- Joint Commission accredited
- Girls-only home
- Ages 12 to 17
- Admissions 24/7
Dual diagnosis treatment for teen girls near Anthem, AZ.
A mental-health diagnosis and the substance a girl reaches for to quiet it seldom heal when they are handled in two separate places. Nexus Teen Academy treats them side by side in one residential program for girls ages 12 to 17, set at the licensed Cave Creek residence a straightforward drive southeast of Anthem.
- Free & confidential · No obligation · (480) 485-3424
- 4.7 Google · 37 reviews
- AZDHS-licensed residential facility
- Most major private insurance accepted
- Free consultation
- Counselor online now
Reaching out from Anthem? Tell us the best number and time, and a licensed admissions counselor will return your call, typically within minutes, to cover fit, insurance, and the steps ahead. Nothing gets decided on that call.
- It's now where you are · typical callback under 10 minutes.
- Secure, private, and HIPAA-protected. By submitting you agree to be contacted about care; message/data rates may apply.
- 4.7 Google · 37 reviews
- Joint Commission accredited
Every credential is independently verifiable. Joint Commission · AZDHS registry · LegitScript.
Joint Commission accreditedAZDHS-licensed · LegitScript certifiedAbout Nexus Teen Academy
Nexus Teen Academy: dual diagnosis treatment for Anthem families.
Nexus Teen Academy is a licensed, Joint Commission-accredited residential program for adolescent girls who are living with a mental-health diagnosis and a substance problem at the same time. One clinical team works both halves at the girls' residence on desert acreage in Cave Creek, ages 12 to 17. For most Anthem families who find us, the vaping, the drinking, or the pills began as a way to get through something, to calm a mind that would not slow down, soften a memory, or finally fall asleep. Take on the substance by itself and the reason it started is still there; take on the mood by itself and the using unravels every gain.
If a girl needs medically supervised withdrawal before she can begin, that step happens at a hospital and admissions arranges the transfer so treatment starts the day she is released. The program is clinician-led, AZDHS-licensed, Joint Commission accredited, and LegitScript certified, with staff awake all night.
Nexus Teen Academy provides residential treatment for teen dual diagnosis for families from Anthem, Arizona, for ages 12 to 17. Girls live in a licensed home in Cave Creek with daily therapy, accredited school on site, and weekly family therapy. Most stay 30 to 60 days, and the team works with AHCCCS and most private insurance.
Cave Creek
Girls, 12 to 17 · Phoenix metro
Cave Creek
Girls, 12 to 17 · Phoenix metro
Accredited Arizona centers
Ages we treat, gender-separate
Awake clinical staff, every hour
A primary therapist, by name
Where residential care fits: IOP, PHP or residential
The subacute level between weekly therapy and a hospital bed.
Therapy once or a few times a week. Your teen stays home and at school.
Live-in clinical care with 24/7 awake staff, daily therapy, and accredited school, in a real home.
You are hereShort-term acute stabilization for immediate medical or safety crisis.
| Question | Intensive outpatient (IOP) | Partial hospitalization (PHP) | Residential (RTC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | A step down from PHP, or a starting point for teens who need more than weekly therapy | A step down from residential care, or a starting point for teens who need structure without 24/7 care | Teens who need 24/7 care in a safe, immersive setting |
| Where your teen sleeps | At home | At home each evening | A licensed, home-like residence with 24/7 awake staff |
| Weekly schedule | About 4 hours a day (10:30 to 2:30 or 1:00 to 5:00), 3 to 4 days a week | Several days a week, multiple hours a day | Daily therapy, with care around the clock |
| Typical length | 30 to 90+ days | 30 to 90 days | 30 to 60 days |
| School | Stays in school; IOP is therapy-focused, with no academic support | Daily schoolwork time in a classroom, with educators on staff | Accredited, credit-bearing classes on site |
| Family | Weekly individual therapy and family counseling every other week | Family therapy sessions included | Weekly family therapy, in person or by secure video |
IOP and PHP run at NexStep Teen Academy, the Nexus outpatient program in Scottsdale for teens ages 12 to 17.
