The Ranch Life youth program is healing the souls of troubled teens

(SANEPR.com) April 20, 2009 -- The fabulous concept of using the incorporation of animals into the program for troubled teens has turned Sorenson's Ranch School into a very effective therapeutic boarding school.
The abiding principle of adolescent treatment is reducing their life to the simple basics. Youth ranch life encourages students to return to a time of tending to their chores, and taking responsibility for the work involved in looking after the animals. Moreover, in working on the farm, taking care of the stock, and growing crops, students acquire unconditional love of our animals and a non-judgmental companionship that is of enormous value in addressing youth reactive attachment disorder. Our 4-H program is individually designed to educate students to care, groom and show at the local county fairs. The main stock that our students learn to care for and show are animals that you may find on any farm 50 years ago with one or two exotic additions. Horses, sheep, pigs and cattle are utilized in a multipurpose program that has been an effective remedy in helping troubled teens build dignity, confidence and individual responsibility.

A simpler life is said to soothe the soul. So our youth have plenty of things to do, such as shoveling manure, feeding horses, herding cattle, giving assistance to the animals as they give birth, fixing fences, watering, grooming, breaking horses, growing crops, harvesting hay, and so forth. All these activities form the essentials of preparation and diligence that is needful for successful and healthy animal husbandry.

Sorenson's Ranch School is situated in a picturesque and dramatic spot, which further inspires the children. In the background of this arid region, there are high mountains elevated on each side of the valley, where the moisture accumulates in the form of snow pack most of the winter. This in turn feeds into the Koosharem Reservoir thus storing a water supply for the irrigation of the crops here at the youth ranch. Water arrives by canal down to our farm, and then is diverted into our sprinkling system. To prepare the fields for planting our young people help to remove from the freshly tilled portions the innumerable rocks, which show up with each successive ploughing of the fields. Our teens remove rocks by hand or in a wheelbarrow and transfer them out into lower fields. Planted fields are irrigated with the sprinklers. Every twelve hours or so on average, the youth have to move sprinklers for crops of oat hay or barley. For fields with alfalfa or alfalfa-grass mixes for horses, the sprinklers are moved once a day.

During strenuous activity the pituitary gland produces endorphins in the human body. These are akin to natural pain relievers and give us a sense of well-being. Engaging the youngsters in a variety of ranch-style activities makes good use of these healing effects in our students' lives. Whether it is just riding a horse through one of our glorious mountain valleys or hay-making in the sun, it is just pure pleasure to be so occupied. Often young people initially are unwilling or completely against participating in many activities that we offer in our program. It occasionally springs from teenage rebellion but more often it comes from their fear of the unknown.

For many just to stand by a horse, ready to throw a saddle on it, may be quite an accomplishment on its own. Often our students earn a great deal of encouragement watching their peers succeed in performing tasks that appeared impossible or were considered foolish.
As soon our students become aware of their surroundings they get knowledge and practical experience of most of the ranch work, which has to be done.

In addition to participating in this special teens program and working hard physically, our students still have plenty of time to enjoy all the fun of staying in such beautiful natural countryside. Such is not their experience in town. The favorite pastimes in teen boot camps are occasions when youngsters learn to make their own meals over an open fire, survive sleeping in tents and engage in making new friends and opening up heart to heart with each other in a way that so naturally occurs when sat by the fire in romantic surroundings.
They also can participate in everyday sports that are part of a program, such as fishing, hiking, water-skiing, horseback riding, to name a few.

The Sorenson's Ranch School ethos has been proven to be highly effective - over the years many of our past troubled teens have returned to visit the ranch. They fondly remember their happy experience on camp as it formed a positive foundation that helps them to face with confidence any difficult situations in their adult life. Abraham Maslow calls these kinds of involvement "peak experiences." He says that they lead to self-realization, and this is key in enabling someone to change their life for the better. He explains that these defining moments help to shape us in such a way that we can look back on an event with appreciation. His ideas have been shown to work and thus many of his teachings are incorporated into our teen programs.