- Joint Commission accredited
- Girls-only home
- Ages 12 to 17
- Admissions 24/7
Dual diagnosis treatment for teen girls near El Mirage, AZ.
When a mental-health struggle and the substance she uses to quiet it are pulled into separate programs, neither one really lets go. Nexus Teen Academy treats both together in a single residential program for girls ages 12 to 17, based at the licensed Cave Creek residence a drive northeast of El Mirage up the Loop 101.
- 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
El Mirage parent? Tell us the best number to reach you. A licensed admissions counselor returns the call, often within minutes, to go over whether we fit, what your insurance covers, and the next step. You are never pushed.
- 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 El Mirage families.
Nexus Teen Academy is a licensed, Joint Commission-accredited residential program for adolescent girls living with a mental-health diagnosis and a substance problem at the same time. A single clinical team works both sides at the girls' residence on desert acreage in Cave Creek, for ages 12 to 17. Among the west Valley families who find us from El Mirage, the vaping or the drinking usually started as a fix, a way to turn down anxiety, outrun a memory, or finally fall asleep. Treat only the substance and the ache underneath stays put; treat only the mood and the using keeps unraveling the gains.
If a girl first needs withdrawal watched by medical staff, that happens in a hospital, and admissions schedules the handoff so her treatment opens the same day she is released. The program is clinician-led, AZDHS-licensed, Joint Commission accredited, and LegitScript certified, with staff awake through the night.
Nexus Teen Academy provides residential treatment for teen dual diagnosis for families from El Mirage, 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 ride on one plan, inside a girls-only home with a dependable daily rhythm. Every girl who arrives from the west Valley receives each piece below, checked each week against her own progress rather than a fixed countdown.
Single joined assessment
Psychiatric and substance histories gathered side by side, with school records and prior care, so nobody has to guess which trouble started first.
Detox timed up front
Withdrawal that needs medical oversight is managed at a hospital first, and admissions lines up the transfer so treatment opens the day she is discharged.
Therapy every weekday
One named licensed clinician, working the thoughts, the triggers, and the using beneath them, five days a week.
Motivation and relapse work
For the girl convinced she has no problem, her resistance is met rather than argued with, and the high-risk moments get a plan in writing.
Family and parent group
Weekly family sessions plus the Saturday parent group, because the El Mirage home she returns to is part of the plan.
On-site psychiatric care
Medication managed at the residence by the prescriber, including what is safe alongside a history of misuse, with your consent at every change.
Classes that count
A certified teacher runs credit-bearing coursework every weekday, so the schooling that slid while she was using starts to come back.
A map for afterward
Before she comes home: a relapse plan on paper, outpatient appointments near El Mirage, and a phased return to Dysart Unified.
- Co-occurring struggles, one plan and one team from day one
Dual-diagnosis care
Co-occurring conditions in teen dual diagnosis.
In these homes the low mood or the panic almost never travels solo. Across the country, about 15% of adolescents had a major depressive episode in the past year and 7.8% met the bar for a substance use disorder, and they cluster: roughly a third of depressed teens reported illicit drug use, compared with 12% of teens who were not depressed.
At the Cave Creek residence one team holds the diagnosis and the substance use inside the same plan, with nothing shipped off to another provider partway through, because getting sober while the underlying reason goes untouched rarely outlasts the first rough week back home.
How co-occurring struggles take hold in teen girls
Primary focus
Co-occurring mental health and substance use in adolescent girls
Depression
Depression: frequently the burden the using set out to ease.
Anxiety & panic
Anxiety & panic: cannabis or alcohol borrowed to slow a racing mind.
Trauma & PTSD
Trauma & PTSD: substances leaned on to hold the memories down.
ADHD
ADHD: impulsivity meeting easy access, and it climbs fast.
Substance use
Substance use: alcohol, cannabis, vapes, or pills passed between friends.
Defiance at home
Defiance at home: the nightly blowup that masks the using beneath it.
Self-harm
Self-harm: tends to surface once the substance is gone; screened at intake.
Safety firstSuicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation: assessed first, before any other work starts.
Safety first- No matter the diagnosis, her therapist, psychiatrist and teacher work from the same plan under one residential roof.
The setting
Our girls-only residential home in Cave Creek.
