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All Copper Canyon Academy therapists are licensed by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Services.

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Individual Therapy
Students at Copper Canyon Academy therapeutic boarding school for teenage girls meet weekly for one hour with their assigned therapist. Therapists also reserve additional time each week for any students who need additional time. The therapists at Copper Canyon Academy are Masters level and licensed, or licensed eligible, by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Services with a wide range of training, skills and approaches. The primary approach is cognitive/behavioral therapy. Some of the therapists have extensive training and backgrounds in working with parent child conflict, academic issues, attachment disorder, depression, substance abuse, victims of sexual abuse and trauma.

Group Therapy
Each therapist has a maximum caseload of twelve students. This group of students meets four hours a week with their assigned therapist. The purpose of this group is for the students to further explore their issues in a supportive environment of their peers. Adolescents are much more driven by their need for peer acceptance than by any concern for an adults' opinion. In the same way that a negative peer group can lead a teen astray, a positive peer culture makes a significant impact on a teen's desire to do the right thing.

Community Group
Students participate in a community group each week. This group focuses on a wide range of activities designed to practice social skills, enhance self-esteem, and discuss topics such as values. The other group is facilitated by one of the licensed therapists on a rotating basis. The second group is more "process" oriented, using 12 step work to teach recovery skills, addressing community issues, such as the tone and temperature of the community culture and providing students a forum for giving and receiving feedback.

Psychiatric Services
Students who are on psychotropic medications when they arrive at Copper Canyon Academy are reviewed regularly by our Psychiatrist, Dr. James Cahill, who is a Child and Adolescent Specialist and is knowledgeable and experienced in the field of adolescent medicine. Our Psychiatrist works diligently with students and families to manage the student's medications with the safest and most therapeutic medications on the market ultimately with the goal to decrease or eliminate medication use whenever possible.

Parent Calls
Parents are invited to call their student's therapist weekly during their student's stay at Copper Canyon Academy.

As the student earns phone calls and on and off campus visits with the parents, the calls to the therapist decrease to every other week. The purpose of each call is to begin the work of looking at the family dynamics that have contributed to the need to place the child and to begin to develop more effective parenting and communication skills.

Parent Seminars
Two powerful personal growth Seminars are offered to the parents of all students at Copper Canyon Academy. These Seminars focus on the parents' own personal issues and assist the parents in taking accountability for their part in the family dynamic that lead to the child's behavior. If the child returns to the same environment in which the behavior occurred originally, the likelihood of relapse is high. Visit http://www.aspenseminars.com to learn more.

Family Workshops
Family workshops with the parents and student in attendance together provide an opportunity for the families to gain clarity about their family dynamics, improve parenting skills, to work on unresolved issues and to rebuild communication and trust. A Family Living Agreement, developed jointly by the parents and the student helps guide the transition home.

Treatment Team
The treatment team at Copper Canyon Academy is a group of staff who meet weekly to review students. The treatment team consists of all therapists, teachers, shift leaders from the residential staff and representatives from administration. Because students present themselves in a different light to people in various roles, the purpose of the team is to share information about the students in order to obtain a well rounded view of how the student is performing in all areas.

Students who are reviewed include those who are applying to move to the next level, students who need special interventions, who are on "staff watch" or on silence from other students. The therapists and teachers both write reports regarding their students. Student's who are identified in the report as having problems with her program, will be reviewed.

The purpose of the treatment team is to ensure that no student "falls through the cracks". The input of information from the entire range of staff functions, ensures that if a student is performing well in one area of her program, but is struggling in another area, the discrepancy will be noted and appropriate interventions will be employed.

Mike Gurr M.S., M.A., L.A.C. Clinical Director Mike received his Master of Science from the University of Utah in Exercise and Sport Science, with a concentration in Sport Psychology. He worked with various high school and college teams as well as with the coaching staffs. Mike completed another Masters degree from Argosy University/Phoenix in Professional Counseling. For three years Mike was a counselor at Paradise Valley Community College as well as an adjunct facility member where he was involved in career counseling, individual counseling, and group work. He taught classes in stress management, peak performance in activated learning, career exploration, and study skills. Mike is a certified instructor for the Maracopa Community Colleges. Mike also has a private practice where he works with athletes at all levels from amateur to pro to increase their performance through disciplining their mind. He also works with teens and parents as they transition from residential programs back to home. For the past 3 ½ years Mike has been the seminar director of emotional growth seminars for Aspen Family Seminars. During that time he has worked with over 2000 people and developed parenting workshops and a manual to help parents learn better parenting skills and how to regain their relationships with each other and their children. Mike is a sought out speaker for various groups and associations on topics such as: choice, self-concept, relationships, how to change behavior through positive routines, power of belief, stress management, and strengthening ones mind. He and his beautiful wife of 11 years reside in Anthem, AZ and they have 3 wonderful boys with a girl on the way.