Not sure which level your teen needs? A licensed counselor will walk through it with you on the phone, free, and tell you honestly if a lower level of care is the better fit.
Speak with our admissions teamThe program
Components of dual diagnosis treatment at Nexus Teen Academy.
Substance-use recovery and mental-health treatment carried on one plan, inside a girls-only home with a predictable daily rhythm. Every girl who comes to us from Anthem and the surrounding north Valley receives each element below, checked each week against her own goals rather than a fixed timetable.
One shared assessment
Psychiatric and substance histories gathered together, along with school records and past care, so no one is left guessing which came first.
Detox handled first
Withdrawal that needs medical oversight is managed at a hospital beforehand, and admissions times the transfer so treatment begins the day she is discharged.
Therapy every weekday
One named licensed clinician, working through the thoughts, the triggers, and the using beneath them, five days a week.
Working with resistance
For the girl who does not believe she has a problem, resistance is met rather than fought, and every high-risk moment gets a written plan.
Family and parent group
Weekly family sessions plus the Saturday parent group, because the Anthem home she returns to is built into the plan.
On-site medication care
Medication managed at the residence by the prescriber, including what is safe alongside a history of misuse, with your consent before every change.
School that counts
A certified teacher runs credit-bearing classes every weekday, so the schooling that slipped while she was using starts to recover.
A map for after
She leaves with a relapse plan in writing, care booked near Anthem, and a gradual return to her Deer Valley school.
- Mental health and substance use, treated as one problem
Dual-diagnosis care
Co-occurring conditions in teen dual diagnosis.
In these families the low mood or the anxiety almost never travels by itself. Across the country, roughly 15% of adolescents went through a major depressive episode in the past year and 7.8% met the threshold for a substance use disorder, and the two run together: about a third of teens with depression reported illicit drug use, compared with 12% of those without it.
At the Cave Creek residence one team holds both the diagnosis and the substance use inside a single plan, with nothing passed off to an outside program partway through, because sobriety that never touches the underlying reason rarely survives the first difficult week back home in Anthem.
When mental health and using overlap
Primary focus
Co-occurring mental health and substance use in adolescent girls
Depression
Frequently the pain the using was meant to numb.
Anxiety & panic
Drinking or weed used to quiet the constant worry.
Trauma & PTSD
Using to keep intrusive memories at a distance.
ADHD
Impulse and easy access push things along quickly.
Substance use
Alcohol, cannabis, vaping, or pills shared by friends.
Defiance at home
The fighting that keeps the using out of view.
Self-harm
Tends to appear once the substance is gone; screened at intake.
Safety firstSuicidal ideation
Checked for before anything else begins.
Safety first- No matter what she is facing, every part of her care runs through one plan and one team at a single Cave Creek home.
The setting
Our girls-only residential home in Cave Creek.
The girls' residence sits on desert acreage in Cave Creek, near enough that a parent leaving Anthem off I-17 can be there in well under an hour. It is a genuine house arranged for early recovery: a steady routine, no substances and no dealers within reach, meals cooked and eaten together, staff awake through the night, and full AZDHS licensure.
Take a self-guided 3D walkthrough of the home
Life inside
Daily schedule at the Cave Creek residence.
The hours right after waking are the toughest early in a stay, so they hold the tightest structure. When every adult runs the day the same way, the cravings and the arguments that once controlled the house lose their grip.
- MorningHygiene, meds & breakfast
Hygiene and meds from 6:30 to 7:30, then breakfast from 7:30 to 8:00.
- - Morning
Gratitude journal & education
A gratitude journal from 8:00 to 8:20, then education from 8:30 to 10:45 and a snack at 10:45.
