
• Big Book study groups
• Sponsorship
• Drug testing/urinalysis
• Licensed addiction counselors
• Step work

Character Development Program

Core Values/Milliue Counseling/ Workshops

Our personal growth curriculum teaches older adolescents to identify and resolve their individual issues in order to develop positive, healthy lives. Through peer-accountability discussions, personal-growth workshops and faculty counseling and modeling, your child will examine behavior patterns and learn to make productive choices.

The personal growth curriculum is structured into phases, with a cumulative curriculum designed to build on lessons learned in the earlier phases. The focus on issues through emotional growth experiences is individualized to each student.

The program emphasizes accepting responsibility for one's behavior and feelings, building healthy meaningful relationships, developing a positive value system based on honesty, learning how to set and accomplish goals and dealing with and resolving underlying feelings and fears. Our students learn to resolve issues and come to understand the power their choices have in creating a healthy lifestyle.

Leadership

All Northwest Academy students participate in regular peer-group counseling along with periodic personal growth experiences. As students progress through their personal growth curriculum, they are invited to take on leadership roles on the campus, utilizing their newfound skills to help other students. With the confidence that comes from our personal growth program, Northwest Academy students are able to develop plans and set future goals.

Agreements

Glossary of Terms

Family Participation

Our comprehensive family education program enables parents to learn and grow alongside their children. Through parent conferences, parent support groups, and weekly communication with their children’s clinicians, parents have the opportunity for personal-growth with invaluable tools that help to reestablish healthy parent-child relationships. Our experience shows that family therapy and education are essential to the success of our students. It creates improved family dynamics and is integral in building a stronger family foundation.

Family Support

You are not alone. Thousands of parents have experienced the same issues that you are dealing with and understand what you are going through with your child. Many support groups have formed across the country, composed of parents of current and alumni students. Run by parents, these meetings provide a safe place to share common experiences and receive support from others who are dealing with situations not unlike your own. Here you can develop a much-needed emotional resource and the same kind of peer support we so carefully construct for our students. Support groups provide a unique opportunity for the distribution of information, recognition of concerns, and practical problem solving among parents who share common experiences. They allow for discussion in an atmosphere of true understanding and camaraderie.

Communication/Visitation

NWA is situated at the base of the Selkirk Mountains near Naples, Idaho, in the Idaho panhandle, and is accessible from domestic and international flights via Spokane International Airport (GEG). Vacation areas surround NWA, so numerous options are available for accommodations in the Idaho cities of Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, Hope, Priest Lake, and Coeur d'Alene. Accommodations are also available within driving distance in Spokane, Washington; British Columbia, Canada; and in northwestern Montana. The Sandpoint, Idaho, region is surrounded by beautiful lakes, mountains, and rivers that attract visitors from all over the world. In addition to its natural resources, Sandpoint is a hub for music, art, culture, and recreation. Snow-filled winters offer fantastic downhill and Nordic skiing at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. In other seasons, Lake Pend Oreille, the fifth-largest lake in the western United States, is home to world-class fishing and boating. We invite you to come visit us at any time.

Family Workshops

Northwest Academy parent workshops are designed to allow families to learn tools and skills with which to address family-system problems while fostering healthier relationships within your family.

Basic Workshop

The Basic Workshop addresses many of the challenges of being a parent, a partner, and a friend. The Basic Workshop — a one-and-a-half day session — uses both discussion and exercises to further parents' insights into themselves and their families. This skills-based workshop is dedicated to providing parents with the tools to build better relationships with their children. In addition, the Basic Workshop provides all participants with the opportunity to examine and understand Northwest Academy education through the eyes of their child.

Advanced Workshop

The Advanced Workshop is based on the principle of: "See yourself as you are and do something with it." Experiential and self-examining, this four-day workshop focuses on freeing ourselves from the negative messages that control our actions. The Advanced Workshop facilitates greater choices in participants' lives and provides tools for continued personal growth. In addition, the Advanced Workshop provides parents with a common language and experience to share with their child.

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