Residential Programs For Teens: Growth and Lasting Change Are Possible for Your Daughter
At Discovery Ranch South's residential program, your child can experience growth and a lasting change to their mental health. Your daughter can experience a home-like atmosphere along with the opportunity to take advantage of our large campus and mental health professionals. They will live in a cottage with a small number of other girls. There are 24-hour multidisciplinary team members to help support your child through their mental health treatment.
Teenagers Between The Ages of 13 and 17 Have Found The Support They Needed At Utah's Discovery Ranch South
Teen mental health is our passion. Discovery Ranch South offers the perfect healing environment for struggling teens with mental health challenges or behavioral issues. The Residential Treatment Program is located on a beautiful 60-acre ranch. However, it is also only 10 minutes from the urban hub of Cedar City, Utah.
The Campus
Teen girls come to the ranch to heal from across the world. Every element of the campus was chosen with healing in mind.
When your child comes to Discovery Ranch South, they will stay in one of three private homes that serve as student dorms. Each house features a living area, a small kitchen, bedrooms, and baths. They will also have access to the lodge.
The lodge features a commercial kitchen, dining area, and game room. There is also a theater room, an indoor pool, and a sauna. Your child will be able to relax as they recover in this peaceful environment.
Your child will attend school in a waterfront building. There are beautiful views of the mountains to the east and the water area to the northwest.
There are many places for your child to explore on the 66-acre closed campus. The campus includes stables and a riding arena. They can relax on the putting green. Or they might prefer to relax by a waterfall with an artificial pond stocked with native fish.
Discovery Ranch South provides a perfect balance of disconnection and accessibility. There are many therapeutic and recreational opportunities for our students and their families. The girls have the opportunity to become stable and then begin to transition to a community.
While our facility provides lots of fun activities, each one plays a role in the therapy process. Residential living is a critical part of our experiential, action-oriented therapy approach. Caring, well-trained staff members are available to support your child 24 hours a day.
Everyone works together to create an environment where the students feel safe. More than that, they are respected and supported. The school has a four-to-one ratio of students to staff. The emphasis is not on managing behaviors. Instead, the focus is on building healthy relationships that inspire change. Residential activities reinforce the healthy coping skills that they are learning.
The Students
While all the teens have come to the ranch to heal, they won't necessarily share the same diagnosis. This diversity encourages our students to make connections based on their strengths, not their diagnosis.
Because teens come to Discovery Ranch South for various reasons, they have a variety of different therapeutic needs. Settings that only focus on one issue risk confusing the person with their diagnosis. Teens are challenged to address their core issues. Addressing what is underneath the behavior will create lasting, healthy change.
Treatment settings that exclusively address specific diagnoses or clinical issues often create a culture of connecting to pathology. The clinically heterogeneous environment at Discovery Ranch treats a diverse range of therapeutic issues. In this environment, your child can let go of their unhealthy identity and instead identify with others and herself based on their strengths. Students who are treated in a heterogeneous environment are challenged to address the core issues of their unhealthy behaviors instead of just the symptoms. Addressing what is underneath the behavior will create lasting, healthy change.
In this environment, your child can let go of their unhealthy identity. They will learn that they are more than their diagnosis. They will discover the strong, unique human being that they are inside.
The Community
Cedar City is approximately 10 minutes from the ranch. It is a college town with more than 30,000 people. Cedar City offers recreational and therapeutic opportunities. For example, there is access to art festivals and academic events.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival takes place in Cedar City. Each summer and fall, the festival draws lovers of Shakespeare and theater from around the world. The festival features famous and lesser-known plays by the Bard. There are also modern plays by a variety of different playwrights. The Utah Shakespeare Festival also offers many different classes. People can come to learn about topics like stage combat or designing scenery.
Students from Discovery Ranch South have both attended the plays and classes offered at the festival. To take part in events like this, students must be level-appropriate.
