Friday, May 31, 2013

Crosswinds and Caribbean Mountain Academy: What's the Difference?

What is Crosswinds? 

Crosswinds is a non-profit organization that began in 2011. All of Crosswinds’ services have a common goal: restoring families struggling with tough issues, facilitating long-term healing and growth. Our specialty is working with families who are dealing with issues relating to a troubled or difficult teen. None of our services offer a “quick fix,” but rather address the root of the problems a teen or family is facing, and then work to develop a long-term solution. We recognize that no two families are alike and so we offer a variety of services that can be “mixed and matched” to meet each family’s specific needs. Our programming can be broken down into two general areas: residential teen counseling and in-home family counseling.

What is Caribbean Mountain Academy? 

The residential teen therapy part of our program is where Caribbean Mountain Academy comes in. Located in the beautiful Dominican Republic, Caribbean Mountain Academy provides a safe and loving environment for teens to work through the struggles they have been facing.   It is offered as an option to families if the issues that they are facing with their troubled teen are spiraling out of control and a temporary change of environment for the teen is needed. Our program at Caribbean Mountain Academy seeks to address the root of the teen’s problems, rather than just addressing the behavioral symptoms. To ensure this holistic change, we require that the family of each teen enrolled at Caribbean Mountain Academy undergo regular in-home therapy and coaching during their teen’s stay. Meanwhile, the teen at Caribbean Mountain Academy will take part in intensive counseling, service projects for the local community, excursions to waterfalls, beaches, and mountains, all while receiving 24-hour care from our loving staff.

Does Crosswinds do anything else? 

Yes! Although our specialty is working with families raising troubled teens, Crosswinds also provides In-Home Family Counseling for families struggling with any number of issues. With the majority of family issues, especially those involving a troubled teen, we have found that treatment and healing are most effective when the whole family is involved. Our In-Home Family Counseling program provides personalized therapy in the privacy of your own home. This allows our staff to get a clearer picture of your family dynamics, improving your results and facilitating our effectiveness.  During the program, rather than focusing on just a family member who is in crisis, we focus on the entire family—parents, siblings, grandparents, or others within their circle of care. Our approach allows the whole family to acquire ownership in the progress and achievement of their goals. To ensure that your family has resources available at any time of need, we also offer 24-hour crisis intervention to any family enrolled in our In-Home Family Counseling program. Keeping families together is a high priority at Crosswinds, so we often recommend In-Home Family Counseling as the first step to overcoming family struggles.

By Crosswinds Caribbean Mountain Academy