AIRED: May 9, 2016 – 11 am PST
TITLE: “Reengaged In Life! Elevate and Peers Programs at Heritage School”
SPECIAL GUEST: Eugene Marshall, LCSW & Alaina Chatterley, LCSW
WEB SITE: www.heritagertc.org/
Since its inception in 1984, Heritage has served thousands of young people and their families. Utilizing a relationship based approach with two exceptional, yet very different program areas, Elevate Academy and Peers Academy that work with teens who are experiencing a wide variety of mental health issues. Eugene Marshall, Clinical Director, and Alaina Chatterley, Program Therapist, describe each program’s specialized treatment modality.
Heritage’s Elevate Academy is best for bright students with high potential who became lost in traditional academic settings. Heritage is an industry leader treating teenagers with trauma commonly manifesting as attention deficit/hyperactivity, mood disorders, oppositional defiance and substance issues.
Equally unique, Heritage’s Peers Academy focuses on treating teenagers with social and learning disabilities, many of whom are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (high functioning autism formerly known as Asperger’s Syndrome), Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Attention Disorder or Anxiety Disorder. The Peers Academy mentors are the only residential treatment center staff certified in the PEERS Social Skills Model, including the 16 areas of emphasis designed to increase confidence, gain self-awareness, and better manage emotions.
ABOUT EUGENE MARSHALL, LCSW & ALAINA CHATTERLY, LCSW
Eugene Marshall has worked with adolescents since 1995, beginning at Heritage as a residential staff member. Through this experience he decided to work with students as a therapist. It was through role-model therapists at Heritage that he learned that having a relationship with student is imperative if you are to help them overcome whatever issue they are facing. “If a healthy relationship is developed then positive change can occur. Watching students at Heritage overcome serious emotional or behavioral issues is very rewarding to me as a therapist,” he says. “I look forward to coming to work because each day brings a different situation, some difficult but also some very positive”
Alaina Chatterly first worked with teens as a Trailwalker for a wilderness program in Arizona. She enjoyed the intense connections made with these students, and enjoyed the natural consequences that spoke much louder than any “therapy” could. Shortly after that she completed a master’s degree in 2005, she joined Heritage, continuing her emphasis on natural consequences and self-directed change. She has also worked in substance abuse recovery, outpatient individual and couples counseling and outpatient children’s play therapy. “Teens in residential treatment has by far been my favorite, with the most successful outcomes,” she says.
Alaina believes the long-term nature of Heritage provides an ideal environment for genuine, internal change for teenagers. They can’t fake it and instead have to tap deep within themselves for change that lasts, which means so much more success for them after they leave Heritage.
