Therapy

While all aspects of our residential program are designed to create therapeutic opportunities throughout the course of the day, your child will receive specialized therapy services provided by staff who are professionally trained. Specialized therapy services are coordinated with the other components of your child’s treatment plan (school, cottage life, visits) to facilitate and support their progress in those areas.

Each child is assigned a Primary Therapist who holds a Master’s degree in psychology, social work or counseling. The average client case load for a Primary Therapist is seven clients, which allows for the weekly frequency of these services to be adjusted according to the individual needs of your child. The Therapists are supervised by the Director of Clinical Services, who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

Kemmerer Village employs a Illinois State Board certified child psychiatrist in a consulting role, which consists of on campus and on call services.

Kemmerer Village supports the right of the client to individual religious beliefs, and encourages but does not require participation in formal religious training as part of the residential program. Clients are given the opportunity and encouraged to attend off-campus services as arranged.

Clients have the opportunity to participate in a Peer Congress, which meets on a monthly basis and is facilitated by clinical and administrative staff. The Peer Congress gives input regarding Kemmerer's policies, procedures, campus rules and activities for clients in order to best meet the needs of our clients. It is a method for teaching clients how the legislative process works, good citizenry, problem-solving and appropriate advocacy of one's rights.

Our adolescent clients reside in one of seven ranch-style cottages, set on a rural 60 acre co-educational campus. A warm, supportive environment is coupled with a highly structured daily program to engage our clients to make the changes they need for success. An extensive array of treatment services are provided by our multi-disciplinary team of qualified and caring professional staff.

Clients reside in one of seven cottages and are grouped according to gender, similarities in age, developmental level and needs. The Residential Counselors assigned to each cottage are responsible for helping clients obtain all daily basic needs, providing supervision throughout the day, and being knowledgeable of each client's treatment plan goals (along with the implementation of any specialized programming for the client). The Residential Counselor is trained to seize opportunities as they occur within the routine of daily activities, to help clients gain a mastery over those skills or behaviors that required the intensity of residential care. Cottage activities, some of which are as routine as daily chores, are used as opportunities to instruct clients on issues such as effective communication, social skills, staying on task, anger management, conflict resolution, etc.

Each client is assigned a Primary Therapist whose office is located in the cottage, making them easily available to both the clients and staff. They are clinically trained professionals with Master’s Degrees in psychology and/or counseling. Individual and Group Therapy is used to address the client's specific mental health issues, using incidents that occur in the milieu's other components to accentuate learning opportunities in those areas. The Primary Therapist also communicates pertinent information about the client's progress in counseling sessions to treatment team members and consults with them to adjust elements in the client's milieu to improve their effectiveness for the client. The Primary Therapist is the main point of contact for information between other out-of-agency providers working with the client and their family. The Primary Therapist also provides the family therapy for each of their clients, as needed.

Individual, Group & Family Therapy

Psychiatric Consultation

Kemmerer Village employs a Illinois State Board certified child psychiatrist in a consulting role, which consists of eight hours on-campus each week, as well as on-call status for our Primary Therapists.

Therapeutic Recreation

Group and Individual Therapeutic Recreation activities for each client are based on the client’s Treatment Plan goals. Activities are designed to enhance client self-esteem, social and communication skills, cooperation, fine and large muscle motor skills by using a variety of mediums:

Art Therapy
Music Therapy
Team & Individual Sports – via the Illinois Inter-agency Athletic Association Physical fitness and Healthy Life-style Related activities. Hobby based activities to develop new interests and leisure alternatives.
Residential After Care & Advocacy - Typically a 30-90 day follow-up support by our clinical and case management staff to our clients and their families to facilitate the successful transition back into the family home. This service is provided at no additional cost