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Guidance for Families at Every Step
Summit Achievement in the Winter!
Summit Achievement has been continuously operating in the White Mountains of Maine and New Hampshire since 1996. The program has a long history of helping troubled teens and their families find success in every season. It can be seen as a challenge to have a young...
How do you view Troubled Teens change at Summit Achievement?
Summit Achievement finds the Stages of Change Model as a beneficial way to look at the change process for troubled teens and young adults. The Stages of Change Model, technically referred to as the Transtheoretical Model of Change, was first developed...
Why Does Summit Achievement have an Academic Component when other Wilderness Therapy Programs do not?
Summit Achievement has had an academic component since it started operations in 1996. The impetus, at that time, was that one of the co-founders was working as a psychotherapist at a Northeast Boarding School and counseled many students who had gone to wilderness...
Does Summit Achievement work with Troubled Teens by Using a “Scared Straight” Model of Intervention?
Summit Achievement has achieved being one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious accredited programs for struggling teens by providing our students and their families with high-quality treatment, challenging academics, and outdoor experiences. At times we are...
Why we recommend hiring a Therapeutic Educational Consultant
WHAT ARE THERAPEUTIC EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANTS? Therapeutic Educational Consultants are professionals who assist parents. They assist in finding the right therapeutic and/or academic setting for their adolescent or young adults before, and after, Summit Achievement. We...
Is Summit Achievement like Outward Bound?
On a regular bases the Summit admissions team is asked, “Are you like Outward Bound?” Our response is “Yes and no”. HOW SUMMIT ACHIEVEMENT AND OUTWARD BOUND ARE SIMILAR We respond “Yes” as Outward Bound and Summit Achievement combine experiential education...
How to Receive Insurance Reimbursement for Summit Achievement Treatment Services
We receive insurance type questions quite often at Summit Achievement. While Summit does not have direct contracts with any insurance companies, some parents have been able to get reimbursed for part, or all of their child’s stay in the program. It is best to call...
Tips for Parents with Teens who are Refusing and/or Anxious about going to Summit Achievement
Summit has been providing wilderness therapy and education at our residential facility in the mountains of western Maine since 1996. Summit is unique in the field as 99% of our students come with their parents for enrollment. The other 1% come with family members or...
Summit Achievement Re-Accredited as an Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Program
SUMMIT ACHIEVEMENT IS PROUD TO BE ONE OF ONLY TWO WILDERNESS THERAPY PROGRAMS IN THE COUNTRY TO HAVE COMPLETED THIS VIGOROUS RE-ACCREDITATION PROCESS. We, at Summit Achievement, have just completed the vigorous re-accreditation process by the Association for...
Mindfulness at Summit Achievement
Summit Achievement incorporates mindfulness, as well as mindfulness meditation, in different segments of the program. Every day there are periods of time of silent reflection with the most notable being before each meal when the community stands in a circle in silence...
Outcome Research and Outdoor Behavioral Health
Summit Achievement has been a member of the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Council (OBH) since 2000 (to go to the OBH website, click here). We have participated in ongoing research to promote the field and prove the efficacy of our work. Below is a...
How Summit Achievement Works with Students on the Autism Spectrum
For many years, Summit Achievement has been known by professionals as a great placement for clients who struggle with high-functioning autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Level 1. While individuals with this diagnosis are unique more than they are similar, some...
Why I moved to New England for Summit Achievement
I work for a program located in Maine, but I am not from New England. I’m a southerner, born and raised in North Carolina. In the summer of 2014, I packed up my things (and family) and moved from North Carolina to the White Mountains of New England for the very...
Student Reflection: Four years ago today
I hope all is well. Today is a very special day for me. I’m not sure where I was five years ago right now. I’m also not sure where I was three years ago right now. I do know two things though, where I was four years ago, and where I am...
Student Reflection: After 3 months at home
Now, after three months of being home, I want to write and tell everybody how I am doing. I talked to Nichol earlier today, and I decided to write all of this so I could send it to everyone at Summit. Actually I talked to Nichol yesterday because it...
How school works in our Hybrid Model Wilderness Therapy Program
Most of us imagine wilderness therapy to be weeks in the woods. Often, if “academic courses” are offered, they are facilitated in an environment that is far from the formal school and classroom experience and often do not align with a student’s course and credit...
Jingle All The Way: Summit Achievement during the holidays
For over 26 years, Summit Achievement, a hybrid Adventure Therapy and residential treatment program located in Maine, has operated during the holidays. Those outside the field may think it is difficult to enroll or work at a treatment program during the...
Student Reflection: Equal parts rewarding & challenging
Summit Achievement was an experience that was equal parts rewarding and challenging, and resulted in the most profound growth period of my life. When I arrived at Summit I was anxious and scared. Throughout my first few days at Summit, all I could think about was that...
Whether you’re exploring treatment options or looking for guidance along the way, you’ll find updates from Summit and resources designed to help families move forward with confidence and understanding.