Treatment Program Philosophy

Sunrise’s Philosophy is built of components aimed at promoting positive, lasting change in young women and their families. It involves eight concepts which can make significant changes in a student’s life when the student properly addresses them with competent professional guidance.

The Family

Sunrise’s professionals are trained in family systems theory. One basic premise of this theory is that in order for a student to experience the effects of positive, long-lasting change, the student’s family system must change also or accept the change in the student; any action of any member in the family system will affect each member of the family system in some way. Sunrise advocates family therapy and interaction. Sunrise also advocates modeling of appropriate relationships between peers and staff and Sunrise.

Love

A family is most likely to change and heal in a loving environment. Sunrise’s environment and staff encourage each family member to give and receive love and respect. Sunrise encourages families to express this love and respect for each other, society, and the environment. We believe love to be a powerful motivator for lasting change. Love in healthy relationships cradles the possibility of change that can be maintained.

Service

Service is a meaningful tool to retap lost values and connections with others. Through service we can discover our power of influence and reinforce positive meaning associated with ourselves. We believe that service is a way to make things right in one’s life and to gain a positive sense of accomplishment.

Gratitude

We promote gratitude in life. Sunrise strongly encourages the awareness and expression of gratitude for all that we have. It is through gratitude that relationships are built, maintained and repaired. A sense of gratitude is one of the commonly observed attributes within a strong family relationship.

Locus of Control

How family members view their locus, or center point, of control is central to how each member believes she can manage her own life. If each member of the family believes her locus of control is internal, she will perceive her universe as something she acts upon instead of something that is acting on her. She will feel a sense of empowerment and will become more responsible for her choices and their consequences.

Self Esteem

Self-esteem is how a person feels about how she sees herself. To have high self-esteem, a family’s choices must be congruent with the internal drive to participate in positive behavior. To increase self-esteem, family members each need to feel like they are doing well in areas that are significant to them.

Values

True happiness and peace are found when a family’s behavior is congruent with their values. Surnise’s staff and program encourage each family member to build a value system and to align their lives with those values.

Spirituality

Sunrise believes each human life is sacred. A person’s spirituality - or sense of connectedness to something divine - is not only her essence of moral decision making, but can also give her genuine purpose in life.