As one of the longest-running wilderness therapy programs in the country, Aspen Achievement Academy has exceptional success working with struggling youth. We are a licensed treatment program that integrates an accredited academic component, a sophisticated therapeutic model, and an experiential education curriculum in a healing wilderness environment.

The Academy creates a modern “rite of passage” designed to assist adolescents in making the transition to responsible young adulthood. It guides each participant through a series of powerful metaphors that symbolize stages of growth, provide deeper insight towards developing self-reliance and generate a sense responsibility for self and community.

Aspen’s clinical focus is on insight-oriented therapy, rather than behavior modification. The model helps our students gain awareness of their emotional and behavior habits. This unique, nurturing approach allows our students to address individual issues, become engaged in their personal success, and begin the process of bringing families back together

Aspen Achievement Academy is a licensed wilderness treatment program for adolescents ages 14-17.

Accredited by JCAHO,the highest level of professional accreditation from the most respected oversight organization for providers of healthcare.

Because of this level of accreditation, Aspen Academy is recognized by insurance and employee assistance programs.

With Ph.D and Master’s level clinicians, you get a hospital level of treatment in am awe-inspiring wilderness setting.

ReferralCheckin.com allows referring clinical professionals to continue to follow their clients' progress through the program via a secure website, allowing for a smoother transition into an aftercare plan when students return home.

Because the program is accredited, students can earn elective academic credit.

Kids relate to symbols - clothes, name brands, hot gadgets, and celebrity icons. Aspen Academy’s use of metaphors and experiential education to effect a symbolic rite of passage have more impact and are more effective than talk-therapy traditionally used for adults. Students begin a transformational journey against the backdrop of red rock and blue sky.

Kids also listen to peers. Sometimes this is bad (negative peer pressure); but in the case of the team of students working together at Aspen Academy, this peer pressure is positive: they help collect firewood so the campsite is warm at night, they cooperate in pushing the cart so that everyone’s journey is easier, they listen to each other so each student can process their frustrations, fears, and most important, their hopes.

In an independent research study by Keith C. Russell, Ph. D., of the University of Idaho's Wilderness Research Center, various outdoor education programs for adolescents -- including three Aspen programs --  participated.  The study concluded that participation in such outdoor programs resulted in clinically significant reductions in severity of behavioral and emotional symptoms. More than 83% of participants made such improvement. Almost half (46%) of participants returned to a normal range as a result of treatment.   After an 18-month study, researchers concluded that the participants not only maintained their outcomes, but continued to improve after treatment.

Both parents and professionals can find exceptional programs for troubled children, teenagers, and young adults at Aspen Education Group.