- MorningGroup therapy & lunch
Group therapy from 11:00 to 12:00, then lunch and mindfulness from 12:00 to 1:00.
- - Afternoon
Group therapy
Group therapy from 2:00 to 3:00, a snack at 3:00, then group therapy again from 3:15 to 4:00.
- - Afternoon
Movement, dinner & evening activity
Movement with nursing from 4:15 to 5:00, dinner at 5:00, then evening activity and meds from 6:00 to 7:00.
- - Evening
Free time & lights out
Free time from 7:00 to 8:30, evening hygiene from 8:30 to 9:00, gratitude journal at 9:00 and lights out at 9:30.
Weekends run differently
Saturday and Sunday follow a lighter routine than the weekday schedule above.
Click here for a free consultationTap to call (480) 485-3424 and our admissions team will walk you through a full weekend. Someone answers any time.Awake clinical staff are on-site every hour, including overnight, at both Arizona centers.
How healing happens
Therapies used in dual diagnosis treatment.
Integrated care, one team treating both conditions at once, is exactly what national guidance recommends for co-occurring disorders. A residential setting supplies the supervised hours that a weekly outpatient appointment can never reach.
Core therapies
- 1
Motivational interviewing
Built for ambivalence. Rather than pushing her to agree, it draws on the reasons for change she already carries.
- 2
CBT and relapse prevention
The triggers, the high-risk spots, ways to refuse, and a written plan for the situations that tend to end in using.
- 3
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills
Rehearsed daily, so she has something to turn to once the substance is out of reach.
Supporting care, running alongside
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR
When trauma is what drives the using, it is treated directly, once she is stable rather than in her first week.
after stabilizationsafety firstFamily therapy and parent group
Weekly family sessions, in person for north Valley families and by secure video for those farther out, plus the Saturday parent group.
weeklyhome planEquine, art and experiential
Friday sessions with the horses, plus art and music work: hours that fill a life that used to revolve around the substance.
equine Fridayshealthy outlets
Your teen's clinical team
Meet our licensed clinical team.
Every girl is matched with a named, licensed clinician, and the psychiatric prescriber and residential staff are named as well. Each Arizona license shown below is open for you to check yourself.
LPC, BC-TMHHannah Carr-Unquera
Executive Director
Leads the clinical program, licensed in Arizona and board certified in telemental health.
LCSW, DSWDr. Tyler White
Director of Adolescent Clinical Services
Sets the treatment plan each resident’s team works to, and supervises the clinicians who deliver it.
DNP, PMHNP-BCAlexandria Penner
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Runs psychiatric evaluation and medication management on-site, so prescribing stays inside the house.
House teamAshley Daniels
Director of Family Services & Education
Runs family services and education, after directing theatre and teen programs and building liberal-arts residential summer camps for Mount Holyoke College and Bryn Mawr College.
House teamJennifer Inderberg
Education Supervisor
Twenty-five years in education, supervising the accredited school that runs inside each house and the credit transfers back to your district.
House teamMelissa Stockmar
Director of Food Operations
Leads the kitchen team behind the chef-prepared meals, and runs the cooking group where residents learn to feed themselves.
Arizona-licensed clinical team.Every Nexus Teen Academy clinician is licensed in Arizona. Verify any license on the AZ Board of Behavioral Health Examiners directory.
What families say
Reviews from parents across Arizona.
4.7/ 5
Read them all on Google★★★★★
“Nexus Academy was a wonderful place for my daughter. The staff were amazing and so supportive. They worked with our entire family. Highly recommend Nexus.”
★★★★★
“Sending your child or teen to a residential treatment facility is a difficult and heart-wrenching decision. The team at Nexus Teen Academy was exceptional. Our daughter’s therapist was a great fit for her and played a significant role in helping us grow as a family.”Read the full review →
★★★★★
“The program at Nexus was a lifesaver for my 15-year-old daughter. After a tough year in and out of different levels of care, my husband and I had truly hit a breaking point and knew a residential facility was needed.”Read the full review →
These come straight from our public Google Business Profile, anyone can read all 34 and add their own.
