Insight Intensive is a comprehensive, whole-person approach designed to assist young adults in developing the necessary personal competencies and life skills necessary to engage in an authentic and responsible lifestyle.
Clinical and Therapeutic Services
Many young men come to us with an array of emotional, mental and behavioral challenges such as depression, anxiety, attention deficit, trauma and family issues. Most of our young men have been involved in substance use and abuse and compulsive use of the internet and gaming. We employ experienced, licensed clinical staff to work with the individuals and the rest of the program team to insure that the clinical needs of the participants are addressed. The clinical team provides individual and group therapy as well as family therapy; we also provide Equine Assisted Therapy, recovery support, and therapeutic recreation. Specialized groups include DBT, CBT, EMDR, process group, men’s group, creativity and artistic expression labs and an equestrian program.
Individual and Group Mentoring Sessions:
Each participant is assigned a Senior Mentor who serves as the individual’s and his family’s main support during his stay. The Senior Mentor will conduct weekly one-on-one task-oriented meetings with the participant, as well as facilitate family interactions on a regular basis. These meetings are focused on two areas: working through issues pertaining to self, family and peers, and creating the participant’s Life Plan. For those participants who need specialized mental health and behavioral health clinical services, Insight Intensive has access to an array of healthcare professionals from Boulder, CO, who are available for specialized services and support.
Small home-group meetings and community meetings occur on a weekly basis and provide opportunities for peers and staff to discuss interpersonal dilemmas and challenges. The safe and supportive atmosphere of these meetings allows like-minded peers to generate ideas and come up with solutions to issues that arise naturally in a therapeutic milieu.
Individual and Group Therapy:
All of our therapists are licensed clinicians and specialize in working with young adults with emotional and behavioral issues. Each participant is assigned a primary therapist during his stay at Insight Intensive. The primary therapist meets with each participant a minimum of one time per week. In addition, our therapists facilitate weekly therapeutic groups that include Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), process group, recovery group, and natural highs group. Individual and group Equine Therapy is also provided.
Life Skills Coaching:
Developing life skills is essential to preparing for life outside of the therapeutic setting. Our program recognizes that it’s important to provide ample time and guidance to concentrate on life skills. As such, both are integral parts of our programming. The life skills curriculum at Insight Intensive results in increased self-confidence and prepares our participants to proactively meet the challenges of everyday life. It is based on the principles of practicality and self-sufficiency. Some components of our life skills coaching are:
- Career Planning
- Resume building
- Creating an effective Cover Letter
- Time Management
- Personal finances
- Food Shopping and Healthy Meals
- Conflict Resolution
- Anger Management
- Diversity, Tolerance and Inclusiveness
Continuing Educational and Vocational Support Services:
All of our participants have focused, dedicated time built into their schedules to restore their educational or vocational pursuits. Whether the goal is to bring closure to a high school diploma or GED, to continue college or university level courses, or to seek and secure employment, our program sets aside time for these tasks, throughout each week. Program resources in this area include:
- Computer and Study Lab
- Library
- Internet and Skype connectivity
- Access to online educational services
- Tutoring services
Health/Nutrition/Fitness:
As part of everyday living at Insight Intensive, participants are able to support their emotional and spiritual growth with access to nutritious foods and opportunities to develop and engage in fitness and movement activities. Some of our food comes from our own organic gardens and livestock. Participants are integrated into the harvesting process.
What we put into our bodies and how we take care of ourselves physically has a direct correlation to our mental and emotional health. The program offers powerful opportunities to directly experience the healthy and clearing effects of “good living;” and we designed the program to inspire them to continue this healthy, balanced lifestyle, after completing the program.
Our daily stretching and exercise routines focus on methods of natural stress reduction, rather than being exceptionally rigorous. This provides a more-centered perspective on fitness and health. Our program offers body-centered treatments that organically stimulate the body for positive change.
