The Importance of Direct Care Staff— Guides—In Residential Treatment for Adolescents
When providing effective care and support for adolescents in residential treatment settings, one of the most vital roles is that of the direct care staff, who we refer to as “guides.” These folks are often the unsung heroes in adolescent treatment programs, and their impact on the therapeutic process cannot be overstated. Their role goes far beyond just supervising—they serve as mentors, emotional supports, and facilitators of personal growth for young individuals who are often facing significant emotional and behavioral challenges.
Multiple leadership team members, including our two co-owners, started their careers as guides. Our team, therefore, recognizes the importance of not only this position but also strong professional development and encouragement for our staff. The guide schedule is 8 days on/6 days off, with personal time and breaks built into each shift, allowing for consistency with our students.
In this blog post, we’ll explore why guides are essential in residential treatment for adolescents and how they contribute to creating an environment that promotes healing, growth, and positive change.
What Is a Guide?
Guides in residential treatment settings are direct care staff members who are responsible for guiding adolescents through their daily lives within the treatment program. In addition to being caregivers and holding boundaries guides play an integral part in the therapeutic process. Their role is multifaceted, ranging from providing emotional support to facilitating group activities, maintaining safety and structure, and fostering life skills development.
Summit Achievement’s guides work in tandem with clinical staff to ensure that the treatment plan for each student is executed in a way that promotes holistic growth. This means addressing not only the behavioral issues but also the emotional, social, and psychological aspects of the adolescent’s well-being.
Summit Achievement thoroughly vets all our guides to ensure they meet a number of vital components. They need to have a college degree, or equivalent life experience. Every guide must have CPR certification, and we ensure that every expedition includes a guide with a wilderness first responder certification. Outside of those “hard” skills” – and no doubt that these are important – is something equally important, and our leadership team ensures that our guides are compassionate and caring humans who will treat our students with kindness and unconditional positive regard at all times. While medical skills are essential – and yet, they are skills that can be learned – it is far more important that our guides are individuals who deeply care about our students and their well-being.
Summit offers a wide array of professional development opportunities for our guides to support their growth, including:
- Weekly in-service led by clinical and outdoor professionals aimed to support guides in a wide variety of areas, such as crisis management and conflict resolution to enmeshment and burnout to cooking skills and cold weather management
- Outdoor certifications
- Clinical supervision
- Exposure to/training in clinically sophisticated language and therapeutic modalities
- Supervised experience facilitating group processing and implementing clinical treatment plans On the job mentoring program from experienced professionals
In short, our leadership and clinical teams work with families to help them understand the important role of the guide. In their relationships and time with our students, they are doing some of the most important work that occurs in our treatment setting. The rest of the team—leadership and clinical—supports the guides to facilitate this important work, including clinical oversight, perspective, guidelines, and structure.
The Impact of Guides on Adolescents’ Progress
Building Trust and Relationships
One of the primary functions of guides is to build trusting relationships with the adolescents in their care. Adolescents entering residential treatment are often struggling with past trauma, emotional issues, learning differences, or behavioral challenges that have led them to seek help. Guides are present for adolescents day in and day out, and through their consistent support, they create an environment where trust can grow. This trust is essential because it lays the foundation for therapeutic work with clinical staff. Adolescents are more likely to engage in treatment when they feel safe, supported, and understood by the people around them.
Providing Daily Structure and Stability
Adolescents in residential treatment often come from unstable home environments, where routine and stability may have been lacking. The structure built into the daily routine here at Summit Achievement, overseen by our guides, helps provide a sense of security and predictability. This structure is crucial for the healing process and helps our students develop healthier habits and coping mechanisms.
Guides oversee the implementation of schedules, ensuring that students attend therapy sessions, group activities, educational classes, academics, and recreational activities. In doing so, they help adolescents understand the importance of responsibility and time management—skills that will benefit them far beyond their time with us at Summit Achievement.
Facilitating Personal Growth and Skill Development
In addition to providing structure, guides are also key in promoting personal growth for our students. They serve as role models, teaching positive coping strategies, communication skills, and emotional regulation. Through their guidance, adolescents learn how to manage their emotions, navigate difficult situations, and develop healthy relationships.
Guides often facilitate therapeutic group activities, such as team-building exercises, conflict resolution, or life-skills workshops. These activities are designed to help adolescents gain practical skills and insights that will enable them to make better decisions in the future. Whether learning to set goals, practicing mindfulness, or engaging in meaningful dialogue with peers, guides help create an environment conducive to growth.
Providing Emotional Support
Adolescence is an emotionally turbulent time, and many of the young people in residential treatment struggle with intense feelings of isolation, anxiety, depression, or anger. Guides serve as a consistent and compassionate emotional support system. They provide reassurance and validation when adolescents feel overwhelmed by their emotions or unsure about their progress.
Sometimes, just having an adult who listens without judgment can make all the difference in a young person’s journey toward healing. Guides are uniquely positioned to offer this support because of their consistent presence and investment in our students’ success.
Promoting Positive Behavioral Change
Guides are central in promoting positive behavioral changes by modeling desired behaviors and setting clear expectations. They maintain a calm and firm presence, offer constructive feedback, and reinforce healthy behaviors. When adolescents struggle with impulse control or make poor decisions, guides redirect them, helping them reflect on their actions, understand the consequences, and take accountability.
Forming authentic connections with adolescents allows guides to influence their decisions in an empowering, rather than punitive way. Through this supportive approach, students at Summit Achievement are encouraged to internalize positive behaviors and make better choices in the future.
Why Guides Matter: The Heart of Treatment
Therapists provide the clinical expertise and develop the treatment plans, while guides help bring these plans to life. Their role in modeling positive behavior, offering emotional support, and building relationships is invaluable. They are not just caretakers—they are mentors, coaches, and advocates who truly make a difference in the lives of adolescents. They are essential to the success of the treatment process, and their impact is felt long after the adolescent leaves the program.
If this sounds like a career you are interested in, visit the employment section of our website to learn more and apply!
If your teenager is struggling with their mental health and you are considering treatment options, perhaps Summit Achievement could be right for your family. Reach out to Admissions today.