- Joint Commission accredited
- Girls-only home
- Ages 12 to 17
- Admissions 24/7
Dual diagnosis treatment for teen girls near Peoria, AZ.
When a mental-health diagnosis and the substance she leans on to manage it are split between two programs, neither one tends to hold. Nexus Teen Academy treats them as a single problem, one residential program for girls ages 12 to 17 at the licensed Cave Creek residence, a straightforward drive east of Peoria along 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
Peoria parents, from the Loop 101 neighborhoods up toward Lake Pleasant, can leave contact details here. A licensed admissions counselor calls back, usually within minutes, to discuss fit, coverage and next steps. No pressure.
- 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
How Nexus Teen Academy supports Peoria 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. One clinical team works both sides at the girls' residence on desert acreage in Cave Creek, ages 12 to 17. For a lot of the families who find us from Peoria, the vaping or the drinking started as a fix, a way to turn down anxiety, mute a bad memory, or finally get some sleep. Treat the substance on its own and the reason it began is still there; treat the mood on its own and the using unravels every gain.
If a girl needs medically supervised withdrawal before she can begin, that step runs at a hospital and admissions schedules the transfer so treatment opens the day she is discharged. 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 Peoria, 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
What our residential dual diagnosis program includes.
Substance-use recovery and mental-health treatment held on one plan, inside a girls-only home with a predictable daily rhythm. Every girl who arrives from the northwest Valley gets each element below, measured each week against her own goals rather than a fixed calendar.
One shared assessment
Psychiatric history and substance history taken in a single sitting, with school records and prior care, so no one is left guessing which came first.
Detox timed up front
Withdrawal that needs 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 thinking, the triggers, and the using beneath them, five days a week.
Motivation and relapse work
For the girl who denies any problem, resistance is worked with rather than argued down, and the high-risk moments get a written plan.
Family and parent group
Weekly family sessions plus the Saturday parent group, because the Peoria home she returns to is part of the plan.
Psychiatric care on site
Medication managed at the residence by the prescriber, including what is safe alongside a history of misuse, with your consent at every change.
School that counts
Credit-bearing classes on site every weekday, so the schooling that slipped while she was using starts to recover.
A plan for afterward
A written plan for high-risk moments, outpatient care booked near Peoria, and a staged return to her Peoria Unified school.
- The diagnosis and the drinking or using, treated as one problem
Dual-diagnosis care
Conditions we treat with dual diagnosis care.
In these homes the anger and the flat mood almost never travel alone. National figures put a past-year major depressive episode at about 15% of adolescents and a substance use disorder at 7.8%, and the two run together: roughly a third of teens with depression reported illicit drug use, compared with 12% of teens without it.
At the Cave Creek residence one team holds the diagnosis and the substance use inside the same plan, with nothing shipped off to an outside provider midway, because staying clean while the underlying reason goes untouched rarely outlasts the first rough week back home.
How dual diagnosis takes root in girls
Primary focus
Co-occurring mental health and substance use in adolescent girls
Depression
Depression: usually the weight the substance was covering.
Anxiety & panic
Anxiety & panic: cannabis and alcohol used to slow the spin.
Trauma & PTSD
Trauma & PTSD: substances used to hold the memories down.
ADHD
ADHD: impulsivity meets easy access and moves fast.
Substance use
Substance use: alcohol, cannabis, vapes, or borrowed pills.
Defiance at home
Defiance at home: the daily fight that masks the using.
Self-harm
Self-harm: often emerges once substances are pulled away; screened at intake.
Safety firstSuicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation: assessed before any other work begins.
Safety first- Whatever she is facing, her care runs through one integrated plan, one clinical team and a single residential home.
The setting
The Cave Creek residence for dual diagnosis treatment.
The girls' residence sits on desert acreage in Cave Creek, roughly forty minutes east of Peoria once you leave Loop 101 for the north Valley. It is a genuine house arranged for early recovery: one steady routine, no substances and no dealers within reach, meals cooked and eaten as a group, staff awake overnight, and full AZDHS licensure.
