Abraxas Youth Center

About the Facility

Abraxas Youth Center offers specialized treatment for males juvenile firesetters and sexual offenders in a secure residential environment.

At Abraxas Youth Center they treat many of the co-morbid features of the juvenile firesetter effectively. When they treat the whole person, the risk for recidivism can be significantly reduced. Thus, attention disorders, depression, conduct disorders, and other disorders are treated concurrently with specific firesetting issues. There is a growing body of clinical research on the underlying foundations out of which the most serious and pathological juvenile firesetters arise. These children frequently have developed with issues of early neglect and abuse. Healthy attachment processes are impeded as are the development of
more functional self-regulatory abilities. With therapeutic work, the juvenile firesetter can develop more functional patterns and coping strategies.

Upon admission and prior to discharge, every youth receives a psychiatric evaluation. Various evidence and competency based curricula are utilized throughout the course of treatment.
They recognize that every juvenile fire-setter requires different treatment approaches, therefore, they offer diagnostic evaluations and long term treatment options. At the Center, they use the Sanctuary Model as a framework for treatment through the active action of a trauma-informed community.
Some of the therapies they offer are Aggression Replacement Training, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Thinking for a Change, Teens on Target – Violence Prevention, and Ansell Casey Life Skills.

Abraxas Youth Center provides service tracks such as Psychiatric Evaluation, Restitution and Community Service, Discharge Planning / Reintegration, Educational Services, and Career and Technical Education.
All residents attend school year-round at our private, licensed on-site school. The Center offers a full range of Special Education services. Many residents are able to make up education deficits (credit recovery) and progress more quickly than they have in the past. Residents are strongly encouraged to set and meet high academic standards. Additional tutoring is available from the teachers for those who need it.

Accreditations

State License

State Licenses are permits issued by government agencies that allow rehab organizations to conduct business legally within a certain geographical area. Typically, the kind of program a rehab facility offers, along with its physical location, determines which licenses are required to operate legally.

State License: Pennsylvania

Treatment

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a syndrome of dependent alcohol use. Also called alcohol use disorder (AUD), the symptoms include craving alcohol, not being able to stop drinking, and feeling anxious or irritable when not drinking. For many people, alcohol rehab in Pennsylvania is a beneficial treatment. Programs offer many levels of care, including medical and behavioral therapies.

Drug Addiction

Drug rehab in Pennsylvania is devoted to the treatment of addiction. Levels of care, treatment methods, and settings differ, but the aim of each program is to end drug dependency and empower participants to achieve long-term recovery.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse

In Pennsylvania, dual-diagnosis rehabs specialize in providing comprehensive care for individuals facing both mental health and substance abuse challenges. These facilities offer personalized treatment plans, integrating evidence-based therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and experiential therapy. Other recovery services, like 12-Step meetings, skills training, educational groups, and an aftercare plan will enhance your odds of long-term recovery.

Insurance and Financial

Medicaid

Programs

Adolescence program
Children program
Program for men

Levels of Care

Inpatient

Residential treatment programs are those that offer housing and meals in addition to substance abuse treatment. Rehab facilities that offer residential treatment allow patients to focus solely on recovery, in an environment totally separate from their lives. Some rehab centers specialize in short-term residential treatment (a few days to a week or two), while others solely provide treatment on a long-term basis (several weeks to months). Some offer both, and tailor treatment to the patient's individual requirements.

Aftercare Support

Completing a drug or alcohol rehab program shouldn't spell the end of substance abuse treatment. Aftercare involves making a sustainable plan for recovery, including ongoing support. This can include sober living arrangements like halfway houses, career counseling, and setting a patient up with community programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA).

Clinical Services

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a therapy modality that focuses on the relationship between one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is used to establish and allow for healthy responses to thoughts and feelings (instead of unhealthy responses, like using drugs or alcohol). CBT has been proven effective for recovering addicts of all kinds, and is used to strengthen a patient's own self-awareness and ability to self-regulate. CBT allows individuals to monitor their own emotional state, become more adept at communicating with others, and manage stress without needing to engage in substance abuse.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a modified form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a treatment designed to help people understand and ultimately affect the relationship between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. DBT is often used for individuals who struggle with self-harm behaviors, such as self-mutilation (cutting) and suicidal thoughts, urges, or attempts. It has been proven clinically effective for those who struggle with out-of-control emotions and mental health illnesses like Borderline Personality Disorder.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

EMDR is a therapeutic modality originally developed to help process trauma. In an EMDR session, a patient is prompted to undergo eye movements that mimic those of REM sleep. This is accomplished by watching a therapist's finger move back and forth across, or following a bar of light. The goal is repetitive sets of eye movements that help the brain reprocess memory, which can significantly reduce the intensity of remembered traumatic incidents. Associated memories can heal simultaneously, leaving patients significantly calmer, more stable, and more emotionally relaxed.

Family Therapy

Research clearly demonstrates that recovery is far more successful and sustainable when loved ones like family members participate in rehab and substance abuse treatment. Genetic factors may be at play when it comes to drug and alcohol addiction, as well as mental health issues. Family dynamics often play a critical role in addiction triggers, and if properly educated, family members can be a strong source of support when it comes to rehabilitation.

Group Therapy

Group therapy is any therapeutic work that happens in a group (not one-on-one). There are a number of different group therapy modalities, including support groups, experiential therapy, psycho-education, and more. Group therapy involves treatment as well as processing interaction between group members.

Individual Therapy

In individual therapy, a patient meets one-on-one with a trained psychologist or counselor. Therapy is a pivotal part of effective substance abuse treatment, as it often covers root causes of addiction, including challenges faced by the patient in their social, family, and work/school life.

Life Skills

Life skills trainings involve all the skills a person must have in order to function successfully in the world. These include time management, career guidance, money management, and effective communication. Truly successful addiction recovery is based on the ability to not only live substance-free, but to thrive. Life skills teaches the practical necessities of functioning in society, which sets clients up for success in life, and therefore sobriety.

Trauma Therapy

Trauma therapy addresses traumatic incidents from a client's past that are likely affecting their present-day experience. Trauma is often one of the primary triggers and potential causes of addiction, and can stem from child sexual abuse, domestic violence, having a parent with a mental illness, losing one or both parents at a young age, teenage or adult sexual assault, or any number of other factors. The purpose of trauma therapy is to allow a patient to process trauma and move through and past it, with the help of trained and compassionate mental health professionals.