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 Treatment Programs SAFE HARBOR Treatment for Girls with General Psychiatric Disorders and Lower Cognitive Functioning (IQ55-75) Safe Harbor is a residential program for developmentally disabled female adolescents who present with significant emotional and/or behavioral issues. The program offers a comprehensive, holistic treatment approach for girls with cognitive limitations. Safe Harbor encourages the development of pro-social behavior and adaptive living skills in a structured residential setting. The program is designed to include an array of behavior-modification techniques and therapy aimed at enhancing self-concept and restoring healthy emotional functioning. The primary goal of Safe Harbor is to increase each girl’s array of coping skills, enhance the positive aspects of their self-concept, and prepare them for community reintegration. In order to achieve this goal, the Safe Harbor program has modified typical group process interventions to include extensive experiential exercises and behavioral rehearsal to help actualize concepts for a developmentally disabled population. Information is presented in gradual increments and through a variety of modalities to reinforce learning and increase the likelihood of good generalization of the skills taught. The Safe Harbor program provides a highly structured clinical day where therapeutic interventions are occurring almost continuously. Activities are goal driven and occur within small therapeutic groups of 8-10 based on age. Target behaviors are treated with consistency and are modified using the least restrictive support methods deemed effective for each adolescent. The Safe Harbor program also recognizes the need for adolescents to remain connected to their communities throughout the treatment process. Whenever treatment allows, residents participate in community activities that emphasize normalization and social skills (although this does not include socializing or any other type of contact with residents from other New Hope programs). Discharge planning begins at admission, and treatment goals are developed with the targeted step-down placement in mind. Development of a more accurate and positive self-concept is the primary focus of the treatment model for Safe Harbor. Self-concept, or the sum of our ideas about ourselves, plays a major role in the choices we make and the behaviors we exhibit. We develop this set of ideas based on the feedback we receive from others. For example, were we treated with respect and admiration by our school teachers or were we told we were poorly behaved or not smart. Our school performance and behavior at school would vary greatly depending on which type of feedback we received during our early school years. This is particularly true for girls, as recent research demonstrates that for girls, relationships with others are central to identity development. Development of a more accurate and positive self-concept is achieved by exploration of the positive and negative aspects of each girl’s self-concept. As each girl learns more about herself, she will receive feedback from peers and staff regarding the accuracy of her ideas. She will then be exposed to experiences and treatment interventions that challenge her inaccurate ideas and negative characteristics. Another primary component of the program is the development of coping skills called tools. Successful completion of the program is dependent upon mastery of a wide variety of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional coping skills. Individual and group therapy are facilitated by an experienced master’s level clinician. Appropriate social behavior and coping skills are taught through modeling, role-playing, prompting, practicing, and other techniques. Experiential and traditional group exercises are designed to increase the resident's understanding of herself and retention of material taught. Additional methods used to provide feedback and promote change include a contingent reward system. Unit privileges are earned on a daily basis and provide information regarding pro-social behavior. Because of the difficulty many developmentally disabled individuals often have understanding abstract moral concepts, the program strives to develop a minimum moral development level of "cause and effect." |
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