All of the food, beverages, and snacks available at Insight Intensive form a balanced, nutritional diet. We spare no expense in this.
Recreation & Wilderness Experiences:
Set amidst the Colorado Rocky Mountains, our grounds alone provide for a wide spectrum of activities. Our 35-acre private lake offers the chance to catch trout on the fly, kayak, canoe and swim. Spread amongst the trees of our property is a 12-element low ropes course used as a tool for growth, a tool for team building, and an opportunity for our participants to bond with their peers. We have stables on the property and offer equine therapy. Also, our participants are exposed to what it means to care for livestock as part of daily living.
Beyond our boundaries are trails and Forest Service lands that offer an endless network to explore—on a mountain bike or on foot. Bouldering both on and off-site is common, and on occasion we provide opportunities for organized roped climbing.
At Insight Intensive, one does not have to travel far to experience the wilderness, but when we do leave the grounds, we engage in a plethora of seasonal activities that abound in Colorado. There is a ski area within 20 miles that offers both downhill and cross-country skiing. The Indian Peaks Wilderness Area provides the chance to stand on top of 13,000-ft. mountains and a high impact, adventurous day.
On occassion, throughout the year, our Insight Intensive community designs multi-day expeditions that amplify daily life back at our Gold Lake property. These trips offer a bonding experience that is viewed as yet another layer of exploration and fun. They may include rafting, canoeing, backpacking, and site-seeing, among other things.
Our recreation also manifests itself in other ways that accommodate the interests of our participants. These include a fully operational wood working shop, fitness center, lake-house and entertainment room, greenhouse and organic garden, and yoga and meditation room.
It is our belief that healthy, well balanced adults not only work on their own internal processes but understand the super results that come from balancing it with active and stimulating recreation. We take the highest measures in making these activities inclusive and safe.
Family Support and Participation
We recognize the critical importance of working not only with the individual but with the supporting family members. Because family members and significant others are so considerably affected by the dynamics and circumstances of the individual participant in the program, we have developed a very direct family approach in addressing the many issues that need to be resolved in order to mend from the confusion, hurt and misunderstandings. Family members as well as the individual are guided to work on their own issues, develop self-care techniques and learn how to support their loved ones. Our program is designed to assist participants and family members in identifying problems that have had significant impact on the family system; in changing attitudes and ultimately behaviors between family members and participants; and clarifying the role of healthy support in order to assist everyone involved in the transition from the program.
The family program components include multiple weekly family calls with Senior Mentor and participant; family sessions with therapist for individual sessions as deemed necessary. In addition to the weekly calls and therapy sessions our program works directly with the family members by having the family come to Insight Intensive in the latter stages of the participant’s program to work together with the Senior Mentor and the therapist in a family intensive over the course of two or three days. When appropriate, we also allow family members to visit the participant on site, and from time to time they can be eligible to take the participant for the day or an overnight visit off campus.
Our Recovering Participants
Recovery is a process. At Insight Intensive we strongly believe that recovery success depends on a consistent structure of healthy and motivating activities, along with a sober support system of peers and mentors. Our experienced program staff actively emphasizes the importance for each participant to explore his biological, psychological, social and educational needs, in order to understand and promote his recovery process.
While at Insight Intensive, participants build on their personal recovery journey by learning more about their addictions. They explore previous destructive behaviors, emotional, mental and environmental triggers, family dynamics and they engage in relapse prevention techniques.
Throughout the program, each participant continuously works with his recovery plan, and with the support of his mentors, integrates it into his Life Plan. We support each participant to continue incorporating the elements from his previous program that are working for him. We also support him to explore new healthy behaviors that will strengthen his recovery as he prepares to return to his home environment.
In addition to their active participation in Insight Intensive’s core program, these participants are involved in recovery-oriented individual sessions, step work, family sessions, process groups, psycho-educational groups, equine experiences and 12 Step meetings.
Next: Phase Structure