The girls' residence sits on desert acreage in Cave Creek, close enough that an El Mirage parent can make the drive northeast in under an hour by way of the Loop 101. It works like a genuine house built for the early days of recovery: a set routine, no substances and no dealers anywhere near, meals cooked and eaten together, staff awake overnight, and full AZDHS licensure.
Take a self-guided 3D walkthrough of the home
Life inside
Daily schedule at the Cave Creek residence.
Early in a stay the stretch right after waking is the toughest, so it holds the tightest structure. When every adult runs the day the same way, the cravings and the standoffs that once ran the household 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 guidelines prescribe for co-occurring disorders. A residential setting supplies the supervised hours a weekly outpatient appointment can never reach.
Core therapies
- 1
Motivational interviewing
Motivational interviewing: designed for the girl on the fence. Instead of debating her into agreeing, it builds on the reasons for change she already carries.
- 2
CBT and relapse prevention
CBT + relapse prevention: triggers, high-risk situations, refusal skills, and a written plan for the moments that usually finish in using.
- 3
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills: rehearsed daily, so she has a tool in hand once the substance is no longer there.
Supporting care, running alongside
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR: when trauma is driving, it is treated directly, once she is steady rather than in her first week.
after stabilizationsafety firstFamily therapy and parent group
Family therapy + parent group: weekly family sessions, in person for west Valley families and by secure video for those farther out, plus the Saturday parent group.
weeklyhome planEquine, art and experiential
Equine, art and experiential: Friday hours with the horses, along with art and music, rebuilding a life that holds no substance in it.
equine Fridayshealthy outlets
Your teen's clinical team
Meet our licensed clinical team.
Each girl is matched with a named, licensed clinician, and the psychiatric prescriber and the house staff are named as well. Every 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 El Mirage 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 prior treatment are already on record, and whether anyone is unsafe, then tells you honestly whether residential care matches what your daughter needs.
- What to have ready: nothing. Just call, questions are welcome, and there is no obligation.
2
- Same day
- Free & confidential
Coverage check
Once you give the go-ahead, we run your plan and come back with clear numbers for residential behavioral-health care, where you stand in network, and the realistic out-of-pocket, and both sides count here, the mental-health benefit and the substance-use benefit.
- 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 walks 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 withdrawal history settle 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 coordinator manages medical clearance, the trip in, school records, prescriptions, and a packing list gone over for safety, so arrival day holds no surprises for you.
- 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 eases into the daily rhythm, and your first family update is already on the calendar before you head back down the Loop 101 toward El Mirage.
- 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 mental-health care as a covered behavioral-health benefit. Because a dual diagnosis touches two benefits, we look at the substance-use side and the mental-health side together. Nexus Teen Academy accepts most major commercial carriers, and for El Mirage families we confirm exact coverage, in or out of network, at no cost and in confidence, usually that same day, then spell out any out-of-pocket cost clearly before you commit.
- 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 look at your plan's dual diagnosis residential coverage, no commitment attached.
After discharge
Discharge and aftercare planning near El Mirage.
Discharge planning begins weeks out, with you helping shape it: a teen PHP or IOP step-down where it makes sense, an outpatient therapist and prescriber booked close to El Mirage, a written relapse plan that names her risky people, places, and hours, and a staged return to class coordinated with the Dysart Unified School District.
Answers
Questions El Mirage parents ask about dual diagnosis care
Direct answers for El Mirage parents 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, roughly 45 to 55 minutes northeast of El Mirage by the Loop 101, serving families across the west Valley and all of Arizona. Admissions answers (480) 485-3424 at any hour.
It means two things hold true together: a mental-health condition such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, or ADHD, and a substance problem. Integrated treatment puts one team on both at once, instead of shuttling her between a separate mental-health program and a substance program.
The Cave Creek residence admits girls ages 12 to 17 only. A girls-only home opens up what can be said: sexual-trauma history, self-harm, disordered eating, and the social pressures that push many teenage girls toward using are all worked on openly, and groups, bedrooms, and staffing are shaped around that single group.
No. When withdrawal calls for medical management, detox is handled at a hospital first, and admissions times the move so treatment starts the day she is discharged. The same goes for any acute medical instability.
Care & cost
The program addresses what turns up most in adolescent girls: alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and vaping, prescription pills passed around, and stimulants. Clinically, what counts is the pattern and what the substance is doing for her, not the label alone.
