San Cristobal is a small, privately-owned center nationally recognized as a leader in the treatment of young adult men aged 18 to 26 who are suffering from a combination of chemical dependency with co-occurring disorders. Many of our clients have been unsuccessful at prior recovery attempts and come to us resistant to the treatment process. We welcome them and create a personalized treatment plan that recognizes their complex physical, emotional and social needs.
A Place to Reach Young Men at Risk
Our unique location on an isolated ranch in the mountains outside of Taos, New Mexico surrounded Bureau of Land Management land, gives our program limitless access to some of the most famous natural surroundings in the United States. Our program includes lots of outdoor activities and other opportunities, such as a workshop, recording studio, horseback riding and sports.
A Small Community Offering Personalized Treatment
San Cristobal clients are placed in small peer–based teams of up to eight participants for the duration of their stay at San Cristobal and travel through treatment with these peers. Our certified clinical therapists create and implement personalized treatment programs tailored specifically to the complex bio-psycho-social needs of each client. We also pair every client with an experienced staff mentor who is in recovery himself. Our staff-to-patient ratio is high. This combination of high-quality clinical care, special activities and a supportive community setting help us get through to young male addicts and break the cycle of self-destructive behavior that endangers them.
The Road to Recovery
Residents at San Cristobal learn that their lives are not over when they choose to adopt a life of sobriety. They learn from firsthand experience that they can have fun being sober, challenging themselves to take risks in appropriate ways. We address their treatment from a clinical, emotional, psychiatric and physical standpoint and use treatment methods recognized as standard within the psychological and addiction industries, combining group and individual therapy with exercise, outdoor adventure and opportunities to test new skills. We believe in encouraging our clients to explore a variety of spiritual options and to build inner strength. As part of this focus, San Cristobal incorporates the 12 Step Recovery method into every aspect of its program. All clients will gain a clear understanding of the help and support of the addiction/recovery community as a resource they can rely on for the rest of their lives.
Recognizing the Needs of the Young Male Addict
Our addiction treatment program features these elements in response to the specific needs of the young male addict:
- Gender specific treatment: studies show that single gender treatment programs are more successful. The opposite sex is a distraction, and deters young male addicts from beginning to deal with important issues that relate to their addiction.
- An active lifestyle: young men need to exert energy, which helps them to deal with boredom and stress. As addicts, they are accustomed to coping by using drugs and alcohol as a release. We teach them to find a more natural high through hiking, mountain biking, skiing & snowboarding, whitewater rafting, exercise and other outdoor activities.
- Positive male role models: often, the young adult men we treat have negative role models in their life. We replace these with male staff members who act as positive role models who are in recovery themselves, whichencourages our them to turn to mentors with real life recovery experience for advice about life.
- Intensive clinical work: We offer young men the opportunity to begin to explore their traumas and to come to a place of healing. This greatly increases a client’s ability to stay sober long-term after completion of treatment.
- A spiritual component: As part of our treatment program we encourage clients to pursue some form of spirituality as a tool to help them remain sober and lead fulfilling lives.
Dedicated Staff
The staff at San Cristobal Treatment Center was hired because of their experience successfully treating addiction in young adult males. Most staff members are in recovery themselves with a firsthand understanding of what it takes to get sober and stay sober over the long-term.
For more information on our clinicians and counselors, please see our Staff section.