Families
Families
At Aspiro, we know that change isn’t an individual endeavor. Research shows that when we help not only your child but your whole family, those changes aren’t just temporary but have a life-long impact. To help support your family while your child is at Aspiro, we offer the following services.
Weekly Therapeutic Calls
At Aspiro Adventure Therapy, we understand the importance of supporting and working with the family through the treatment process in order to help facilitate systemic changes. Students and parents communicate through letter-writing during the program, which allows them each to be open, honest, emotionally vulnerable and to slow down communication without fear of emotional reactions. Therapeutic journaling and letter writing are powerful and effective tools that establish healthy communication and closer relationships.
Parents/guardians will have a weekly therapy and coaching call with their child’s clinician, which will include progress updates, recommendations, and suggestions on effective parenting styles. The clinician will provide reading and writing assignments to parents that will parallel the work that the student is doing in the wilderness program, and process concepts such as boundary setting, empathy, communication, and more.
The ultimate goal is that each family member learns to focus on how their behaviors affect family relationships.
Live Weekly Webinar Series
Families at Aspiro participate in a weekly live webinar series covering topics ranging from identifying core issues, family roles and genograms, relapse prevention planning, self-care, healing, and self-reflection. These topics have been selected by our clinicians, as well as requested by current and past families. Through these webinars, we will help address the most relevant issues within the family unit and introduce a new way of exploring family dynamics.
The webinar series is 10 weeks, and each webinar allows for an organic conversation where parents can share thoughts and comments and ask questions. Each person’s participation is essential in creating a conversation flow that is tailored to best serve every family’s needs. Families have unlimited access to each of the webinars that occurred during their time with us, even after they have transitioned out of Aspiro.
Family Seminar
“The best part about the seminar was seeing the progress in our son and seeing the level of interest, involvement, and care taken by his guides, therapist, and Aspiro staff.” – Parent
As your student engages in the therapeutic process and changes and growth began to occur, your therapist will schedule a time for you to attend Family Seminar. The seminar is intended to provide group and family therapy, help you find support amongst other families, and create a structured, positive reunion between you and your child. We know both you and your child will have experienced change during your time at Aspiro and therefore a comfortable environment in which your family can reconnect is important in order for you to continue on the therapeutic journey.
The seminar is a two-day experience designed to provide learning opportunities through instruction and activities. Seminar topics can include topics such as reducing collusion, healthy communication, and reconnecting family relationships. A primary goal at the parent seminar is for each family member to learn self-reflection strategies and see how behavioral patterns affect family relationships, as well as to reconnect with your child and rebuild trust and emotional connection. You are likely to see many areas of growth within yourself and your child throughout the seminar. It is also possible that you may see some regression of past behaviors or see areas where growth is still needed.
As you take this next step in your therapeutic journey, you may find a reunion with your child can be full of emotion and can be both rewarding and challenging. Working through the challenge together, and finding ways to connect during meals together, work-shops, and a rock-climbing experience will continue your process of gaining mutual understanding and closeness.
Most families attend a workshop midway through or towards the end of their son or daughter’s stay at Aspiro. You will work with your therapist to determine which seminar to attend. Following the seminar, students remain at Aspiro for a number of weeks, which will be collaboratively determined by the parents and primary therapist, based on student progress and plans for transition. Seminars are held on a monthly basis.
Family Therapy & Parent Coaching
In addition to the weekly calls with your therapist, Aspiro offers family coaching upon request by a family, educational consultant, or therapist. Family coaching calls can include the parents or guardians of the student, siblings, and any other integral family member involved in the student’s life. Every student’s treatment and situation is unique, so your therapist will assess and work with you on what call structure will be best for your family system. These coaching calls provide an opportunity for more in-depth analysis and exploration of your family system.
Our Family Services Director and team are also available to parents or guardians and can facilitate follow-up sessions on therapeutic topics that may come up in the family coaching calls, or on webinar topics. Your therapist will work with you to schedule time with this team as needed.
Family Immersion
Aspiro’s Family Immersion is a 3-day trip designed for current parents and their child to come together in Utah to share a wilderness experience in a more intimate and purposeful therapeutic setting. Participants will have direct support from our Family Therapists to work on family systems, and practice self-reflection and healthy communication while rebuilding trust and emotional connection. Families will have the opportunity to try out various adventure activities, work through challenges together, and reconnect after an intense period of personal growth.
Alumni Family Excursion
Aspiro‘s Family Excursion offers a “Wilderness Reboot” adventure experience for Alumni Families. This is a 3-day trip that allows families to come together in Utah in a more intimate and purposeful therapeutic setting. Family Excursions are an opportunity to completely disconnect from the stressors of daily life and reconnect as a family. Participants will work directly with our Family Therapists to look at what is happening in the family system, address unhealthy behavior patterns, and practice healthy coping skills. We will focus on intentional communication, collaboratively focused core family work, and individual and group goal setting.
Parent Support Group
A weekly parent support group is offered virtually to all current families in order for parents or guardians to have a space to communicate and connect with other Aspiro families. This group is intended to be a safe place where parents and guardians can listen to one another, share their thoughts and feelings, and gain support from one another. Alumni families occasionally choose to join this group as well in order to offer advice and additional support based on their Aspiro experience. A Family Services therapist on the Aspiro team will facilitate this group and provide additional insight, information, and guidance through the various stages of the treatment journey.
Communication With My Child
Letter writing is the primary source for communication between the family and student during a student’s stay at Aspiro. A parent or guardian can write letters through our secure, online parent portal throughout the week. Through the parent portal, families can also access photos of the student’s activities in the wilderness each week, as well as view a chronological archive of student and parent communication throughout their stay. Student’s letters are uploaded weekly to the parent portal for families to access, and parent letters are distributed to students once a week while at base-camp.
Letter writing is a very thoughtful and intentional form of communication that provides an opportunity for the family to engage in a meaningful articulation of thoughts, feelings, fears, hopes, etc. This process also removes immediate emotional feedback and slows down communication, allowing for a more open, honest, and genuine connection with one another.
Insurance Claims and Records
For any questions regarding insurance claims or questions about obtaining your records, please contact the Family Services Department at [email protected] or call 801-349-2740.
Meet the Family Services Team
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David Mayeski, LCSWFamily Services Director
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Kate CrowellAdmissions Coordinator
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Whitney FoxAdministrative Assistant
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Shailee Davis, LCSWFamily Services Therapist
Meet the
Therapists
& Field Staff
What makes Aspiro a truly unique and special experience is our highly trained and dedicated team.
Meet The Therapists
& Field Staff
Research shows that our students report a 38% increase in self-confidence. When faced with success in their abilities, students begin to believe in themselves again.
