Abigail Rockwell Children's Center

Retreat Healthcare’s residential programs offer an age appropriate approach, which nurtures compassion and care, balanced with a strong emphasis on self-discipline, personal accountability, and social responsibility. Children and adolescents come to us struggling with a variety of behaviors and symptoms which do not allow them to function appropriately in family, school, or community settings. Typically, these include depression, anxiety, trauma-related disorders, sexual reactivity, substance abuse, self-harming behaviors, suicidal impulses, and eating disorders. Retreat Healthcare offers two residential programs serving children and adolescents ages 6 to 17.

The Abigail Rockwell Children’s Center (ARCC) consists of two small home-style houses and provides services for children age 6 to 12. Eleven of the fifteen children reside in the main house, while a second, smaller home offers specialized programming to help children with issues associated with the transition from childhood into adolescence. Throughout their stay at ARCC specific staff are assigned to each child to provide individualized treatment and skill building around target behaviors.

Staff

Elizabeth Bianchi, LICSW
Manager

All staff members are trained and prepared to manage a wide variety of behavioral, psychiatric, and emotional problems. Our professional, multidisciplinary team includes board-certified child psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, and certified therapeutic recreation specialist .

Who is appropriate for the Abigail Rockwell Children's Center?

Boys and girls who come to the Abigail Rockwell Children's Center typically are diagnosed with mood disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse, attachment disorders, sexual abuse, and/or sexual reactivity. They often exhibit self-destructive or endangering behavior that does not allow them to function appropriately in family, school, or community settings. In most cases, children are referred to the Abigail Rockwell Children's Center through state social services offices, mental health agencies, and school officials.

Services and Treatment

Each child is paired with a staff member who is his or her mentor/advocate throughout the program. This vital component of the program helps to build a trusting relationship that serves as a model for the child. The mentor/advocate works closely with the child to follow his or her individual treatment plan. The plan may be amended daily, as behavioral management needs evolve.

Operating under a biopsychosocial model, the Center uses several therapy modalities, including individual therapy, group therapy, family/sibling therapy, Milieu therapy (ongoing teaching in a safe environment).

Every moment at the Center is a teaching and modeling moment-from practicing appropriate communication and social skills to studying in class, participating in recreational activities, and eating meals together. Our goal is to help children internalize appropriate behavior as they see it modeled and practiced on a daily basis.

Recreation groups focus on leisure education, skills acquisition, peer relations and interactions, and community reintegration. Through treatment groups of 4-0 peers and outings into the local community, each child can develop age-appropriate, healthy interests and practice the skills they will need to navigate home, school, friendships, and extra-curricular activities. In addition, as many children progress through the ARCC program they are able to participate independently in community activities, utilizing the skills they have learned to achieve personal success.

Emphasizing a family-oriented approach, the Center also offers family outreach therapy. Together with local agency representatives, we work with the family to provide in-home parent training, crisis planning, family and sibling therapy, and home visits to practice family work.