NorthStar Center was a young adult therapeutic transition and relapse prevention program, located in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...

, owned and operated by

Aspen Education Group Aspen Education Group is an American company specializing in providing therapeutic interventions for adolescents and young adults, including wilderness therapy programs, residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, and weight los ...

for young adults ages 17 to 24 for treatment of

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

and

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

. In March 2011, Aspen announced that it would cease program operations in August 2011 as part of a restructuring of the company.NorthStar Center in Bend set to close
''Bend Bulletin'', March 26, 2011 The therapeutic basis of the program was dialectical behavioral therapy, a type of

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

developed by

Marsha M. Linehan Marsha M. Linehan (born May 5, 1943) is an American psychologist and author. She is the creator of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a type of psychotherapy that combines cognitive restructuring with acceptance, mindfulness, and shaping. Line ...

and consisting of four parts:

mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from ''sati'', a significant element of Hind ...

, interpersonal effectiveness,

emotion regulation Emotional self-regulation or emotion regulation is the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible to permit spontaneous reactions as well as ...

, and

distress tolerance Distress tolerance is an emerging construct in psychology that has been conceptualized in several different ways. Broadly, however, it refers to an individual's "perceived capacity to withstand negative emotional and/or other aversive states (e.g. p ...

. Additional therapies included transtheoreticalstages of change theory,

motivational interviewing Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counseling approach developed in part by clinical psychologists William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick. It is a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to e ...

and the

12 step Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its members ...

programs

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...

and

Narcotics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied subst ...

. Academic offerings included

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

completion,

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

and college-level courses. Program participants could take classes at

Central Oregon Community College Central Oregon Community College is a community college in Bend, Oregon. It primarily serves residents of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook Counties. Additionally its district includes portions of Klamath, Lake, and Wasco counties. History Cent ...

, located nearby. NorthStar was established in 1991 by Dennis and Jeannie Crowell. Dennis Crowell had earlier led

Mount Bachelor Academy Mount Bachelor Academy (known as MBA) was an Oregon private co-educational therapeutic boarding school providing help to families of adolescents experiencing emotional and behavioral disorders including, minor Depressive Disorder, Oppositional De ...

in Bend. NorthStar operated independently until 1998, when it was acquired by the Aspen Education Group. In March 2011, Aspen announced plans to close the facility in August 2011. As of the closure announcement, NorthStar had about 40 full- and part-time employees. Along with Passages to Recovery, an Aspen

wilderness therapy Wilderness therapy, also known as outdoor behavioral healthcare, is a treatment option for Emotional and behavioral disorders, behavioral disorders, Substance use disorder, substance abuse, and Mental disorder, mental health issues in adolescen ...

program, NorthStar was featured on the July 30, 2006, episode of

A&E Television Network A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational enter ...

's documentary series '' Intervention''.Teen's Addiction Leads Family To Unique Wilderness Therapy Program
''Medical News Today'', August 1, 2006

References

Therapeutic community Bain Capital companies Behavior modification Deschutes County, Oregon Boarding schools in Oregon Educational institutions established in 1991 Educational institutions disestablished in 2011 Special schools in the United States 1991 establishments in Oregon {{Oregon-school-stub