Newport Academy

Gender-specific Treatment

Newport Academy has designed a gender-specific adolescent program to provide adolescent girls and boys with a safe and nurturing environment to explore sensitive developmental issues. Treatment is provided in two separate and distinct residential treatment campuses and girls and boys never mix while in treatment. Feelings of guilt, shame, depression, isolation, trauma, and substance dependency are conditions that exist in a gender-specific context.  A gender-specific environment invites teens to build strong peer support which is essential in the treatment process. Strong peer interaction can facilitate healthy boundaries, discussion of sexual issues, the development of strong female role models, assertiveness training, and issues related to body image.  These developmental considerations represent key issues teens often need to explore and yet they feel inhibited to address in a mixed gender environment.

In regards to the specific needs of adolescent girls, the use and abuse rates for adolescent girls are continuing to rise, while the rates for boys have witnessed a recent decline. Adolescent girls have higher rates of binge drinking, are introduced to substance use at an earlier age, and are physically and developmentally affected more by substance use and abuse than boys. In addition, there are a number of other major risk factors that predispose girls to substance use and abuse when compared to boys. These include:

• Rates of co-occurring disorders such as depression are higher in girls, and there is a clear correlation between depression and the development of substance use and abuse.
• Trauma, abuse, and sexual related issues are primary factors leading to substance abuse in girls.
• Girls tend to use drugs and alcohol to initiate and maintain intimate relationships and alcohol is often a gateway in dating and acceptance.
• Self-consciousness and validation are prominent with girls and body image issues and eating disorders develop aggressively in adolescence. Adolescent girls tend to initially use alcohol, tobacco, and drugs to suppress appetite and manage their weight.
• Adolescent girls tend to begin using drugs and alcohol as a way to conform to societal norms, while boys often begin use as a way to rebel against societal norms.

A primary purpose of Newport Academy is to create a therapeutic environment where teen girls and boys feel empowered to develop coping skills and increase their sense of self and independence.  As a result, teens at Newport Academy experience a safe, nurturing, educational, empowering, and effective environment to heal and recover.   Each teen feels valued, within a specifically tailored recovery treatment plan.