Top of the World Ranch: An addictions treatment centre

Mental Health affects one in five people in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2022), many of whom will seek treatment at a residential center with support for those recovering from addiction. This paper presents my Graduate Practicum Report completed at an Addictions treatment center, the Top of the World Ranch (TWR), located in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. The practicum was focused on addictions, mental health, and counselling modalities as they apply to the context of addiction, with the goal of applying skills and modalities studied in the course work of my MSW preceding this final practicum. After reviewing mainstream and holistic modalities like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), shinrin yoku, visualization, and meditation, I assembled a strong set of tools to offer value at an addiction treatment center with a focus on trauma informed practice. Key learnings in this report include the usage of art therapy and visualization as effective tools in recovery from addiction. I also found a meaningful way to integrate music into my personal therapeutic approach. Additionally, I found programs that involved visualization and meditation to be both an enjoyable way of working and extraordinarily helpful for clients’ recovery process. My practicum at the TWR was one of the most important learning experiences of my life that will inform all that I do moving forward in my career as a counsellor and social worker.