With motivational interviewing rather than argument. Most girls turn up sure they do not belong. The approach starts from her own reasons for change, and the steady daily structure hands her a sober baseline to judge by, usually inside the first couple of weeks.
Many commercial plans do once medical necessity is met, and both the mental-health and the substance-use benefits come into play. Nexus Teen Academy accepts most private insurance and sends back your coverage, network standing, and likely costs before you commit to anything.
Family work is built in: weekly family therapy, manageable in person given the drive from the west Valley, 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 reviews everything she arrives on. Where a history of misuse makes a medication risky, the prescriber talks you through the alternatives, and nothing changes without your consent.
Licensing & privacy
Stays are planned around 30 days or more, then adjusted against clinical markers: steady mood, skills she reaches for on her own, a family ready for the home plan, and a step-down in place. Before discharge your case manager books an outpatient therapist near El Mirage and stages her return to school.
A certified teacher runs credit-bearing classes on site every weekday, and the credits carry back to her Dysart Unified 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 certain they do not belong settle once the house is calm, predictable, and no one is fighting them. One call works through your exact 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.
By the numbers
Why early dual diagnosis treatment matters
Teen girls report more substance use than they did ten years ago, and the mental-health piece is usually already in place. Every figure below is sourced.
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).
Put side by side, these numbers show a substance problem and a mental-health diagnosis tend to arrive as a pair far more often than either shows up alone.
The Arizona access figure is why west Valley families call sooner rather than later: when nearby help is thin, one program treating both halves is often the faster route.
Teen group home care for El Mirage girls
Feels like a home, runs like a treatment program.
If a teen group home is what you are searching for from El Mirage, our girls-only home in Cave Creek may be the answer. It is licensed by AZDHS as a behavioral-health residential facility, so her therapy and daily care take place under the same roof where she lives.
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
Every city below sends girls to our Cave Creek residence for treatment. We help each family work out the drive, and weekly family therapy is open in person or by secure video.
Across Arizona
Dual diagnosis treatment for girls near El Mirage.
The residence sits north of the metro in Cave Creek, roughly 45 to 55 minutes from El Mirage, which keeps in-person family sessions realistic for west Valley parents. Admissions answers around the clock.
Under an hour up the Loop 101
Most El Mirage families reach Cave Creek in 45 to 55 minutes, heading northeast on the Loop 101. The drive is short enough to make in-person family sessions a regular part of the week rather than a rare trip.
Family sessions, your way
Weekly family therapy happens face to face in Cave Creek for El Mirage parents who can make the drive, or over secure video when shifts or siblings get in the way, so her progress stays on track.
Step-down care close to El Mirage
Her PHP or IOP step-down and outpatient team are arranged near El Mirage before she leaves, and we coordinate her return to class with Dysart Unified so the first week back feels planned.
Nexus Teen Academy, Cave Creek · girls’ residence
Admissions 24/7
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Cave Creek residence location for El Mirage families
45 to 55 min northeast via Loop 101
Saddle Mountain Rd, 85331 · 20 min north
Surprise, Youngtown and Glendale, too
Travel, telehealth & aftercare
Every Nexus program, statewide
Explore residential programs by condition.
Start with what your daughter is struggling with. Each of the eight conditions below leads to one clinical team and shows how care works for families coming from El Mirage.
Across eight conditions, Nexus Teen Academy provides licensed residential care for teens 12 to 17: anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, self-harm, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, substance use and ADHD. Girls live and receive treatment at our girls-only residence in Cave Creek, 45 to 55 minutes northeast of El Mirage. El Mirage families, like families from the rest of Arizona, get guidance on drive times, practical travel help, and family therapy over secure video when coming in person is hard.
Depression care, statewide
Dual diagnosis treatment for girls in nearby cities
Whichever city below you call home, your daughter is treated at our Cave Creek residence. We help with the drive, coordinate school re-entry with your home district, and answer the questions local parents ask most.
More conditions treated at Nexus Teen Academy
Open any condition for its Arizona guide, then use the neighboring city links to see how care works from there.
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 on this list? Girls from any Arizona town, or from another state, are welcome. Phone (480) 485-3424 and we will map out the drive to Cave Creek with you.