The predominant model of mental health treatment is the residential milieu, in which Kemmerer Village employs a broad range of treatment approaches. The residential milieu encompasses all facets of the client's life space and daily activities. It is designed to provide both experiential and didactic learning opportunities in a variety of modalities that complement and reinforce one another. Each child is assigned a multi-disciplinary Treatment Team which develops an individualized treatment plan for the child. The plan is developed by focusing on the child’s strengths and how the milieu can be used to support those strengths. The treatment milieu is consists of the following components:

Cottage Life

Clients reside in one of eight cottages and are grouped according to similarities in age, developmental level and presentation problems. The Child Care Counselors assigned to each cottage are responsible for helping clients obtain all daily basic needs, providing supervision throughout the day, and being knowledgeable of each client's treatment plan goals (along with the implementation of any specialized programming for the client). The Child Care Counselor is trained to seize opportunities, as they occur within the routine of daily activities, to help clients gain a mastery over those skills or behaviors that required the intensity of residential care. Cottage activities, some of which are as routine as daily chores, are used as opportunities to instruct clients on issues such as effective communication, social skills, staying on task, anger management, conflict resolution, etc.

Therapeutic Recreation

Clients attend daily group recreation activities, as well as having a weekly individual activity with a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (TRS). A TRS is also assigned to each client’s treatment team. All group and individual activities are carefully designed to address aspecific treatment need of the clients, such as anger management, expression of feelings, social skills, etc. While clients are given some degree of choice in which activities they will participate in, their choice is limited to those activities which match up with a goal(s) on that client’s treatment plan. Individual activities are solely determined based upon the client’s primary treatment goals. For additional information please visit our detailed Therapeutic Recreation Page.

School

The majority of clients attend school on-grounds at Kemmerer, though attendance at the community schools is available depending upon the client's educational needs and abilities. While the on-grounds school is technically part of the local school district (Central A&M), the district and Kemmerer have developed a highly cooperative working relationship. School staff participates in treatment staffings and Kemmerer staff participate in educational staffings for each client. Wherever possible, school and Kemmerer policies and procedures are designed to be complimentary to one another so that the school environment is included into the overall therapeutic milieu. Kemmerer Village staff also assist the teaching staff in the behavior management and crisis intervention of clients in school. For a closer look at our on-grounds school please visit our Fergusson Educational Center Page.

Counseling/Therapy

Each client's assigned therapist is located on the unit, making them easily available to both the clients and staff. Individual and Group Counseling is used to address the client's specific mental health issues, using incidents that occur in the milieu's other components to accentuate learning opportunities in those areas. The therapist also communicates pertinent information about the client's progress in counseling sessions to treatment team members and consults with them to adjust elements in the client's milieu to improve their effectiveness for the client. The therapist also serves as the primary conduit of information between other out-of-agency providers working with the client and their family. The therapist also provides family therapy.

Spiritual Awareness

Kemmerer Village supports the right of the client to individual religious beliefs, and encourages but does not require participation in formal religious training as part of the residential program. Clients are given the opportunity and encouraged to attend off-campus services at the church of their choice.

Kemmerer Village employees a campus Chaplain for ten hours a week. The Chaplain provides spiritual support and guidance for interested residents through: a Sunday worship service at the on-grounds chapel with a social activity hour afterwards, weekly Bible studies, and special worship services for holidays. The Chaplain is also available for one-on-one spiritual counseling for interested residents.

Peer Congress

Clients have the opportunity to participate in a Peer Congress, which meets on a weekly basis and is facilitated by clinical and administrative staff. The Peer Congress gives input regarding Kemmerer's policies, procedures, campus rules and activities for clients. It is a method for teaching clients how the legislative process works, good citizenry, problem-solving and appropriate advocacy of one's rights.

Work Experience

Kemmerer Village provides a limited number of on-campus, paying jobs for our older clients; or those clients who have Life Skill Training goals as a part of their treatment plan. Clients who have demonstrated a higher level of progress on their treatment goals are given first consideration for any available on-campus jobs.

Additional Treatment Modalities Used:

As indicated by the individual client’s needs, Child Care Counselors, Caseworker and Clinical Supervisor staff use the following modalities:

Theoretical Foundation for Behavior Management Program:

Due to the complexity of the behavioral, emotional and psychological issues presented by our clients such an eclectic approach is necessary to provide an optimal level of individualized treatment to each client. Cognitive Behavioral theory (i.e. Reality/Control Theory, Rational-Emotive Theory) is the foundation upon which most of Kemmerer's behavior management procedures are based.

A commonality among the clients that are admitted is that they have difficulty in accepting responsibility for their behavior and often fail to perceive the connection between their behavior and consequences. As clients are taught to see the link between thoughts and feelings to behaviors, and that all behaviors have consequences, they begin to accept responsibility for their behavior. As a client accepts responsibility for his or her behavior they then gain a greater sense of control over their behaviors and lives.