Getting started
Admission for Anthem families, step by step.
- You set the pace, with no pressure to decide
- Clear answers to every clinical and financial question
- An honest recommendation, even if another program is the better fit
1
- Today · 24/7
- ~15 minutes
One calm call
A licensed Nexus Teen Academy counselor asks what she is using and how often, when she last used, which diagnoses and treatment are already in place, and whether anyone is in danger, then tells you honestly whether residential care is the right fit for your daughter.
- What to have ready: nothing. Just call, questions are welcome, and there is no obligation.
2
- Same day
- Free & confidential
Coverage check
With your permission we review your plan and come back with clear numbers for residential behavioral-health care, whether we are in network, and the realistic out-of-pocket, and both benefits count here, the mental-health side and the substance-use side.
- What you get: your coverage answer, usually the same day, every option mapped, including in-network and out-of-network paths.
3
- Within 24 to 48 hrs
- Licensed clinicians
Clinical assessment
A licensed clinician works through the substance history, the psychiatric history, earlier treatment, and safety, then recommends the level of care those findings point to; when she last used and any history of withdrawal decide whether hospital detox needs to come first.
- Your input matters: what you have seen at home is a key part of the clinical assessment.
4
- Within days
- Named coordinator
Plan the arrival
A single named coordinator takes on medical clearance, the drive down from Anthem, school records, prescriptions, and a packing list checked for safety, so arrival day holds no surprises.
- No surprises: you will have the packing list, schedule, and your coordinator's direct line in writing.
5
- Welcome day
- Never out of the loop
A gentle, planned arrival
Your daughter meets the clinical team and settles into the routine, and your first family update is on the calendar before you drive back up I-17.
- From here: predictable days, weekly updates, and a team your teen knows by name.
Coverage & cost
Does insurance cover teen dual diagnosis treatment?
Most major private insurance plans treat residential care as a covered behavioral-health benefit, and in dual diagnosis both the mental-health side and the substance-use side of a policy come into play. Nexus Teen Academy accepts most major commercial carriers. For Anthem families we confirm exactly what your plan covers, in-network or out-of-network, free and confidentially, often the same day, and walk you through any out-of-pocket cost in clear language before you decide.
- 1You send your plan detailsTwo required fields. Member ID optional. Takes about a minute.
- 2We verify with your insurer directlyIn-network or out-of-network, free and confidential, usually the same day.
- 3You get the number in plain EnglishYour exact out-of-pocket cost, explained before you commit to anything.
- Meritain
- UMR
- + more
Out-of-network or unsure about your plan? Call anyway, cost should never be the reason a teen doesn't get help.
- Free benefits check
Get a free, confidential read on your plan's dual diagnosis residential benefits, with nothing to sign.
After discharge
Discharge and aftercare planning near Anthem.
Discharge planning opens weeks ahead with you in the room: a teen PHP or IOP step-down where it makes sense, an outpatient therapist and prescriber booked close to Anthem, a written relapse plan that names her risky people, places, and hours, and a return to class coordinated with the Deer Valley district.
Answers
Questions Anthem parents ask about dual diagnosis care
Direct answers for Anthem families weighing residential dual diagnosis care for a daughter.
A licensed admissions counselor can answer it on the phone right now, no script, no pressure, and no obligation to enroll.
Talk to a counselorAnswered 24/7 at (480) 485-3424Centers & getting there
Yes. Nexus Teen Academy treats co-occurring mental health and substance use at its AZDHS-licensed girls' residence in Cave Creek, a short drive southeast of Anthem off I-17, serving families across the north Valley and the rest of Arizona. Admissions answers (480) 485-3424 at any hour of the day or night.
