-Amy Lancaster, LCSWA, LCAS
Pavillon is pleased to announce that we have developed a young women’s program, specialized to effectively engage women who are between 18 and 26 years old. We have always served young women within our milieu, but now we have the capacity to alter programming to cater to the specific needs of young adults. Women within the 18 to 26 age range will be entered into the young women’s program at time of admission. Women who are over the age of 26 will be evaluated to see if the young women’s program is a best fit.
Like other age groups, young adults may enter treatment at various stages of life, with different degrees of motivation, and with a variety of issues they want to address in treatment. It is our goal to meet patients where they are on their life path. If you are on your first path towards recovery or a path that has been full of detours and pit-stops, Pavillon will provide a safe environment to learn about yourself and explore your journey towards recovery. We strive to provide a welcoming, supportive, and structured environment that allows individuals to get out of their comfort zones and into an area of healing.
While in the young women’s program, individuals will still get to experience most of the components of our adult program, just with added benefits. They will still interact with the other women in the community and attend lectures, process groups, 12 step meetings, mental health groups, relationship groups, and alumni groups. In addition to engaging with the larger community, they will be given opportunities to explore the specific needs and goals of young people with individuals in their age group.
The special components that we have added to our Young Women’s program include:
• Fitness: Recovery isn’t just about staying sober. Recovery is about healing and being the healthiest version of ourselves. Physical health is an important aspect of overall well-being. It is important for our young women to love themselves. Self-love includes loving our bodies and all that our bodies are capable of. The young women go to an off-campus personal training gym, Carbon Fit, 2-3 times per week to explore healthy exercise, body image, and nutrition. Each work out session is led by a certified personal trainer and designed to build off of our ladies individual strengths.
• Life skills: Young adults have different lived experiences than many of our older adults. Many young adults enter treatment before ever finishing school, finding a career, maintaining a home, or being financially independent. This group is designed to cover various topics that impact young adults and their ability to function independently in the world. Topics covered include: budgeting, building a resume, time management, interview techniques, college/career planning, leisure planning, and relaxation skills.
• Off campus meetings: Meeting participation helps newcomers get acquainted with the 12 step program and allows individuals to lay a strong foundation for their recovery. Meetings are an important part of allowing individuals a way to stay focused on their recovery, meeting other people who have similar experiences, developing long-lasting connections, and enhancing confidence in their ability to stay sober. Our young women will attend meetings with the women’s community as a whole and also separately with just the young women participants.
• Service work: Becoming active in service to others is a core component of the 12 step program. Service work allows us to honor those who have given back to us throughout life, feel connected to something greater than ourselves, and help us work a Step 12 program. Our ladies are able to choose, as a group, where they want to give back. Some of these opportunities include gardening for a community farm that gives all produce away to shelters and low income families, walking dogs at shelter, helping with foodbanks and backpack drives at a local community center and feeding animals at a local animal rescue farm.
• Social outings: Having fun in recovery is a key component of staying sober and often one that is overlooked. Fear of having a dull boring life often prevents young people from attempting recovery, so we know how important it is for individuals to learn ways to live a fun and fulfilling life, without the use of substances. Weekly outings are planned by the young women and accompanied by Pavillon staff. These outings are designed to allow the young adults to experience sober fun, explore new hobbies, and develop sober interests. Outings may include activities such as: bowling, hiking, skating, escape rooms, tubing, zip lining, park trips, etc.
• Social media clean-up: Technology has become a major part of our daily lives and can often be easy access into a world of negative influences. The social media clean-up is a group designed to explore how our phones and social media profiles impact our day to day lives and how the content we see may be triggering. The goal is to clean out pictures of using, toxic contacts, messages from using buddies, and unhealthy social media profiles.