Working in a caring field is all about the relationship and the value that one receives from giving to others.  CALO is no exception.  It is often difficult to explain to others the value which the students bring to those who tirelessly give of themselves in order to bring productive change to lives (student and family).  Others quite frequently observe the dedication and the difficulty which this profession demands and ask, “What is the return for all the investment?” The answer is sometimes elusive and many times unclear because of the commitment and the amount of care and emotional investment which the occupation demands. Plain and simple, the students often come into treatment and have had extremely difficult and traumatic lives which produce resistance, fear, anger, self-destructive behavior, and outright disrespect.  Appropriately dealing with these types of emotional and behavioral displays becomes draining not only for the family, but for the staff and therapist.  More...

Therapy is not isolated to the proverbial “office” with a couch and therapist chair where insight is verbally exchanged to the client.   Profound change is not relegated to the cognitive discourse which therapist and client so harmoniously engage.  It is the power from which experiences create change that residential treatment can be so impactful and life altering.

Experiences are defined as: To know: to have firsthand knowledge of emotions, sensations, or situations (Webster 2008).  The phrase "I have lived through … and know the feeling!” expresses the authenticity and undeniable impact of an experience on a person’s emotional and psychological makeup.  This type of authentic change is the focus of the residential experience at Calo.  Every aspect of residential life at Calo is designed to create constant opportunities which provide the emotions, sensations, and situations that can alter the student’s perception of himself, relationships, and intimacy in powerful ways.   These therapeutic experiences facilitate the student in being able to actually say, “I have lived through…(authentic change)… and know the feeling (of being valuable, loved, accepted, and worthy).

The therapeutic experience at Calo is constant and is reinforced by the relationship with the therapist.  More...