Aspen Education Group Announces Acquisition of Phoenix Outdoor

Asheville, NC (PRWEB) July 2, 2007 -- Aspen Education Group, the nation's leading provider of education programs for struggling or underachieving young people, today announced that it has acquired Phoenix Outdoor, a licensed therapeutic wilderness program that provides comprehensive substance abuse intervention and assessment for youth ages 13-17 located near Asheville, North Carolina.

Opened in April 2005, Phoenix Outdoor combines traditional individual and group therapy with outdoor experiential activities and a therapeutic curriculum designed to expose underlying issues and affect significant change in a short amount of time. Its in-depth Substance Abuse and Addictions Program (SAAP) offers primary care substance abuse and addictions treatment for adolescents within the broader Phoenix Outdoor wilderness program experience.

"We are pleased to welcome Phoenix Outdoor to Aspen Education Group and the larger CRC Health organization" said Elliot Sainer, Aspen's president. "Aspen is recognized as an industry leader for the efficacy and quality of its programs, and the addition of a successful program like Phoenix Outdoor, with its primary focus on adolescents struggling with substance abuse, helps strengthen our ability to serve families in need."

Phoenix Outdoor operates on a year-round schedule and has an average length of stay of five to seven weeks. Master and doctorate level therapists work with the students on a regular basis. The program embraces family involvement throughout the therapeutic process, as well as the creation of a long-term strategy to ensure an adolescent's success.

"Phoenix Outdoor helps teenagers struggling with substance abuse and motivates them to make positive choices in their lives with the support of their families," said Carolyn Bradfield, founder of Phoenix Outdoor. "Aspen Education Group's reputation for providing safe, effective programs, and their shared emphasis on family involvement and sustained results, were the basis for my decision. All of us at Phoenix are very pleased to join the Aspen Education Group family of programs and look forward to future success."

Aspen Education Group is recognized nationwide as the largest and most comprehensive network of therapeutic schools and programs. Aspen Education Group offers professionals and families the opportunity to choose from a variety of therapeutic settings in order to best meet a student's unique academic and emotional needs. Aspen Education Group has been profiled by major news and television organizations around the world, including U.S. News and World Report, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and People magazine, as well as on CNN, ABC's 20/20 and Good Morning America, NBC's The Today Show and Dateline NBC, National Public Radio and the syndicated television show Dr. Phil. Aspen is a division of CRC Health Group, the nation's largest chemical dependency and related behavioral health organization. For more information about Aspen Education Group, visit www.aspeneducation.com or call (888) 972-7736. For more information about Phoenix Outdoor, visit www.phoenixoutdoor.com or call (888) 868-8233.

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