Red Cliff Ascent | Wake Up Call is only the first step

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RedCliff Ascent is a proud member of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs.

Individual Treatment Above Length of Stay "Wake Up Call" is only first step "Verbal Commitment" vs. "Behavioral Demonstration"

Our Philosophy

"Wake up Call" is First Step

Most adolescents entering treatment in any setting typically gain a cognitive understanding of treatment expectations, and what is required to alter the behaviors that ultimately landed them in a program. This may best be understood as a sort of "wake-up call". Unfortunately, this is the point in most treatment programs where the treatment actually stops. Adolescents who are reasonably intelligent and moderately verbal are easily able to "talk" their way through an apparent successful treatment without demonstrating aligned behaviors. Treatment-savvy individuals are quite adept at recognizing the external indicators of program success and will readily say all the right things in an effort to create an illusion that treatment goals have been met. Many adolescents in treatment are quite well intentioned and sincere in their statements concerning their intended change. However, without any motivating forces to change the emotional needs underlying their behavior, they will revert back to familiar cues and signals in the same manner as before. As a result, both adolescent as well as support system become further disappointed and disillusioned.

At RedCliff we recognize that the cognitive "wake-up call" is merely the first step in a process. To terminate the process prematurely, is to risk failing to achieve the goals of that process. Because we cannot predict for each student when the cognitive component will be initiated, we make provisions for each adolescent to work through this process at his or her own pace. The wilderness environment and small community dynamics offer the adolescents the opportunity to confront "the business of life" at a very basic level. Typically, most of our students do their best to avoid this responsibility. They persevere in their attempts to find someone who will shoulder the responsibility for them. As they rely on old coping habits, their dysfunctional ways become readily apparent. At this stage, working through the treatment process becomes more than a cognitive exercise in debate and requires an integration of cognition, soul and body. This in turn, provides an opportunity for the student to begin constructing an identity based upon their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

For some students, this process happens quite smoothly. Usually these students are those who had previously made a commitment to changing behavior, but were unable to make those changes while living in their previous environment.

To some extent, these students are actually appreciative of the intervention which brought them to RCA allowing movement in their previously-determined direction. These students readily integrate into the program and find a renewed sense of fulfillment based upon their achievements.

Other students take an opposing approach and remain entrenched in their problematic behavior for a longer period of time. These students find the ambiguity of the situation to be the most motivating aspect of the program. To find that they are unable to manipulate their environment in the manner to which they are accustomed certainly facilitates their movement towards a cognitive acceptance of the situation. It typically takes these students longer to reach a point in their treatment and begin to experience the internal sense of self-fulfillment associated with responsible accomplishment of personal goals. For these students, it is imperative to allow them sufficient flexibility in their length of stay in order to provide the opportunity to build a sense of their own security and happiness in spite of what may be taking place around them. These students have typically required their outside world to give them meaning, and more importantly, to give them their sense of well-being.