Home » About » What Makes Us Different
CREATING A LIFE OF EXCELLENCE BEYOND SOBRIETY

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?

At Burning Tree Ranch, we understand that our families need as much help and guidance as their loved ones. Working as a team, we lead the entire family through the recovery process.
Put simply, our families make us different.

Having endured years of agony at the hands of a constant, unyielding addiction, Burning Tree families have gone to unimaginable lengths to help their loved ones find sobriety.

Yet, despite their truest and most loving intentions, they have all come to the same realization: they need something different.
Having tried things their own way, sometimes repeatedly, year after year, our families have learned a lot about what doesn’t work. Finally, they are ready to do something different.
Finally, they are ready for a new way to live.

We Can Hear You

As a specialty program dedicated to the treatment of chronic relapse, Burning Tree Ranch has done a lot of listening over the years.
As we listen to the needs of our families, this is what we hear:
  • We need a team that allows for enough time to properly diagnose and treat the addiction as well as the underlying co-occurring disorders.
  • We need a team that measures our loved one’s progress, not days.
  • We need a team that understands how bad things have gotten, a team that can finally get down to root causes and conditions and provide life-long solutions.
  • We need a team that offers high accountability and structure, a team that can help our loved one learn to match their words with their actions.
  • We need a team that will not be outwitted, charmed, or manipulated by our loved one.
  • We need a team that will listen to us, hear us, and give us direction.
  • We need a team that can help our loved-one establish financial independence and personal responsibility.
  • We need a team that has answers, shows interest, goes the extra mile, and doesn’t give up. 
  • We need a team that recognizes our loved-one’s potential, a team that can help them establish a life of integrity and excellence.
  • We need a team whose aftercare is deeply and intimately involved in our loved one’s journey through residential treatment.
  • We need a team that will stay with us into aftercare, who will follow-up and follow-through all the way to graduation.
  • We need something different and we need it now.

We KNOW OUR CLIENT

At Burning Tree Ranch, we treat a specific client who suffers from a clearly defined scope of challenges.

Utilizing measurable, scientifically proven methods, we challenge the client, family, and all primary stakeholders to engage in a team mentality that transcends traditional treatment environments.
We do this because we are different. We do this because we know who our client is.
A Burning Tree Ranch client has been:
  • Unable to achieve or maintain long-term sobriety
  • Unable to manifest independence from unhealthy relationships
  • Unable to follow through with commitments, obligations, and responsibilities
  • Unable to achieve financial independence and healthy life-style choices
  • Unable to be present for and participate in meaningful family engagements
  • Unable to manifest lasting improvements in mental health
  • Unable to consistently regulate emotions, impulses, and behaviors
  • Unable to match their intentions with their actions
  • Unable to honestly account for how their behaviors affects others

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous sums up the Burning Tree Ranch client in this way: “We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn’t make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy.” Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 52

We Know Them Well

As stated throughout our website, we know that our clients are intelligent, capable, and loving human beings.
We also know that without the correct treatment, they may never overcome the tremendous challenges they face.
Confronted with overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and despair, our families come to us in hopes that we may know a better way. We do.
Burning Tree’s entire philosophy is built around one question, “What are you willing to do to get what you say you want?”
Brook McKenzie, COO
Quote Icon

Burning Tree Ranch is about changing lives fundamentally and forever.

~ Brook McKenzie, LCDC, Chief Operating Officer

What They Want & What They Do

Many of our clients will tell us that they want sobriety.

At Burning Tree Ranch, we let behaviors define the difference between what our clients say and what they actually do.

We observe this practice with our families, too.

Many loved ones suggest they are ready to change, to be done with enabling, controlling, and care-taking the alcoholic or addict.  

We know they believe they are being honest when they say these things. We also understand that there is a lot they don’t know.

It is never surprising when the family relapses into old behaviors during their loved one’s treatment process. Afterall, addiction is a family disease where powerlessness abounds.

We Understand How to Help

At Burning Tree Ranch, we understand that our families need as much help and guidance as their loved ones. Working as a team, we lead the entire family through the recovery process.

Telling families the truth about how they contribute to the problem is often shied away from at most treatment centers. Here, we run towards it.

Just like we do with our clients, we invite our families to become wholly honest about the predicament they are faced with. As they become honest, they see more clearly that their way hasn’t worked.

Truthfully, it never will.

The First Step

At Burning Tree Ranch, the chronic relapser and the family have the exact same job: surrender unconditionally – and accept help.

This is the very first step towards creating a life of excellence beyond sobriety.

If you are ready to take a teamwork approach, become fully honest, and create a life of excellence beyond sobriety, call our friendly admissions team today.

Sophisticated Clinical Team

Our clinical and psychiatric team are trained to treat a variety of dual diagnosis conditions that extend beyond addiction. Some of the conditions we address include: Bi-Polar Disorder, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Grief and Loss, Body Image & Attachment Disorders, Trauma, Mood Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and other such mental health disorders. Utilizing a host of evidenced-based therapies that include CBT, DBT, EMDR, and Neurofeedback, our primary focus is to help generate measurable results in the quality of our client’s emotional and mental well-being, thus dramatically reducing exposure to relapse. While the foundation of our program centers around the spiritual principles of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, our delivery of world-class clinical interventions relies on an advanced clinical curriculum featuring Psychiatry, Equine Therapy, Evidence-Based Therapies, and in-depth trauma work designed to help free the chronically addicted person from the cycle of relapse.
In conjunction with our specialized clinical offerings, Burning Tree Ranch enrolls each client in the process of developing the robust life skills necessary to promote success in their new journey towards a life of sobriety and emotional well-being.
KRISTINA ROBERTSON, LMSW, LCDC

KRISTINA ROBERTSON

LMSW, LCDC | Counselor
Kristina Robertson serves as Counselor at Burning Tree Ranch. Holding both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Social Work, Kristina’s greatest joy is “watching our clients learn to love themselves again.” An avid equestrian, mother to twenty-one horses, and all-around animal lover, Kristina serves as a bright shining example of long-term recovery in action. Her commitment to whole person health: mental, physical, emotional and spiritual makes her an invaluable member of the Burning Tree Ranch clinical team. As a distinguished Phi Theta Kappa and Alpha Zeta member, Kristina believes deeply in each client’s pursuit of becoming their best selves.

"who is a burning tree client?"

Beth Legacki, Burning Tree Ranch Alumni