Solstice East Biography
Solstice East is a licensed and accredited residential treatment center that specializes in helping youth ages 14-17 who are struggling to process and heal from trauma, alongside co-occurring difficulties. We approach care from a relationship-based, holistic, personalized perspective. At Solstice we honor each individual’s journey as a unique collage of experiences requiring personalized treatment plans.
Our 25 acre property rests in a peaceful hollow in the western Blue Ridge Mountains of beautiful North Carolina. The main lodge overlooks the pond and the winding trail leading to campus facilities. Solstice’s campus is tucked into a valley–our garden, horse pasture, pool, gym, classrooms, and therapy buildings sit amongst the trees.
Program staff consists of licensed therapists, certified educators, and experienced direct care providers with years of experience and a heartfelt dedication to serving youth. Our team of professionals work every day to help students discover the strength and internal motivation needed to heal.
Who do we serve?
Families call us when their teen is experiencing mental or behavioral health concerns that are negatively impacting their quality of life, interpersonal relationships, and academic engagement. This can surface as a variety of symptomatic struggles such as school refusal, depression, and addictive behaviors or thought patterns.
Our program encourages and supports individual gender affirmation and inclusivity. Our staff attends conferences and seminars to help
educate themselves and others on the evolution of modern gender identity expansion and awareness.
Our students are often sensitive, intelligent, capable individuals who are struggling to balance the pressures of their peer relationships and daily commitments. We aim to support our students through providing a proper diagnosis, nurturing healthy relationships, and creating a trusting environment where therapeutic methodologies are interwoven in everyday activities.
By utilizing this comprehensive approach to treatment, Solstice East students gain a wealth of personal understanding and sustainable tools to support them as they align with their new paths. Our mission is to help youth and their families learn the skills to develop healthy relationships, character, and well-rounded health.
How do we help them?
At Solstice East , we believe that valued relationships are the driving motivation for change. People that inspire us often help us reflect on and analyze our own value systems. This creates a model for internally motivated change, a sustainable and positive alternative to outdated, ineffective methods such as external compliance. The serenity of our campus’ location allows students to break free from anxious patterning and reconnect with themselves. With integrated equine therapy and adventure therapy programs, residents engage with therapeutic modalities in every part of their day.
We focus on healing the individual and their vital emotional support systems through a family centered approach. We provide family therapy, seminars, multi-family discussion groups, and experiential interventions.
To treat symptoms our program utilizes inclusive techniques to build healthy emotional regulation through mind-body connection. Equine therapy, physical exercise, and a mindfulness practice help build relational awareness from the inside out.
By building healthy relationships with ourselves and understanding non-verbal communication through connecting with horses, students can approach interpersonal relationships with a developed sense of emotional maturity.
Staff are trained to model emotional self-regulation and distress tolerance. Students develop these skills through the program, learning to process difficult emotions in a healthy way. Co-regulation between peers and staff is key to fostering relationships and building support systems during their stay and after graduation.
Families are empowered and supported through the program with weekly video therapy sessions, parent support groups, psychoeducation, skills practice, as well as quarterly on-campus seminar events. We provide families with the tools to engage in ongoing relationship repair and healing.
The relationship skills and emotional regulation mechanisms residents learn translate beautifully into their academic studies. A robust, Cognia accredited education program on campus provides a full range of core classes, from special education to honors-level courses. Our teaching lessons are catered to each student's learning style and ability.
Clinical Methodology
Staff at Solstice East have extensive training and experience in helping individuals with anxiety, addiction, loss, trauma, and unhealthy behaviors. Our clinical approach integrates relationship
based modalities
values and principles.
with a strong focus on
Therapeutically designed student groups help teens mesh with and offer support to other individuals their age who are experiencing similar difficulties. A sense of community empowers individuals to make changes in their own lives while offering their unique strengths and perspective to the group.
We provide licensed and regulated psychiatric services, with an onsite psychiatrist to support residents' healing. Integration of psychotherapy and proper medication management is essential for effective treatment plans.
