Arkansas Ranch Will Treat Teen Girls for Addiction and Anxiety

Loved ones who want to help an adolescent daughter often learn that services treat either substance use or mental health conditions, not both. A residential program under construction in Prairie Grove in Arkansas centers around dual diagnosis care for teen girls.

Genesis Ranch broke ground this month on 80 acres. It’s a project of Teen Challenge Adventure Ranch in Morrow, which has served teen boys with mental health and addiction struggles for 50+ years.

Mental Health Connects with Addictions

Officials designated the program for girls who use drugs alongside trauma, disordered eating and other high-risk behaviors.

Executive Director Joy Thomas spent 13 years at the boys’ program. She pointed to identity as the central clinical target. 

Justin Smith is CEO of Teen Challenge Adventure Ranch. He described how their licensed center combines teams up with relationship building and faith. The reach extends well beyond the state, with families coming from California to New York.

Treating Multiple Diagnoses

Dual diagnoses center on drug use and mental health conditions. The two interact rather than sitting side by side. Untreated anxiety can drive substance use and vice versa.

Dual diagnoses require a single coordinated clinical team. Treating each one on its own doesn’t generally work because the untreated condition undermines progress on the other.

Parents of adolescents in rehab should take note. Symptoms are often still forming. Behaviors that read as defiance frequently turn out to be untreated anxiety, trauma responses or emerging mood disorders.

Program Specifics

Plans call for an 8,000 square foot building with living space and a classroom. There’ll also be a horse barn containing therapy space and a fitness center. The site will also have a school, a gym and a pond. The program will staff certified teachers and therapists.

Equine therapy is the clinical centerpiece. “At Genesis Ranch, our focus will be horses, horses and girls,” Thomas noted. This contrasts with the boys’ program that’s built around adventure activities including mountain climbing and canoeing.

Working with horses can ease trauma and anxiety in adolescents as they take care of large animals. It’s used as an adjunct to established therapies rather than as a replacement for them.

The property carries a connection to the organization’s history. The land was once owned by a former student who struggled with addiction and leaders wanted it used to help others.

Don’t Wait for Treatment

Residential treatment centers vary widely in how genuinely integrated their dual diagnosis programming is.

Inquire whether psychiatric care is delivered onsite, how academics are handled and what aftercare is arranged before discharge. In faith-based program look at how spiritual programming and clinical treatment are structured so you know what your daughter’s week contains.

Our browsable directory features listings let you search by level of care and location. You can narrow to facilities that treat mental health conditions and addiction together rather than one at a time.

Also, feel free to dial 800-908-4823 (Sponsored) to chat with an expert about local options.

Author

Quentin Blount

Content Manager

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Quentin brings nearly a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and digital publisher to his role as Content Manager for Rehab.com. He aims to help people better understand their treatment options by creating engaging and informative content that is user-friendly, factually accurate, and optimized for search engine visibility. In his free time, Quentin enjoys the company of his friends, family, and his dog, Coop.

Editor

Peter Lee, PhD

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Peter W.Y. Lee is a writer and historian of American history during the Cold War. His primary focus is the relationship between youth and popular culture and its impact on U.S. society during the twentieth century. He has published widely on how the public has used popular culture as a mechanism to address political and social shifts throughout time