Turning Point at Granita Park
Clinical Services
Clinical Oversight:
Dr. David D. Law, (PhD). David D. Law is the Clinical Director
for Turning Point Residential Treatment Center and an Assistant
Professor for Utah State University (USU)-Uintah Basin. He received
his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from USU, his Master’s Degree
in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) from the University of Wisconsin-Stout,
and his Doctorate Degree in MFT from Brigham Young University.
He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Clinical Member
and Approved Supervisor for the American Association for Marriage
and Family Therapy, and a Certified Family Life Educator for the
National Council on Family Relations. Dr. Law has published in
journal articles and book chapters on topics such as parenting,
family therapy, and health care utilization. Dr. Law has provided
over fourteen thousand hours of individual, family, and marital
therapy in agencies and private practice. As Clinical Director
David provides management and oversight of the treatment program,
ongoing clinical supervision and consultation and training to
all direct care staff.
Mental Health Assessment:
Upon admission to the program each student will receive a comprehensive
Mental Health Evaluation. During the Mental Health Assessment
the therapist will identify the existence, nature, or extent of
Clinical Disorders, Personality Disorders, General Medical Conditions,
Psychosocial and Environmental Problems and a Global Assessment
of Functioning for the purpose of determining the students need
for rehabilitative services and to create an individual Treatment
Plan for the student.
Treatment Plan:
Each student will work with a Licensed or Certified Mental
Health Therapist to jointly create an Individualized Treatment
Plan, which contains targeted treatment themes or goals, which
the student will have to successfully obtain as they move from
phase to phase in the program and eventually graduate. These goals
are individual goals and are designed to meet the specific personal
therapeutic needs of each student.
Individual/Family Therapy:
Individual therapy is offered at least once per week, more as
necessary. This one-on-one time is designated to work on intimate
problems and personal goals that the student is unable to express
in group sessions. Families will be expected to participate in
at least one therapeutic weekend retreat.
Group Sessions:
GGI’s (Guided Group Interactions) These are mandatory daily sessions
lasting 1.5 hours and consist of the residents and the Group Leader.
The GGI meeting is a valuable tool; it helps residents learn to
confront negative behaviors, accept confrontation, give and receive
feedback, read non-verbal signals, recognize sub-groupings, and
leadership struggles, expose and confront hidden agendas, develop
trusting and supporting peer relationships, and give to and receive
help with specific “Challenges”. The GGI is a highly
structured group process that channels peer pressure to eliminate
delinquent behavior.
GGI- The Life Story:
Each resident upon entering the program begins writing a comprehensive
“Life Story”. The “Life Story” is a personal
account of how the student has related to family, peers, school
and community, with an emphasis on past “problems”.
The “Life Story” facilitates peer group development
and helps the group see how the new member views himself. Through
the “Life Story” the group will quickly identify the
new resident’s Thinking Errors, thought distortions, and defense
mechanisms. More importantly, the “Life Story” exercise
is the beginning of the Challenge solving and Proactive Intervention
process. More specifically, the peer group, through the “Life
Story”,will listen to the new resident, helping him to identify
12 challenges of the Challenge List and their root Thinking Errors