About Idaho Youth Ranch Anchor House – Coeur d'Alene
The Idaho Youth Ranch is a large network of different clinics, each with its own therapies and services. There are a number of programs available at the Anchor House location in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. They offer therapy and counseling to children and young adults ages 9-24 with outpatient services to help with issues like substance use and mental health conditions.
Idaho Youth Ranch is a place that connects youth to services they need. They provide family, individual, and group therapy, each having its own benefit. Equine therapy is a favorite part of the program too. Youth are connected with a therapist and create a plan that works best for that particular individual.
Like most places, Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) are offered, but here they have a specialized trauma focused CBT. The session is split so children have half the time and parents have half the time. This is something called a conjoint parent-child therapy, where both child and parent receive therapy synchronously.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an option here too. This therapy has a child think of a stressful or traumatic event while a therapist moves their finger in front of your eyes. There may be other tapping or rhythmic drumming in combination. This is done until the child isn’t stressed out when they think about the event or scary thought.
One of the coolest therapies they have is equine therapy, where clients work with horses. When children are in an environment where they have been through trauma, they have a hard time trusting adults because they have been hurt before. Children can work with horses and build a bond and trust in the horse. This is when the therapist comes in and tries to facilitate the interaction to work on the areas of connection that the child needs.
They are Medicaid-approved, but also accept private payment, offering a sliding scale to be accessible for more people.