‘They can recover’: New campus offers treatment for teen girls struggling with trauma in Cedar City

Eagle's Rest Ranch, a new campus for teenage girls dealing with trauma and attachment issues, is expected to be operational by Oct 1, Iron County, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of the Hope Group, St George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — A new campus that will provide treatment for teenage girls struggling with trauma is being constructed in Iron County to the west of Cedar City. 

Eagle’s Rest Ranch, a new campus for teenage girls dealing with trauma and attachment issues, is expected to be operational by Oct 1, Iron County, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of the Hope Group, St George News / Cedar City News

Eagle’s Rest Ranch will be a sister program to Havenwood Academy and Zion Hills Academy, all operated under a parent company called the Hope Group. The new campus, similar to its sister programs, will focus on girls from ages 14 to 17 struggling with trauma and reactive attachment disorder. 

Executive Director Eric Allred told Cedar City News that Eagle’s Rest Ranch will be a non-profit program, and the Hope Group is trying to fill a need for additional treatment opportunities. 

“We’re seeing the need to expand our programming … to be able to work with girls who have trauma and attachment issues so we can give them the best tools they need to be able to recover and to be able to be productive citizens,” Allred said. 

Allred explained reactive attachment frequently stems in situations where a child is adopted and is characterized by a child having difficulty forming healthy relationships – particularly with caregivers. 

“They do not feel that they can get their needs met through their caregiver, so it creates a lot of conflict within the person,” he said. “You just work on the premise of forming trusting relationships and the ability to be able to express fears in a correct way.”

The 160-acre property Eagle’s Rest Ranch is located on was previously operated as a cattle ranch, and the existing barn will allow the treatment program to include equine therapy. Iron County, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of the Hope Group, St George News / Cedar City News

Allred said Eagle’s Rest Ranch is expected to be operational by Oct. 1, and the Hope Group also plans to construct a campus intended for helping victims of human trafficking recover from trauma as well. 

“There’s a big need with [Operation] Underground Railroad, with sex trafficking,” he said. “One of the facilities we want to build with this new property is a treatment center to work with those girls.” 

Allred said Eagle’s Rest Ranch will be on 160 acres, which provides the opportunity for the program to include equine therapy and expand as necessary. 

“If there are any other specialty programs that we feel that might be a benefit then we’ll have the room and the opportunity to build other programs out there,” Allred said. 

Allred said treatment for attachment trauma will include individual, family and group therapy, as well as a focus on developing resilience to teach girls they can overcome difficulties in life.

“They can recover, they can do hard things, they can have a productive life,” he said. 

More information about Eagle’s Rest Ranch can be found at the program’s website.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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