Uinta Academy Continues To Evolve, Eliminates Point System
Uinta Academy is evolving and has recently eliminated the point system from the Teaching Family Model in its programming! Earlier this year, Uinta decided that to be in line with their meaningful and impactful relationship approach with students they needed to shift to a more positive and self-monitoring approach, which has replaced the old system. The focal point of Uinta’s milieu program is based on praise and positive reinforcement of healthy relationship skills. This allows students to focus more intently on their therapeutic work.
As Executive Director, Russ Pryor, states, “We moved away from the point system because it can create a false sense of completion and does not reflect real-world growth and internalization. By moving to a more relational-based model, it allows our students to be more authentic and work on their true core issues.” Since implementing this new system, Uinta Academy has received great feedback from students, their families, and other professionals throughout the field.
Uinta Academy will continue to use the Teaching-Family Model components including relationship development, family-style living, teaching, and self-governing, in addition to the new relationship-based motivation system. All of this combined creates a strategy for students to build a bridge between becoming more externally and internally motivated.
Lanae is the Admissions and Outreach Director at Uinta Academy. She has worked in Residential Treatment Center’s for over 10 years in a variety of roles including primary therapist, program director, program development and implementation, admissions, transition coach and aftercare specialist.