Clinical Program

The Clinical aspect addresses the treatment side of the program, which defines the Psychiatric, Therapeutic, and Medical areas.

Our Clinical Program is comprised of three distinct components.

1.  PSYCHIATRIC:  

Psychiatric Evaluations are required for all patients who are admitted into North Star Treatment Center in order to verify that our services are an appropriate fit for your child. Medication Reviews are also done on a regular basis to ensure progress is consistently made, or if the requirement to adjust or eliminate medication is needed.

2.  THERAPEUTIC:

Therapy is an important part of treatment within North Star Center.  There are several types of therapy that we implement for each child provided by an assigned LCSW Therapist.

• Individual Therapy:  Each patient receives 1 hour of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy once a week with their assigned licensed therapist.  Individual Therapy is (often referred to as “counseling” or “psychotherapy”) and is a procedure through which patients work individually with a licensed therapist—in a peaceful, secure, caring, and safe private environment—to examine and discuss their behavioral, emotional, or mental health issues while expressing their beliefs and feelings or negative patterns, working through distinguished parts of their lives that they might want to change, to better understand themselves as well as other people, to set personal goals, and work toward positive change.

• Group Therapy:  Each patient receives 1 hour of Group Therapy once a day with their assigned therapist.  Group Therapy a form of psychotherapy in which a group of nine (9) patients or less meet to describe and discuss their problems together under the supervision of a therapist.

• Family Therapy:  Each teen participates in Family Therapy sessions as progress is made in the program, or as the need arises in order to ensure that their family is part of the treatment team, and to ensure that true internalization is reached for the child.

• Equine Therapy:  Patients may participate in Equine Psychotherapy, also known as Horse Therapy, Eagala Therapy, or Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy, which encompasses a range of treatments that includes activities with horses to promote emotional growth in clients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, behavioral issues, abuse issues, drug and alcohol addiction, and other mental health problems.  This type of experiential-therapy is typically done 1-2 times a month, and is optional based on the patient’s progress in the program.

• Art Therapy:  Patients may participate in art therapy, a form of psychotherapy involving the encouragement of free self-expression through painting, drawing, or modeling, used as a remedial activity or an aid to diagnosis.

• Neurotherapy:  Neurotherapy or neurobiofeedback, also known as Neurofeedback (NFB) is a type of biofeedback that uses real-time displays of brain activity— to teach self-regulation of brain function for each patient.  Some reports have indicated effectiveness for various issues. Neurotherapy is optional, unlike the 3 therapy’s listed above which are required.

3.  MEDICAL:

Medical needs are met by our medical staff who regularly check on each client to ensure that psychiatric, therapeutic, and medical progress is consistent.  This helps to eliminate detrimental behavior caused by emotional or mental issues

If you are a parent wanting to know if your child would be accepted into North Star Treatment Center, please fill out our Acceptance application.