Vantage Point by Aspiro - Parental Involvement

Often, parents are very concerned about their child and their apparent difficulties meeting life's challenges.

At Vantage Point by Aspiro, we are dedicated to helping young men and women reach their full potential!

The Vantage Point by Aspiro experience is filled with challenging and fun adventures that push students out of their comfort zone. These experiences create new levels of confidence and motivation. Our team of dedicated professionals will treat your child with respect.

We believe that adolescents who are struggling are not "broken", but need assistance in realizing their full potential. We will work to help your child make better decisions and reconnect with family and support systems. We respect each child as an individual.

Our interventions are based on first developing a relationship of trust and respect, combined with appropriate boundaries and high expectations.

Once this foundation of trust and respect is established, we can begin to truly understand your child and his or her individual strengths and needs. Communicating with parents about their child's progress and assisting parents in making difficult decisions is a very high priority for us. Your child's therapist will be in contact with you each week regarding your child's progress. These phone consultations also involve discussions of family issues or previous difficulties with a focus on solutions for the future. Many times, parents have exhausted every resource in helping their child at home. Coordinating services is often a very difficult process.

Getting mental health care, educational and health care providers to communicate and work together can be time consuming and frustrating. One significant benefit of enrolling your child in Vantage Point by Aspiro is that after getting to know your child, we can make recommendations aimed at coordinated future services.

Parental Involvement:

Communication:

You will be able to exchange letters with your child from the very beginning. Letters are received and sent weekly.

When therapeutically indicated, you will also be able to have weekly phone calls with your child.

Therapeutic assignments:

We often ask parents to complete some light reading of materials that their child is reading while in the program. We will encourage you to discuss topics from the reading in letters and conversations. We may also ask you to communicate about other issues or to complete therapeutic assignments related to the work your child is doing.

Family Workshop:

Parents are strongly encouraged to attend and participate in a family workshop while their child is enrolled in the program. The workshop usually lasts two to three days, depending on scheduling, time of year, location, group size, etc.

We are very proud of our family workshop.

It is typically a significant highlight of the program for students, their parents and for us too!

The workshop typically involves activities and food with your child. The timing of the workshop during your child's stay varies, but typically occurs mid-stay, before your child finishes the program.

Our Philosophy

When a new student comes to Vantage Point by Aspiro, we treat them with respect – we think it should feel similar to a transfer from one high school to another. We do not attempt to "break down" students.

Vantage Point by Aspiro adventure therapy is focused on significant, positive change in a short period.

The therapeutically rich nature of our program helps to reduce resistance to treatment and enables our students to understand the need for change. Further, it gives them the skills and motivation necessary to make positive choices, which lead to future success. Our students participate in an expedition-style adventure where nature has a way of healing. With direction from dedicated and caring staff, our students are led along a path where hope and healing begin.

While continued therapy remains the primary focus of Vantage Point by Aspiro, students are also taught many life lesson, character development and adventure skills designed to enhance their quality of life for years to come. Our goal is to connect our students with outdoor and adventure skills they can take with them and that will enhance their lives forever!

Adventure activities vary depending on the time of year and other factors, but include whitewater river trips in rafts, kayaks or canoes, skiing, snowboarding, top-rope rock climbing, caving, mountain-biking, horseback riding, primitive living skills, hiking/backpacking, arts and crafts, etc.

Each activity helps students climb to a higher level of self-efficacy, and help them learn real life lessons.

The goal is to give them tools for success with their family and friends. Vantage Point believes it is not enough to do traditional therapy alone.

Our model and our daily life on the trail combine research and theories from:

Solution Focused Therapy
• Positive Psychology
• Self Efficacy Theory
• Self Determination Theory
• Sequencing in Adventure Therapy
• Character Development Theory
• Conscience Use of Metaphor
• Anatomy of Peace

Our expeditions inspire self-discovery, connection with family and character development through challenge and adventure. Though we are not a faith based or religious program, there is room for personally based spirituality and many students connect with their higher powers (family, society and spirituality) as they are inspired by nature and the process of personal growth.