It means two things are happening at once: a mental-health condition such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, or ADHD alongside a substance problem. Integrated treatment puts one team on both at the same time, instead of shuttling her between a mental-health program and a separate substance program.
The Cave Creek residence takes girls ages 12 to 17 only. A girls-only home changes what can be said out loud: sexual-trauma history, self-harm, disordered eating, and the social pressures that push many teenage girls toward using are all worked on openly, and the groups, bedrooms, and staffing are shaped around that single population.
No. When withdrawal calls for medical management, detox takes place at a hospital first, and admissions times the move so treatment begins the day she is discharged. The same is true of any acute medical instability.
Care & cost
The program addresses what turns up most in adolescent girls: alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and vaping, prescription pills passed between friends, and stimulants. Clinically, what matters is the pattern and what the substance is doing for her, not the substance on its own.
With motivational interviewing instead of argument. Most girls arrive convinced they do not belong here. The approach starts from her own reasons for change, and the daily structure gives her a sober baseline to measure against, usually within the first two weeks.
Many commercial plans do once medical necessity is established, and both the mental-health and the substance-use benefits factor in. Nexus Teen Academy accepts most private insurance and sends back your coverage, network status, and likely costs before you decide on anything.
Family work is built in: weekly family therapy, simple to attend in person given how near Anthem sits, a Saturday parent group, and daily phone calls. Because the home she comes back to is part of the relapse plan, you are part of the treatment.
Yes, and the prescriber goes over everything she arrives on. Where a history of misuse makes a medication risky, the prescriber talks you through the alternatives, and nothing is changed without your consent.
Licensing & privacy
Stays are planned around 30 days or more, then adjusted against clinical markers: steady mood, skills she uses without prompting, a family ready for the home plan, and a step-down in place. Before discharge your case manager books an outpatient therapist near Anthem and stages her return to school.
A certified teacher runs credit-bearing classes on site every weekday, and the credits transfer back to her Deer Valley school. For a girl whose attendance fell apart while she was using, that is often the first thing to steady.
That is common, and it does not keep treatment from beginning. Our counselors coach you through the conversation, and many girls who arrive sure they do not belong ease in once the house is calm, predictable, and no one is fighting them. One call can work through your particular situation.
Admission & daily life
Often within a few days. Admissions calls are returned within 24 hours, usually within minutes. A counselor checks your insurance benefits and licensed clinicians complete an assessment, and if everything moves smoothly your teen can move in shortly after. A coordinator walks you through travel, paperwork, and the first day.
Yes. Nexus Teen Academy offers tours of the home by appointment, so you can see where your teen would live and ask the team your questions in person before you decide anything. Call admissions to schedule a tour at a time that suits your family.
Yes. Family therapy happens once a week and is typically followed by about an hour of visitation, and parents are expected to take part. After orientation, teens can call home during designated hours most days, and families can also join a weekly virtual Family Empowerment group with other parents.
No. Personal phones and other devices stay at home for the length of the stay. Teens use tablets for video calls with approved contacts and computers for schoolwork, so contact with family continues through approved channels while the focus stays on treatment.
School continues during treatment. Teens attend accredited, credit-bearing classes on site, and education supervisors help with coursework and stay in touch with families. Bring a copy of any 504 plan or IEP at admission, and before discharge the team plans a staged return to your teen's home school.
Pack about two weeks of clothes without laces or drawstrings, alcohol-free toiletries, and any prescribed medication in its original packaging with a current medication list. Bring a guardian ID, a copy of any 504 plan or IEP, and school books. Personal phones and school-issued tablets stay at home.
What the data shows
Why early dual diagnosis treatment matters
Teenage girls today report more substance use than they did a decade ago, and the mental-health piece is usually already present. Every figure below carries its source.
7.8%
of U.S. adolescents 12 to 17, about 2 million, had a substance use disorder in the past year (SAMHSA NSDUH, 2024).
1 in 3
teens with depression reported past-year illicit drug use, against 12% of teens without depression (SAMHSA NSDUH, 2024).
