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Individual Therapy

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Individual Therapy for Chronic Relapse

Individual therapy is a key component to successfully completing treatment at Burning Tree Ranch. As a specialty program, all of our therapeutic tools, including individual therapy, are tailored to the unique needs of the chronic relapser. More than with most treatment centers, Ranch clients will require an experienced ally to guide them through the many challenges associated with establishing permanent sobriety. At Burning Tree Ranch, we rely on frankness, authenticity, and honesty to foster trust in the therapeutic process. We know that our program is difficult, that in order to help the chronic relapser manifest lifelong recovery, we will have to consistently reaffirm their commitment to the work required. Through individual therapy, we provide our clients the regular opportunity to explore the thoughts and feelings that arise as they journey into a deeper relationship with honesty, dedication, and resolve.

Keyana
“At Burning Tree Ranch individual therapy is an opportunity to look at yourself and explore your thoughts and feelings.”
Keyna Lee, MS, LCDC

The Goal of Individual Therapy

The goal of individual therapy at Burning Tree Ranch is to motivate the client to explore certain behaviors that may interfere with, delay, or sabotage the opportunity to find permanent freedom from relapse. Establishing intentions, forecasting benchmarks, and evaluating how the client’s real-time behaviors (may or may not) align with their stated goals are often routine discussion points for individual therapy sessions. Unlike most programs, Burning Tree Ranch helps the chronic relapser remain acutely focused on the disciplines of personal accountability and personal responsibility during the treatment process. Once this principle is firmly established, our clients begin to accept more ownership for their recovery. They gradually let go of the need to intellectualize, minimize, or evade the sensitive topic of what brought them to long-term treatment. Finally, they are able to see that it is them and their behaviors that must change, not the world about them. This is one of the first steps towards creating a life of excellence beyond sobriety. It is also the step that requires the most honesty.

Behaviors In and Out of Treatment

The same behavior that brings the chronic relapser into treatment will invariably present itself to the community, the treatment team, and ultimately to the clinician facilitating the individual therapy sessions. As greater rapport is established between client and clinician, there develops a more fluid exchange of ideas around what behaviors do and do not work for the chronic relapser. These behaviors and the results they garner, whether in or out of treatment can be explored, along with the feeling and thought patterns that attach to them. As therapy progresses, the client can begin to connect the dots between cause and effect. In short, they begin to see how their behaviors, attitudes, and actions influence the reactions they experience from others. With the goal of moving them away from ineffective coping mechanisms such as blaming and manipulation, we slowly ease them into a more disciplined worldview; one that allows them to take a more strident inventory of their own conduct versus that of others. Again, this practice requires an ever-increasing degree of honesty. Chronic relapser or not, it is not always easy to admit where we have been wrong.

A Safe Place to Look at Ourselves

Individual therapy offers our clients a safe place to inventory how past and present behaviors such as manipulation, dishonesty, and self-pity create confusion rather than harmony in their relationships, both personally and interpersonally. As rapport develops with the attending clinician, our clients begin to try on new, more healthy behaviors such as honesty, authenticity, active listening, and equanimity. Almost invariably, this newly lived experience creates an opportunity for the chronic relapser to feel more united with peers, family members, and the therapeutic process as a whole. The ability to be honest, and to consistently match behaviors to a stated goal, are core benchmarks that inform the clinical team of a client’s progress during treatment. We find that living in integrity, doing what we say we will do, and following through with commitments are just a few key elements to establishing a new life in permanent sobriety. During individual therapy sessions, a client has the opportunity to evaluate their progress and take stock of how their behavior is changing or improving as a result of treatment.

Proper Diagnosis at our Long-Term Treatment Facility

Burning Tree addresses co-occurring disorders that may have blocked our clients from achieving recovery in previous, shorter-term treatment episodes. We do this in an intimate, progress-based setting that integrates world-class clinical interventions with useful, esteem-building life skills. Each of our clients undergo advanced psychological screenings, clinical evaluations, and medical assessments to determine the best, most tailored treatment plans for their needs. If you want to learn more about Burning Tree Ranch’s authentic, long-term approach, call our admissions team to learn more.

find recovery,
not just sobriety

DISCOVER FREEDOM
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