Therapeutic Boarding Programs in Arizona for Troubled Boys

Arivaca Boys Ranch Academy:
Located in Arivaca AZ, 60 miles south of Tucson, Arivaca Boys Ranch provides a 10-month therapeutic program that takes a different approach to therapy for boys who are struggling. Our ranch serves 40-50 troubled teen boys (14 to 18 years of age) each year. Our program builds on positive experiences as young men learn to see themselves as they really are, and visualize themselves as they might become. As well an an accredited high school curriculum, at Arivaca Boys Ranch, one of our first priorities is to teach personal responsibility and improved interpersonal behavior.

10-MonthTherapeutic Program for Troubled Teen Boys, ages 14 to 18 

Equine Therapy

Level One: Boys enter Ranch Life.
Each day consists of chores and ranch work. Boys receive counseling to help them adjust and to help them learn the value of correct choices (consequences). “Positive Experiences” are the basis of counseling and daily activities, teaching a young man to better his environment and opportunities with positive choices.

Level Two: Boys enter the world of horses.
Although they have little or no experience with horses they learn to respect and care for horses. Through positive and safe introductions to horses they overcome fears and develop the skills necessary to care for and ride a horse. They learn the psychology of a horse as a social (herd) animal and how to convert that knowledge to their own social interactions. Boys continue to have responsibilities with the daily ranch operations.

At level two boys are part of a team (5 boys) led by a Wrangler. This team participates in activities such as daily ranch chores, laundry, cooking and cleaning, as well as school classes. Each week, boys are paid for their ranch work with “Ranch Dollars” that can be used to buy privileges (like watching videos) or items at our “General Ranch Store.” Boys receive bonuses for working together and promoting each other as a team. Through this each boy learns fiscal responsibility, how to budget, and how to work together.

Level Three: Boys receive a two- to three-year-old horse to train.
Working with our trainers and wranglers, boys learn patience, sensitivity, and how a horse “mirrors” their emotions. Most or all of their work with horses is “ground work” (not on horseback). Through these activities, boys experience success, failure, overcoming adversity, communication skills, and positive personal growth.

Level Four: Boys begin advanced horse training and riding their horse.
They help mentor younger level one and two boys. They also participate in “imprinting” new foals, the selection and breeding process of Arabian horses, and are introduced to cattle work. They are given leadership responsibilities. 

Level Five: Boys at this level are experienced on horseback and have shown responsibility.
They can now participate in activities away from ranch headquarters. (i.e., roundups, horse shows, community and ranch sponsored events). Level Five boys also serve in a judicial system used on the ranch for boys to settle disputes. Level Five boys serve as mentors to Level One Boys who are trying to adjust to “Ranch” life. They also have opportunities to interact with Arizona businessmen and educators who can, in turn, serve as mentors for their adjustment back into society.

The Arbinger Principles
Maybe you have heard of them, and maybe you haven’t, but these seven principles provide a foundation for moving behavior from anger and violence to positive motivational action. The principles were developed by the Arbinger Institute, which is a worldwide leader in training on self-deception and its solution. The seven principles, greatly abbreviated here, are:

- Every person has hopes, needs, cares, and fears.
- Other person’s hopes, needs, cares, and fears are less important than our own; we see others as objects rather than as people.
- To see a fellow person as an inferior object is to harbor a violent heart toward them.
- We communicate how we feel about others even when we try to hide it.
- When others detect violence in our hearts, they tend to become defensive and to see us as objects. Violence in one heart provokes violence in others.
- Most occasions of outward violence are manifestations of a prior, and often escalating, conflict between violent hearts; that provokes further violence.
- Any effort to reduce outward violence will succeed only to the extent that it addresses the core problem—the problem of violent hearts.

The lessons learned and how a horse can demonstrate them
1. My aggression will provoke your aggression, which in turn escalates my aggression.
2. You can change my behavior and reactions by changing your own.
3. You create your own behavioral problems.

Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the care and training of horses—equine therapy–where young boys can witness the positive effects of their behavior modification first hand, and to their immediate benefit.

Academic Program:

Accredited High School Curriculum
Education is an important part of the Arivaca Boys Ranch experience. Arivaca Boys Ranch offers an accredited High School curriculum. Working with Sequoia Choice (an online educational provider) Arivaca Boys Ranch will help your son catch up (and even move ahead) in his education. Our program includes assessments of your son’s current needs and tailors a program suited to his learning abilities.

Each young man receives close adult supervision with his studies in small classes. His schooling includes computer lab work, hands-on lab work, and classroom instruction. He will have vocational learning opportunities (such as welding, construction, agricultural, etc.) as well as his math, science, and art classes.

Each student will be required to complete regular testing to prepare for the State required AIMS test as well as completing the AIMS testing. Parents will receive regular updates on their son’s educational progress.