About 30%
of the 2.4 million adolescents who needed substance use treatment received any (SAMHSA NSDUH, 2024).
1 in 4
Arizona adolescents who needed mental-health care found it very difficult or impossible to get (AZDHS, 2026).
Read side by side, these numbers show that a substance problem and a mental-health diagnosis arrive as a pair far more often than either turns up alone.
The Arizona access figure is why north Valley families reach out early: when help nearby is thin, one program that treats both halves is often the faster route.
Teen group home care for Anthem girls
Homelike on the outside, clinical on the inside.
Anthem parents who start out searching for a teen group home often find that what their daughter needs looks more like our Cave Creek residence: a girls-only house licensed by AZDHS as a behavioral-health residential facility, where counseling, psychiatric care and school all happen under the same roof.
A typical group home
- Licensed for shelter and supervision
- Daily living and structure
- Supervision, not clinical treatment
Nexus homes
- AZDHS behavioral-health residential licence
- Daily therapy and psychiatric care
- Accredited school on site
Families from the Phoenix metro 9 cities
Families from Greater Arizona 6 cities
The communities below all send girls to our one residence in Cave Creek. We help families work out the drive, and parents join weekly family therapy at the house or by secure video.
Across Arizona
Dual diagnosis treatment for girls near Anthem.
Because the residence sits southeast of Anthem in Cave Creek, north Valley families are among the closest we serve, near enough for weekly visits and in-person family sessions. Admissions answers around the clock.
About 30 to 40 minutes from Anthem
Leaving Anthem off I-17, the drive southeast to Cave Creek takes most parents 30 to 40 minutes, short enough for an in-person family session every week and a visit on the weekend.
Family therapy, your way
Anthem parents can sit in on weekly family therapy at the residence or join by secure video on busier weeks, and the Saturday parent group keeps you connected to what she is working on.
Step-down care close to Anthem
PHP or IOP and an outpatient therapist and prescriber are arranged near Anthem before she comes home, and her return to school is planned with the Deer Valley Unified School District.
Nexus Teen Academy, Cave Creek · girls’ residence
Admissions 24/7
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Cave Creek residence location for Anthem families
30 to 40 minutes to Cave Creek off I-17
Saddle Mountain Rd, 85331 · 20 min north
Desert Hills, New River, Black Canyon City
Travel, telehealth & aftercare
Every Nexus program, statewide
Explore residential programs by condition.
One clinical team treats eight conditions for girls from Anthem and across Arizona. Select the one closest to what your daughter is going through to see how treatment and family involvement work.
Nexus Teen Academy delivers licensed residential treatment for teens 12 to 17 across eight conditions: anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, self-harm, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, substance use and ADHD. Every girl in the program lives and receives treatment at our girls-only residence in Cave Creek, southeast of Anthem off I-17. Anthem families, like families everywhere in Arizona, get help planning the drive, travel support, and secure-video family therapy for weeks when coming in person is not possible.
Depression care, statewide
Dual diagnosis treatment for girls in nearby cities
Every community listed here sends girls to our Cave Creek residence for treatment. Each page covers the drive, how we coordinate her return to the home school district, and the questions local parents tend to ask first.
More conditions treated at Nexus Teen Academy
Pick a condition to open its Arizona guide; the city links beside it describe care for families in each area.
Talk it through with a counselor
Tell an admissions counselor what you are seeing at home, and they will say plainly which program fits.
Girls-only programs
Treated only at the Cave Creek girls residence
Five programs for teen girls, each with an Arizona guide and a page for families from each nearby city.
Co-occurring mental health and substance use
Eating disorders in teen girls
Sexual trauma in teen girls
Severe mood swings in teen girls
Live somewhere not shown here? Girls from any part of Arizona, and from other states, are welcome. Phone (480) 485-3424 and admissions will explain the route to Cave Creek and how arrival day works.