Our therapists work with the broader treatment team to create individualized treatment plans that are unique to each individual..
therapists on our team have diverse strengths, with all therapists trained in Trauma-Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (TF-EAP), Brainspotting, and EMDR.
Therapeutic
Each student participates in both individual and family therapy sessions each week. Additionally, students attend multiple group therapy sessions each with peers facing similar challenges, adding to a positive, supportive culture of belonging and understanding. Students struggling with primary or secondary substance use are
involved in an addictions specific group facilitated on campus by a licensed professional.
Academic Approach
Solstice East is proud to offer a full range of core classes alongside elective classes to help our students reach their academic goals. Our on-campus academy is fully accredited by Cognia, exemplifying our standard for academic excellence and student service.
With small class sizes, each student has individual focus with teachers, assuring they understand complex concepts and feel confident in their coursework. Tutors provide additional support for ACT and SAT practice, as well as during homeroom periods.
From special education to honors-level courses, we aim to meet students where they are at and challenge them to grow in a safe, supportive environment. Students can earn North Carolina issued high-school diplomas or transfer the credits they earn at Solstice East when they return to their school of choice.
Constantly focusing on the improvement of our residents’ wellbeing, we integrate our academic approach with a therapeutic environment to maximize benefits and enhance long-term retention of course material.
Activities to Supplement Therapy
To engage in therapy from a holistic approach, Solstice East includes a variety of activities to supplement and practice the new skills residents acquire. Our clinically-designed groups allow students to learn from one another in new ways through adaptive environments.
Therapy-supported concepts such as leadership, emotional regulation, and positive relationship reinforcement are taught in educational groups each week. Students get the opportunity to put their skills into practice with our weekly outdoor activities.
On-site equine therapy provides our residents with practical, respectful relationship skills as well as providing mirrors highlighting patterns and barriers in relationships. Horses help us learn emotional regulation, responsibility, and connection. Through learning to lead horses with confidence, individuals find the agency to take the reins of their own lives.
Adventure therapy programming includes weekly activities, ecotherapy and occasional camping trips. Coordinated outdoor activities teach healthy communication, conflict resolution, and selfconfidence. By integrating clinical modalities with experiential education, students benefit from time in nature–reducing anxiety, stress, and symptoms of depression.
Group engagement greatly supports therapy treatment efficacy. Coregulation is a key aspect of relational therapy, and our milieus are designed with this in mind. When we are surrounded by individuals who are calm and collected, our nerves settle accordingly.
Staff learn how to regulate their own emotions, allowing them to engage with others from a grounded place of respect and curiosity. By modeling this behavior, and teaching students the essential skills of emotional regulation, the groups begin to co-regulate.
Safety
We want families to feel their teen is protected during their time at Solstice East . We seek to continuously engage in improving our clinical modalities, treatment plans, and safety standards to best serve families and individuals in need.
Our trained mentor staff provides supervision around the clock. We keep a close-knit student to staff ratio, with a 4:1 daytime ratio and an 8:1 overnight ratio. Our mentors serve as the front-line contact for students, interacting with them on a daily basis and providing guidance and supervision.
All staff members undergo a comprehensive background check and in-depth training. Alongside the rigorous on-boarding training, we provide staff opportunities for in-service training regularly throughout the year.
While we maintain our own internal risk management system, we are also licensed through The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), and the Department of Health and Human Services. Our care is provided with oversight by licensed clinicians and meets internationally-recognized organizational and program standards.
Outcomes
Data collected through the Youth Outcome Quotient (Y-OQ) showed an approximate 50% improvement in symptoms of psychological distress. These results were gathered upon graduation through twelve months after program completion.
Youth who attend Solstice East are shown to improve dramatically through the year as we follow-up on their progress. The collaboration of our clinical, educational, and leadership staff create individualized treatment programs with positive results.
Ownership
Unlike many residential treatment centers for teens, Solstice East is an owner-operated program. Our mission is helping youth and their families on their life’s journey. We believe that is one of the most profound things we can do. Our leadership team has over 75 years of combined experience helping teens with mental health struggles. They are involved in day-to-day programming through running therapy groups, participating in activities, and engaging in family seminar groups and events.