Your child will be blocks away from hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and repelling. This is because southern Utah has some of the world's most unique geography.
Bryce Canyon National Park is located near Cedar City. The park features a unique geography. For example, the world's most extensive collection of hoodoos, or irregularly eroded rock spires, is located in Bryce Canyon.
Cedar Breaks National Monument is also located near Cedar City. This national monument stretches across three miles and is more than 20,000 feet deep. The geographic formation looks like an amphitheater.
The Right Place
Discovery Ranch South is the right place for your child to experience lasting change. They will have the opportunity to take advantage of the large campus. Teens will live in a cottage with a small number of other students.
While all the teens have come to the ranch to heal, they won't necessarily share the same diagnosis. This encourages students to make connections based on their strengths, not their diagnosis.
When your child is ready, they will be able to enjoy all the activities that the wider community has to offer with the support of caring, well-trained staff members.
A Typical Weekday in Residential Treatment
The residential program at Discovery Ranch South is intentionally designed to provide students with both structure and free time, fostering many opportunities for personal growth and healing. While this weekday schedule offers a glimpse into a typical day, each day may vary based on individual student needs and activities.
6:45 - 7:20 AM
Wake Up / Morning Routine
After waking up, students take their medications, perform their morning hygiene routine, and get ready for PE.
7:20 - 8:20 AM
PE Activity
Students rotate between dance, yoga, or circuit workouts during their morning PE session.
8:30 - 9:00 AM
Morning Calves
Every morning, the students feed the calves breakfast as part of the Calf Program.
9:00 - 10:00 AM
Breakfast
Students enjoy their breakfast in the lodge before returning to their cabin.
9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Cabin Time /
Individual & Group Therapy
Cabin time, which is dedicated to hygiene, chores, and free time, is also when students attend individual, family, and group therapy sessions based on individualized needs and schedules.
12:00 - 12:30 PM
Lunch Calves
The students feed the calves lunch.
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lunch
Students enjoy lunch in the lodge.
1:45 - 3:00 PM
Therapy / Study Hall
Students attend individual, family, and group therapy sessions, while Study Hall begins at 2:30 pm for students who may require extra academic support.
2:30 - 5:00 PM
School
As the school day commences, students have access to a diverse range of blended learning classes that cater to their academic requirements.
5:00 - 6:00 PM
Dinner
Students gather together for dinner, creating opportunities for them to form profound and impactful relationships that contribute to their therapeutic healing process.
6:00 - 8:00 PM
School Continues
This afternoon school schedule is specifically designed to suit the way teenagers learn.
8:00 - 8:10 PM
Pack up / Chores
At the end of the school day, students take responsibility for maintaining a clean and welcoming environment.
8:10 - 8:50 PM
Evening Calves
Students feed the calves dinner.
9:00 - 9:10 PM
"Family" Meeting in the Cabins
In their cabins, students come together for a "family" meeting where they coordinate schedules, celebrate accomplishments, discuss goals, resolve conflicts, provide mutual support, and handle the nuances of living together as a community.
9:20 - 10:00 PM
Cabin Time
Before retiring for the night, students take their medications, tend to their hygiene needs, and dedicate time to self-care.
10:00 - 10:30 PM
Wind Down Time
To wind down from their day, students get into bed, read, journal, or engage in other activities that promote relaxation and rest.
10:30 PM
Lights Out
A consistent bedtime is crucial for quality sleep and good mental health. Our bodies thrive on routine, and a regular sleep pattern can improve mood, reduce anxiety and stress, and boost cognitive function.
Photo & Video Gallery
We offer tours of the Ranch to prospective residents and their families. Come visit and meet our staff and girls here at the Ranch. Please contact us for more details. We are available seven days a week at 855-667-9388. We would love to help you with your planning and arrangements.
Video Gallery
Photo Gallery
Meet Your Residential Program Management Team
Maria Elkington
Shauna Clark
Shayna Griffin
Kimberlee Martineau
