The clinical staff and direct care workers at The Buckeye Ranch use a variety of clinical practices in our approach to working with children, youth, and families.
Consistent across all treatment approaches used at The Buckeye Ranch is the commitment to a strengths-based understanding of children, youth, and families and our belief in their capacity to address and move beyond their challenges. We are committed to utilizing approaches and strategies that have strong research evidence of their effectiveness. The Buckeye Ranch provides training and ongoing supervision using the below practices.
The Buckeye Ranch adheres to the Integrative Family and Systems Treatment (I-FAST) approach to family-centered treatment in our home- and office-based programs. I-FAST is an approach organized around elements common in successful evidence-based models of treatment. I-FAST is a strengths-based approach with the goal of reducing out-of-home placements.
It is based on the following assumptions:
Effective treatment of youth necessitates treatment of the family system.
Families are resilient and have strengths and resources that can be used in building solutions and achieving client change.
Effective treatment must include coordination and collaboration among the diverse organizations providing services to the youth and the family.
Effective treatment is built upon training and retaining excellent staff. A University-based evaluation comparing I-FAST treated families at the Buckeye Ranch with MST outcomes demonstrated equivalent or better success rates for I-FAST treatment.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a therapy that has demonstrated effectiveness in helping youth and adults who struggle with extreme emotional responses and may engage in self-harm, substance abuse, eating disorders, sexual acting out, or other extreme behaviors. Through this program, clients learn coping techniques to manage intense emotions, decrease emotional distress, and improve interpersonal relationships.
Buckeye Ranch clinicians and direct care staff are trained in Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques. MI is a model that trains professionals in effective ways to interact with children that allow clients to use their own internal motivations to effectively make meaningful changes. MI focuses on exploring and resolving ambivalence and centers on motivational processes within the individual that facilitate change. The method differs from more “coercive” or externally-driven methods for motivating change. It does not impose change, which may be inconsistent with the person’s own values, beliefs, or wishes; but, rather, supports change in a manner congruent with the person’s own values and concerns.
To get more information about our treatment approaches, reach out to The Buckeye Ranch today.