She's your daughter, your beautiful child. You've watched her grow and imagined her future - a future in which she soars realizing all her potential. A future in which she steps confidently into adulthood with the resilience to meet life's challenges.
Unfortunately, life has a way of altering even our most precious dreams and hopes. And there is no deeper grief for a parent than watching a beloved daughter struggle with challenges, unable to access the strength and resourcefulness you know she possesses.
At La Europa Academy, a residential treatment center that helps young women, ages 14 - 17, find themselves through creative expression, we will help her unlock the potential you know is there and develop the skills she needs to overcome her current challenges. We combine a nurturing, home-like environment, a sophisticated clinical approach tailored to her specific needs and a challenging academic curriculum to develop her coping skills and identity. For a more detailed view of the girl we admit and why this approach is so important, click here.
But it is our expressive arts program that will help her express emotional pain in ways that allow her to heal, identify her internal assets and remind her of the talent she possesses. For the La Europa girl, the arts are a language that speaks to her inner emotions and desires. Through participation in the arts, she will rediscover herself. Art therapy and expressive therapies help the student access information in the brain that is non-verbal or pre-verbal and bring this information into awareness so that it can be identified and integrated. Art therapy and expressive therapies have been found effective in reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety and depression as well as helping individuals form a cohesive identity. Please see our Expressive Therapy section for more information about the extensive variety of expressive therapy and experience at La Europa.
Girls come to La Europa with serious challenges they are facing. Our expert clinicians and caring residential staff approach our students from a strengths perspective recognizing that each girl has inherent resiliency that must be identified and nurtured in order for her to be able to transition successfully into adulthood. Research on resiliency clearly indicates that regardless of the challenges an individual faces, there are a variety of internal and external assets in each individual that can be strengthened to not only increase current functioning but protect against future challenges. At La Europa, we help each student identify her own resiliency factors and bring those forward. Our goal is not just to restore her to health but to arm her with assets for the future.
There are three core components of the La Europa program that weave together like a tapestry to create a container for your daughter to explore, change and grow:
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- Our clinical program provides individual, group and family therapy with licensed therapists. Our Expressive Arts program is part of our clinical services although it spans the academic and residential components as well.
- Our residential program is designed to accomplish behavioral, social, relational and recreational goals. Our Expressive Arts program adds complimentary pieces to the residential program.
- Our academic program is designed to provide a challenging learning environment where your daughter can recoup credits, maintain her academic status or excel if this is an area of competence for her. We offer more arts elective class opportunities than a typical residential program.
We empower young women and their families to strengthen resiliency by providing specialized clinical, expressive and academic interventions that promote emotional healing and facilitate sustainable change.