Vibrant Student Life at La Europa
Student life at La Europa is both busy and exciting! The students are involved in many recreational, artistic, and community activities each week. Additionally, students are given plenty of time for social interaction, personal and creative activities, school, and therapy. Students also have leisure time to read or work on individual pursuits.
Community Involvement is Essential
We believe spending time in the community is essential to the healing process. Due to our suburban location and proximity to downtown Salt Lake City, there is no shortage of activities for our students to participate in. Our activities coordinator is constantly working with community resources and the current milieu to plan activities based on current interests. While students often go off campus, they will always be accompanied by a staff member. Encouraging community activity helps our students to ensure there is a successful transition back home when treatment is completed.
Each weekend students can be involved in community activities. Regular weekday activities include trips off-campus to exercise and on occasion and leisurely activity. These activities are part of our programming schedule and happen regularly.
A series of home passes throughout their stay allows the students and families to learn to generalize new skills which helps the team (including student, parents, therapist, referral source, and other staff) to measure student and family progress.
Diverse Student Activities
- Art Festivals
- Trampoline Park
- Waterparks
- Arcades, Bowling, Roller/Ice Skating
- Overnight Camping trips
- Natural hot springs
- Immersive art galleries
- Overnight Shakespeare Festival
- Amusement Parks
- College Tours
- Sundance Film festival
- Downtown Library
- Aerial skills classes
- Attending plays
- Volunteering at local food banks, assisted living, and humane society
- ...and so much more
Student Support
Spacious Living, Smaller Peer Groups
At La Europa, we divide our student population into two separate communities. We believe that smaller student groups allow for more intensive staff interaction, less social pressure, and fewer stimuli to manage daily for students who are sensitive to the noise and activity level of larger communities.
Our residence is an attractive, spacious, and home-like building on the theme of "Europe". All our bedrooms are named after popular European cities! Depending on the size of each room, students may have anywhere from 1-4 roommates. Each bedroom has a large ensuite bathroom featuring a walk-in shower and jacuzzi tub. Students have ample space for personal belongings.
Mentors Matter
Our residential staff at La Europa are hired for their ability to connect with teens. They are appropriate role models who coach students to be resilient, have strength and become goal oriented. Our staffing ratio is 1 staff for every 4 students which not only provides safety for all students but allows our mentors to work with each student more intensively on their treatment plan. Many of our mentoring staff are in the process of seeking higher degrees to work in mental health professions.
Health and Wellness
Creating a Culture of Wellness
La Europa Academy both provides for and nurtures a culture of wellness.. Our strength-based approach is the foundation for teaching the skills for a balanced and vibrant lifestyle. Every day through food choices, exercise, and yoga our students learn to develop their own wellness philosophy.
Individualized Progression Plan
To honor our students’ individuality, we’ve created a way for them to progress through the program that isn’t based on earning levels or accumulating points. Instead, students will prioritize their treatment plan objectives and bi-weekly target behavior goals. They will focus on achieving their goals by establishing personal values and mastering the skills of intentional living.
As our students prioritize these foundational principles, they can feel more empowered, discover purpose and motivation, and experience meaningful growth and transformation. We firmly believe that this approach cultivates self-awareness, authenticity, and equips students with the essential tools to navigate life’s challenges with purpose and resilience.
To get started, each student will develop an individualized treatment plan with the help of their therapist and family.
How Do We Assess Progress?
Practice Skills
Practice Promotes Healing
The residential milieu is a primary vehicle for change at La Europa. The structure and community activities are in place to promote healing and develop resiliency as well as keep our students engaged, learning, and practicing new insights. There are three core components of our residential milieu that provide support for students to learn about themselves and explore changes:
Daily Program Structure
Many of our students struggle with structuring their own time and respond well to a structured schedule. This reduces anxiety and helps students manage emotions. Our daily structure includes time for chores; reflection; physical activity; school work; therapy; social interaction; recreational activities and community involvement.
Mentoring
Teachable moments occur throughout each day for staff mentors to coach students on the use of new skills, time management strategies and handling social interactions.
DBT Interventions
We use a variety of DBT interventions to help students understand their behavior, learn to break behaviors down into smaller action steps, and identify along with practicing effective skills to effectively manage their behavior and emotions.
