Short Term Residential

Many of our clients experience emotional disregulation, feelings of hopelessness, and loss of direction or meaning prior to enrolling at Cornerstones RTC. This may be due to prior treatment interventions being ineffective or perhaps the client is seeking support for the first time. Regardless, we meet our clients where they are and provide a container that allows them to begin rebuilding their lives from a stable foundation. By design our model works to decrease exposure to stressors and increasing coping skills through programming and ongoing support. Whether it be social relationships in the milieu or readily available trained professionals, our clients always have a multitude of options to support their needs. Stabilization is an essential component in our program and focus on this through our attunement to each client is omnipresent. This is also essential for the building of a working alliance in treatment, trust in our provider, and one’s ability to begin believing in a hopeful future. 

The clinical psychotherapy program offers multiple daily psychotherapy opportunities in the form of individual, group and/or family meetings. Individual psychotherapy is designed to specifically focus on each client’s unique needs. Daily group psychotherapy ranges in themes and includes groups such as interpersonal process psychotherapy groups, trauma informed psychotherapy groups, anxiety and depression management psychotherapy groups. Family psychotherapy is offered weekly and is supportive in nature. Alternative therapies such as somatic movement, music, and art therapy are additional modalities offered and often quite effective in fostering emotional expression and catharsis.

Each client meets weekly with their psychiatric provider. Our psychiatric providers work collaboratively with our treatment teams to ensure our clients receive exceptional care. This process involves careful assessment of a patient’s symptoms, medication responses, side effects, and overall treatment goals. Medication management is an essential part of treating many mental health conditions and has proven to improve the quality of life for many clients.

Throughout the day we provide our clients with opportunities to learn more about mental health issues and ways to better understand their struggles. Oftentimes this is part of a group process where clients engage interactively with our providers. While this might appear similar to psychotherapy groups, they differ in that they are theme focused and with education in mind. For example, mentalization and dialectical behavioral skills groups are taught and utilized to help our clients build coping skills for managing intrusive thoughts and overwhelming emotions. Other skills based groups are also utilized with similar goals in mind.

We offer clients a range of wellness opportunities to help improve their mental health and functioning. This includes healthy dietary practices, meditation, yoga, and relaxation classes. We also know how important exposure to natural areas can be for some individuals in their ability to regulate emotions and seek grounding. To that effect, we have numerous natural areas, such as coastlines, beaches, and forests within minutes from our location that are utilized for this purpose.

Oftentimes we find that depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges leave our clients highly isolated and alienated from others. By the nature of the Cornerstones RTC design, our clients share a living space and treatment pathway that often relies on their interpersonal participation and engagement. This experience in and of itself can not only be cathartic, but also help our clients rediscover themselves interpersonally and begin to value interpersonal relationships in healthy ways that will improve their futures.

While a large part of our work is completed within the program walls, there is an effort made to keep our clients engaged in the community. Therefore, we create various opportunities throughout the week to accomplish this goal. This includes outings in nature, fitness, recreation, and community events.

From the start of treatment we begin working on discharge planning so that our clients move on in the most productive and effective way. Cornerstones of Maine provides a continuum of care and each of our clients has the opportunity to explore these as viable options. For some the Cornerstones YAP may be the best option while others may choose or require a different level of care. Each client’s primary psychotherapist takes the lead on exploring referral options and working as an intermediary between Cornerstones RTC and the client’s support system as well as future providers. We also have various relationships with educational consultants should the need arise and will provide clients and families exceptional options.