Linda Cathcart, M.A., Counselor: Linda has been in practice as a psychotherapist since 1984. In addition to a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from the Arizona State University and a Masters degree in counseling from Northern Arizona University. Linda participated in a two year certification program at the Gestalt Therapy Institute in Phoenix. She has received additional training in Rational Emotive Therapy, Reality Therapy, Art Therapy and Drama Therapy.

Linda holds and Arizona State Community College teaching certificate and is a certified Master Facilitator in "Keys to Excellence." Linda worked for eight years with the Department of Juvenile Corrections, during which time she was the recipient of the Governor's Award for Excellence in Government as a result of her work on the development and implementation of a Model Treatment Program. Most recently Linda has worked in the private sector at therapeutic Boarding Schools for emotionally troubled teens. She has worked as a teacher, a therapist and an administrator. Throughout her career, Linda has been called upon and has traveled nationally to provide training to staff, students, parents and families.

Susannah Fox, M.A. NBCC, Counselor: Susannah has specialized in working with court ordered and family referred adolescents as an in home family preservation counselor through a state contract administered by The Alternative Center and Catholic Social Service in Flagstaff, AZ. Individual and family counseling, as well as coordination with juvenile probation and other community resources was facilitate under this program. Susannah has also worked as an outpatient clinical counselor, with an emphasis on marriage counseling, addictions, and child expressive therapy. Susannah received her B.S. from the University of Michigan/State University of New York, and a Masters in Counseling from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. She is a National Board Certified Counselor (NBCC), and also has management background in Quality Assurance activities in psychiatric/chemical dependency hospitals.

George Davies, Counselor: George attended Arizona State University and received a Masters degree in counseling. He worked in a community mental health center in Phoenix, Arizona and then went into private practice in Tempe, Arizona. George was a coordinator of an outreach program in St. Joseph's Michigan working with families at risk that were referred by Child Protective Services. He worked as a consultant to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, with a major focus on economic development. A comprehensive evaluation was submitted to the Tribal Council with the intent that the evaluation be followed by a second phase involving active change to tribal systems.

Read Mr. Davies "Before and After" Study that Indicates Treatment at Copper Canyon Academy Produces Good Results >>

George returned to Arizona and developed a program providing treatment to at-risk families in the Verde Valley communities, referred by Child Protective Services. George is a clinical member of The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the Arizona Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Counseling Association. He is certified by the Arizona Board of Behavior Health Examiners and the National Board of Certified Counselors. He is licensed by the Michigan Board of Marriage and Family Therapy and the Michigan Board of Counseling.

Doreen Jimenez, MA, Counselor: Doreen is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist in both California and Arizona. She has worked as a therapist for over 20 years, in private practice and various agency and school settings. She currently has an office in Sedona, Arizona and San Anselmo, California, and works with adolescents, adults, couples and families. She specializes in working issues of chemical dependency in adolescents and adults, childhood trauma, depression, anxiety and the effects of alcoholism on the family.

Sara L Wasserman, MA, LPC, ATR-BC, Counselor: Sara has over 30 years of experience as a therapist. Her Bachelor of Science degree is in Special Education and Master of Arts degree is in Art Therapy. Residential treatment has been a major part of her clinical experience. The field of Art Therapy is particularly applicable to adolescents as it provides a unique modality that can bring to the surface for view and review, thoughts and feelings often obscured by habitual behavior and thought patterns. She looks forward to getting to know you and working closely with you and your daughter on the journey to attainment of personal goals and purposeful, constructive integration with family and community.

Maryanne McKowen, Counselor: Maryanne McKowen M.A. has been a licensed Marriage Family Child Therapist in California since 1993. She is currently in the process of obtaining her license in Arizona via reciprocity. She graduated with a Master's degree in Counseling from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1988. Maryanne worked in community mental health for 12 years actively counseling individuals with serious mental illness in addition to teaching therapists in training. She had a private practice specializing in sexual abuse and trauma using EMDR, cognitive restructuring and guided visualization. She is trained in wilderness rites of passage therapy and has facilitated vision quests in the Eastern Sierras of California. Maryanne brings to Copper Canyon Academy her enthusiasm and great love of adolescent girls. She has successfully raised her 4 children to adulthood and appreciates the challenges of parenting.