Our Philosophy

Uinta Academy believes that each student, no matter what their challenges and struggles, can realize her unique strengths and reach her true potential. To accomplish great things, a student must not only plan and act, but they must also believe. A teen learns to believe in themselves when they discover who they are and what they value.

This belief allows them to give themselves permission to ask for help and learn new things. Each small success and insight they gain will empower them to try more, challenge themselves more, and achieve more. Through a thoughtful, deliberate approach that includes therapy, relationship development, experiential learning, and cultural arts, Uinta Academy helps teens and young adults reach their aspirations. Everything about Uinta conveys the message to each student that they have value.

A Place of Challenge and Empowerment

Everyone has the potential to be strong, competent, resourceful, successful, and most of all…happy! Because the environment at Uinta is safe and supportive, they can successfully meet challenges with new skills and resources.

They learn that they can solve problems, their relationships are healthier and happier, and they are competent in taking care of themselves. Uinta’s comprehensive and rigorous treatment approach expects a lot from our students because we know that meeting challenges successfully builds self esteem and empowers them to take control of their life journey.

A Place of Academic Accomplishment

Uinta’s ultimate goal is to send students home to reunite them with their families. We know that a person's success when they return home is greatly determined by their academic competence.

Academic accomplishment gives a student more opportunities in life. Uinta excels at developing each student's strong academic foundation. Their grades improve, they catch up to grade level, they acquire the organizational and study skills that promote academic achievement, and most of all, they enjoy learning.

A Place of Family and Community

Teens and young adults need the safety, warmth, and relationships that exist at home. If a teen's struggles require that they must leave her home for treatment, that treatment should take place in a setting that duplicates the safety and warmth of home. When treatment looks like “real life,” it’s easier for them to generalize what they are learning in therapy into her life at home, school, and the community. The normal environment also helps them feel that they are not “missing out” on life.

A Place that Emphasizes Relationships

Healthy, happy relationships are a cornerstone to a happy life. These relationships help them feel connected to the world and themselves. However, developing and maintaining healthy relationships is an art that many of the students at Uinta are struggling to learn. The first relationship that a person learns to foster is their relationship with themselves. If a person is not healthy and happy with themself, nothing outside of them will change that.

When a person develops a healthy self-identity based on self-worth, they can better assess their relationships with others and can discard damaging relationships, and foster those that are healthy and positive. All of Uinta’s treatment approaches are focused on helping students develop satisfying and supportive relationships so that they can live happy lives.