June 7, 2012
The Value of a Therapeutic Community
The primary goal of a therapeutic community is to foster individual change and to eventually help people return to society and live a productive life. This is accomplished through a community of people (at Hopewell - staff and residents) working together to help themselves and each other. Residents learn from one another and learn to rely on each other - a skill that their illness has most likely prevented them from developing.
The usual chain of command with staff at the top making the decisions is not characteristic of Hopewell, or similar programs. There is frequent discussion with residents (including a Resident Council) where decisions are made regarding their individual paths to recovery, off campus trip locations and social activities.
Treatment at Hopewell comes in the form of a structured day filled with meaningful work and creative, social and educational groups. Programming changes with the residents' needs and seasons, but typically includes mood management, dialectical behavior therapy, medication management, equine-assisted learning, meditation and spirituality, independent living skills and creative expression.
Hopewell's holistic, therapeutic farm community model of care creates lasting results and positive lifestyle changes. We see this progress every day at the farm through the residents' decreased psychiatric symptoms, improved social skills and self-confidence.
Hopewell is one of 5 therapeutic farm communities in the country, and the only one of its kind in Ohio. We believe in the healing and recovery that takes place here, and that everyone can experience success, find a life of purpose and feel hope.
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