A New Perspective
The Birdseye Boys Ranch (BBR) is located in the rural, mountain community of Birdseye, approximately 30 miles south of Provo, Utah. The 55-acre ranch has a beautiful mountainous backdrop and an abundance of clean air, wildlife, and recreational opportunities. The surrounding area consists of land governed by the Division of Wildlife Resources, the Federal Bureau of Land Management, Manti-La Sal National Forest, and the Uinta National Forest. In the ranch setting, young men live outside the mainstream community and yet have access to community resources for medical, dental, and recreational services.
Birdseye Boys Ranch is a community-based residential program, providing care and specialized treatment for youth ages 13 through 19 who have harmful or illegal sexual issues. The program is licensed and monitored by the State of Utah Department of Human Services. The program provides direct supervision with a one to three staff-to-youth ratio during the day and a one to five staff-to-youth ratio during sleeping hours. By holding youth accountable for controlling impulses and behavior and by emphasizing the need for treatment, the program offers youth the opportunity to develop a new perspective on relationships and achieve comprehensive rehabilitation.
Clinical Team
All members of the clinical team are licensed psychotherapists with extensive experience with youth and extensive training in adolescent development and, specifically, in issues of sexuality and problematic sexual behavior. Each youth is assigned a psychotherapist and also benefits from a male and female team of therapists during group sessions.
Treatment Focus
Healing - Encouraging the youth first to examine the beliefs, feelings, and experiences that resulted in his problematic behavior, and, secondly, to resolve issues so that therapy can build on a solid foundation.
Self-awareness - Enhancing the youth’s ability to discuss and monitor the thought, feelings, and behaviors that contributed to a pattern of harmful sexual behaviors. Bringing issues to light increases the youth’s ability to decrease and resist harmful sexual urges.
Accountability - Empowering the youth to overcome denial and accept responsibility for behavior.
Clarification - Assisting the youth in understanding the impact of his sexual behavior on others and clarifying his responsibility to those affected by his poor choices. Some youth engage in a process of restoration, which may include joint therapy sessions with victims.
Empathy development - Increasing and enhancing awareness, sensitivity, and caring toward others, especially toward victims.
Personal enrichment - Developing relationship boundaries, clarifying values, enhancing maturity, understanding human sexuality, managing anger, understanding grief, resolving substance abuse issues, and improving social and relationship skills.
Relapse prevention planning - Developing techniques and coping strategies for managing harmful sexual impulses so that the youth is prepared to function safely and effectively in the BBR community and in a future, less structured community.