Ashcreek Ranch Academy

My son is now near the end of his eleven month-​long journey at Ashcreek Ranch Academy. He is about to move back home and, having experienced the program in its entirety, I now feel comfortable writing a review about it.
Let me get this out of the way: this program is nothing short of remarkable. Having my son attend Ashcreek has been the single, most important step I could have taken to save him from a disastrous path with undoubtedly serious life changing consequences. I am proud and, most importantly, he is proud to be back on track.
This is a boarding school for kids who got on the wrong path: drug-​use, behavioral problems, etc. They are located in a somewhat remote area in the southern part of Utah. There is a very limited number of students (about 20 boys).
Their premise is clear and an overriding theme is present in everything they do: break down old habits and develop the tools they need go back to live healthy, loving and productive lives.
This is not a cheap program when compared to others but I can now say Ashcreek is better than most.
Their approach to helping my son was comprehensive. He had weekly sessions with his assigned psychologist, attended in-​house school classes daily (with a California-​compatible curriculum), and he worked with horses for a few hours every weekday at their nearby ranch. Every few months they held a workshop for parents and students. My son learned valuable life skills and so did the rest of our family.
A unique and very positive aspect of this program is the integration with horses. They assigned an untrained horse to my son. It was his job to train her. To do that, he had to develop a trusting relationship with his horse. This is not an easy thing to do but it was fundamental to his development. The tables turned — my son was now the «parent» in the relationship. He became responsible for training or «raising» the seemingly uncontrollable, insubordinate horse. Through his own experience, he started to see himself through the actions of the horse. He knew what was better for the horse but he could not get through to her. He grew frustrated and tried giving up a several times. It took months but this process helped him develop several skills including patience, respect, trust and consistency. Conversely, I was able to see myself and acknowledged my mistakes by watching my son’s actions and mistakes as he learned how to «raise’ his horse.
Overall, Ashcreek is well designed and tightly run. I suspect a lot of thought, experience, due diligence and hard work must have gone into building and refining this program into what it is today.
The entire staff is caring but very consistent.
My son graduated from the program with a strong sense of responsibility, accountability and renewed admiration for their families and things that really matter in life.

I find it difficult to put into words the gratitude I feel for the dedicated staff of Ashcreek Ranch. My son came into the program at the very darkest moment of his young life. He had been in and out of three other rehab programs, he had been homeless, he had attempted suicide, he was a broken child. Ashcreek was our saving grace. My husband and I went to see the facility while our son was under a psychiatric hold at our local hospital. We were taken aback by the love and warmth we immediately felt by the entire Ashcreek staff. The entire staff had gathered in a Sunday morning to meet with us. My husband and I knew almost immediately that THIS was the place for our son. They helped us with transportation services and our son began the program the next day. He was there for 10 months. They were hard, rocky, emotional, painful, and beautiful months. Our son began to transform before our very eyes. The family weekends began to transform our entire family dynamic. Through games we learned we could trust and rely on each other. Through role playing we learned how to speak to each other, how to listen and how to be heard. Our son has been home for just over two years now. The first year was bumpy. He relapsed a few times, he went to live with friends. But we used ALL the techniques from Ashcreek, as well as reached out to them for support, which is MUCH needed at times like those. We held our ground and faced our son’s issues head on. He willingly came home after 6 months and agreed to all our conditions. He has since graduated from high school, earned his drivers license, and is currently taking classes at our local junior college, as well as taking classes to be able to file tax returns for our local tax company as a tax preparer. We know in our hearts we would never have been able to get our son to this point with the resources available to us in our home state. Ashcreek was a godsend, we would do it all again in less than a heartbeat. The money was a drop in the pan compared with getting our son back and seeing him happy, healthy, and most importantly, THRIVING!!! Thank you Ashcreek!

Ashcreek was the best decision I made for my son’s life. They were kind, loving, very flexible and firm. They gave him a safe place to grow up. Their use of horses and dogs in their therapy is genius. The role models they provided changed my son’s life. I’m so grateful that Ashcreek was there for us when my family needed it.

Ashcreek Ranch Academy is currently under investigation by the Utah State Licensing Board for Residential Treatment Centers for discrimination, mistreatment and abuse of the students there. While my son was there, he witnessed many of these abuses against himself as well as the other boys there. We would urge any parent to reconsider sending their son to Ashcreek.
Update: Ashcreek is now under investigation by the State of Utah Child Protective Services for issues related to the treatment of our son.

Ashcreek Ranch is stunningly beautiful and, more importantly, extremely effective for struggling boys. Their horsemanship program is the real deal, and so obviously beneficial for these young men. Staff are caring and compassionate, and highly skilled at helping youth and families. I would definitely recommend them to the families with whom I work.

DO NOT SEND YOUR SON TO ASHCREEK RANCH ACADEMY!!! Their program is absolutely nothing what their website claims to be. I recently had to remove my son from there after discovering that virtually everything they claim to be from their «accredited» school and teachers, equine therapy, drug therapy, etc, etc was a complete farce! The admissions director is a fantastic salesman and he will have you believing that this place is the answer to your prayers, but do not be sucked in! We wasted $ 20,000 for literally nothing except for very expensive babysitting. It would have been $ 40,000 had I not responded to all the «red flags» and removed our son 4 months early. Save your family the time, trouble, and money and find another program. There are many other legitimate programs out there. This place is NOT one of them!!! If you would like more detailed info on this program don’t hesitate to send me a message and I will respond promptly.