Purpose Statement

Venture Academy’s purpose is to assist youth to make and sustain positive behavioural change.

Parents who engage our services are usually looking for one main thing. They love and care for their children and want to see their son or daughter make positive changes and keep those positive changes when they go home. This is the organization’s number one priority. Everything we do at Venture Academy points back to helping troubled teens make and sustain those positive changes. It’s more than a mission statement: to us, it’s our purpose.

Principles and Philosophy of Service Delivery

Venture Academy specializes in the delivery of services for troubled teens. Working with troubled teens with significant behavioural challenges is a very complicated process requiring a principled approach to service delivery.

Approach

Therapist Explaining Our Treatment Philosophy to Mother and Troubled TeenAt Venture Academy, our approach is attachment-based, solution-oriented, and holistic in nature. Our program philosophy invites positive change, builds skills and focuses on solutions and redevelop family attachments. The approach not only moves away from pathology, but moves toward a health, wellness and strengths orientation. Solution-focused interventions seek solutions, are present and future-oriented, and focus on what works in terms of client abilities. Goals and plans are aimed at supporting teens and families in overcoming struggles and developing and maintaining healthy lifestyles and relationships.

Venture Academy uses a number of strategies to bring about positive behavioural changes for youth in our program with the chosen strategies applicable to the youth’s level of motivation (we help with that), cognitive functioning and developmental capacity.

Family

The foundation of our approach centers around family reintegration and attachment between parents and their children as applicable. We ascribe to the belief that children want to do well and the attachment relationship between parents and their children is key in this regard. After behavioural stabilization is reached in our residential setting, largely through relationship building with our own staff, Venture Academy assists parents and youth in our program in making their relationship the priority. We support parents to “parent with confidence” – to parent with attachment in mind. This is achieved through “Attachment Plans” and ongoing family support from the Venture Academy Clinical Team.

Specializations

Specialized treatment approaches are integrated into our treatment planning with our clients and are utilized to promote positive change within our program, within the community and with family. These approaches include: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Transtheoretical Model of Change (therapist tasks), Collaborative Problem Solving, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, and Executive Function management strategies. Other select approaches and modalities may also be implemented by the client’s therapist for identified clients in conjunction with consultation with the rest of the clinical team. Positive therapeutic rapport building with supportive and professional boundaries, and a youth-friendly approach to recreation and activities of interest is also implemented. The organization employs practical and clinically proven approaches to behaviour management and positive behaviour change.

Individualized Treatment

/While Venture Academy serves troubled teens from across Canada whom may appear to have similar reasons for admission, (parent-teen conflict, problems at school, clinically diagnosed disorders, substance abuse issues etc.) it is important to note that each young person comes to us as a unique individual. Personality, family circumstances and even their own physiology, make each youth we serve one-of-a-kind. Our assessment processes help determine how each young person is unique and our individualized therapeutic treatment plans and approaches with families reflect that individuality to addresses each young person’s and family’s specific needs. Yes, we have our established operational methods, but there is no “one size fits all” with our clients. With Venture Academy, our treatment programs are custom tailored to fit each client’s unique requirements and circumstances.

Your Family’s Values

Mixed Messages?

All too often parents have engaged troubled teen counsellors, professionals, and other organizations that haven’t helped and have sometimes unintentionally undermined the parents’ authority to be a parent and worse yet, alienated parents and their children. How?

Indirectly or even directly, parents of Canadian troubled teens are often told to let go of their ideals and standards they have set for their child and their family. They are told that their expectations are not realistic, that their son or daughter’s behaviour is just part of normal adolescence and that they shouldn’t worry.

Compromise… or Not?

Parents are often told to compromise. Compromise to most parents means settling for less. Many parents—and at least the parents who engage our troubled teens program—instinctively know that if their child continues on the path to self-destruction that they are on now, it’s likely they won’t reach their full potential robbing them of their future and happiness.

Family Values Priority

At Venture Academy, your family’s values and standards and the healthy relationship between you and your child are of the utmost importance. We get it. We want adolescents in our program to get back on track and succeed, not just “get by”. We want your child to turn things around and thrive in our troubled teens program.

Chances are your family’s values are aligned with our program’s values. We listen to you as parents.To ensure we are all on the same page:

We will do a Family Values Assessment with you.

What is most important to your family and why? In their hearts and minds parents intrinsically know that they want the best for their child, they want them to reach their potential at school, socially and with family.

Parents desire easy flowing communication within the home with positive, respectful and heartfelt relationships. For that to happen we will agree with you on a set of respectful behaviours and standards that our adolescents in our program can ascribe to. That starts with our code of conduct and daily goal setting by the youth themselves.

Our messaging is congruent with what your family agrees upon to be important. Rest assured venture Academy will work with your family to instill family specific, approved values with your child. This is key to harmony in the family home when your child returns home for visits or comes home for good.

If you have any further questions about Venture Academy or our general treatment philosophy, please call us at 866.762.2211.

Venture Academy is accredited by CARF and licensed by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in Ontario.