At Moonridge Academy, we understand that many of the teens that come to us have experienced trauma in some form or another. Unfortunately, this trauma can often lead to behavioral issues that can be difficult to manage. That's why we offer trauma-focused treatment to our students.
Our trauma-focused care is designed to help students heal from the roots of their struggles and challenges. With our team of trained professionals, we are able to provide individualized care that meets the needs of each student.
We are a mental health and wellness safe haven, and we make all of our decisions from this fundamental belief about ourselves and what we provide the teens that call us home and the families that trust their mental wellness and academic needs to our care.
Trauma-focused treatment is a more than just one kind ot therapy, it is a treatment focus that helps people who have experienced traumatic events. It can help people to process their trauma and to learn healthy coping skills. Trauma-focused treatment is usually provided by trained mental health professionals and caring mentors.
There are different types of trauma-focused treatments, but all of them involve helping the person to talk about their trauma and to understand what happened. Treatment may also involve teaching teens new skills to manage their emotions and reactions. Trauma-focused treatment can be done in individual therapy sessions, or it may be done in group therapy sessions.
Our mentoring staff is trained in trauma-focused care to ensure that they do not inadvertently retraumatize a student in their day-to-day interactions with students. Our clinicians provide specific trauma-focused clinical interventions, including BrainSpotting, Adventure Therapy, and Trauma-Focused Equine Therapy. We also offer trauma-sensitive yoga instruction.
Trauma-focused treatment is important because it can help teens who have experienced traumatic events heal. Traumatic events can profoundly and permanently impact a teen's mental health. If left untreated, the effects of trauma can last for years or even decades.
Trauma-focused treatment can help people to:
- Process their trauma
- Learn new coping skills
- Improve their mental health
- Reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Ensure that a teen is not traumatized again
You want the best for your child, which means finding a school that understands and can help them overcome their past traumas.
Moonridge Academy goes beyond being just another school or just another trauma-care facility. We work hard to be the best of both and a partner in your child's healing and future success.
We know that big or small traumas can have a lasting impact on our students if they don't get the right support to help them heal and cope. That's why Moonridge offers comprehensive trauma-focused care to all of our students. We understand how trauma impacts a student's life and work diligently to help our students heal from their traumas.
we use a variety of clinical modalities to help our students
heal and move forward:
Adventure Therapy
Adventure therapy promotes growth, development, and enhancement of a student's physical, social, and psychological well-being. Adventure therapy includes many activities supported by traditional therapy. Trauma can be stored inside of the body. Adventure helps our students begin to physically process their trauma before they begin to emotionally process their trauma
Equine Therapy
Equine therapy is a clinical modality that involves the interactions between our horses and our students. Our horses provide an excellent way for students to have metaphoric experiences and learn about themselves. Both during the activity and after a student has finished working with a horse.
Their therapist can observe and interact in order to identify behavior patterns and process thoughts and emotions. Moonridge Academy therapists are certified and trained in Natural Lifemanship, a type of trauma focused equine therapy that emphasizes connection.
Brainspotting
Using bilateral sounds and fixed eye positions - brainspotting engages deep parts of the brain to release stored traumatic memories and experiences. Specific eye positions each link to their own “brainspot,” an area of the mind that retains thoughts and emotions. Individuals fixate on troubling brainspots to uncover hidden mental challenges. Brainspotting works with the limbic system to help the body process past trauma while also calming the nervous system when these negative emotions are triggered.
Trauma Sensitive Yoga
The goal of trauma-sensitive yoga is for trauma survivors to develop a greater sense of the mind-body connection to help ease a student's traumatic experiences and gain a better understanding of and a feeling of safety within their own bodies.