Provo Canyon School - A Residential Treatment Facility

Provo Canyon School a residential treatment facility owned and operated as a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc, one of the nation's leading hospital management organization. Provo Canyon School specializes in treating teen boys and girls with emotional, behavioral and learning difficulties and have been unresponsive to outpatient counseling or previous inpatient psychiatric or substance abuse programs.

Amanda Beal is a therapist at Provo Canyon who comes to us with a rich background in individual and group therapy. She began her education at Utah Valley State College where she earned her Bachelor's in Behavioral Science. She then went on to earn her Master's in Counseling from Gonzaga University located in Spokane, Washington. She remarks that her Master's experience was amazing for her with many hours of face-to-face contact with very diverse populations of people. She found a particular interest in Attachment theory and is now working on her PhD at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT where it is the focus of her studies. She brings her knowledge and skills set to Provo Canyon School in a way that incorporates Attachment theory through a here and now approach. Her goal when working with the boys is to enhance the sense of healthy attachment that students have with their parents or guardians. Her therapeutic orientation is self-described as strengths based with a soft approach.

When she decided to come to Provo Canyon School it was very clear that the place she would be most helpful was with the younger, slightly milder population of boys. So far she has been using, play therapy with the students, such as puppets and role-playing as well was bringing sand tray therapy to the campus. Currently, she is looking to expand her use of sand tray therapy, which she is trained in and have a permanent set up of it in her office. She has found a great response for the boys that have been using it thus far, particularly those who have trouble articulating their thoughts and feelings verbally. Sand tray therapy has been proven to work with a variety of children with different disorders as well as being a great tool when working through trauma without talking. Amanda brings a new perspective to the program because of her softer, strengths based approach, as well as looking at things through an attachment lens. Amanda has been with us since July of 2006, and once she completes her PhD in August of 2008, she plans to stay with us.