Take a self-guided 3D walkthrough of the home
Life inside
Structure and routine in residential care.
Early in a stay the first hours after waking are the toughest, so they carry the tightest structure. Once every adult runs the day the same way, the cravings and the shouting matches that once set the tone 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
Evidence-based therapies for teen dual diagnosis.
Treating both conditions with one team at the same time, what clinicians call integrated care, is exactly what national guidelines recommend 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: built for the girl on the fence. Rather than debating her into agreement, it draws on the reasons she already carries to change.
- 2
CBT and relapse prevention
CBT + relapse prevention: triggers, high-risk situations, refusal skills, and a written plan for the moments that usually end in using.
- 3
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills: rehearsed daily, so there is something to grab for once the substance is gone.
Supporting care, running alongside
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR: when trauma is steering, it is treated directly, after she is stable rather than in her first days.
after stabilizationsafety firstFamily therapy and parent group
Family therapy + parent group: weekly family sessions, in person for 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 time with the horses, along with art and music, hours that rebuild a life with 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 residential staff are named as well. Every Arizona license listed 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
Family reviews of Nexus Teen Academy.
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
How admission works, from first call to first day.
- 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 on record, and whether anyone is at risk, then tells you straight whether residential care is the right level 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 run your plan and send back plain numbers for residential behavioral-health care, whether we are in network, and the realistic out-of-pocket, and both benefits matter 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; how recently she 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 named coordinator manages medical clearance, the drive in, 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 eases into the routine, and your first family update is on the calendar before you head back west toward Peoria.
- From here: predictable days, weekly updates, and a team your teen knows by name.
Coverage & cost
Using insurance for residential dual diagnosis treatment
Most major private insurance plans list residential mental-health treatment as a covered behavioral-health benefit, and Nexus Teen Academy accepts most major commercial insurers. For a Peoria family facing a dual diagnosis, the substance-use benefit counts as much as the mental-health one. We confirm both, in-network or out, free of charge and confidentially, typically the same day, and lay out any out-of-pocket amount in plain terms 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 clear picture of your dual diagnosis residential coverage, at no cost, in confidence, and with no obligation.
After discharge
Aftercare planning for Peoria families.
Discharge planning begins weeks out with you at the table: a teen PHP or IOP step-down where it makes sense, an outpatient therapist and prescriber booked close to Peoria, a written relapse plan that names her high-risk people, places, and hours, and a return to class coordinated with the Peoria Unified School District.
Answers
Dual diagnosis treatment FAQs for Peoria families
Direct answers for Peoria 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, a drive east of Peoria along Loop 101, serving families across the northwest Valley and the rest of Arizona. Admissions answers (480) 485-3424 at any hour.
It means two things are true at once: a mental-health condition such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, or ADHD, and a substance problem. Integrated treatment puts a single team on both together, instead of moving her back and forth 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 opens up what can be discussed: 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 built around that one population.
No. When withdrawal needs 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 covers what turns up most in adolescent girls: alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and vaping, prescription pills passed between friends, and stimulants. Clinically, what counts is the pattern and what the substance is doing for her, not the label on it.
With motivational interviewing instead of argument. Most girls show up convinced they do not belong here. The approach builds from her own reasons to change, and the daily structure hands her a sober baseline to judge from, usually within 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 it. Nexus Teen Academy accepts most private insurance and sends back your coverage, network standing, and likely costs before you decide anything.
Family work is built in: weekly family therapy, manageable in person given the drive from Peoria, a Saturday parent group, and daily phone calls. Because the home she returns to is part of the relapse plan, you are part of the treatment.
Yes, and the prescriber reviews everything she comes in on. Where a history of misuse makes a medication risky, the prescriber walks 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 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 Peoria and stages her return to school.
A certified teacher runs credit-bearing classes on site every weekday, and the credits transfer back to her Peoria 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 stop treatment from starting. Our counselors coach you through the conversation, and many girls who arrive sure they do not belong settle once the home 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.
What the data shows
Research on dual diagnosis in teen girls
Teenage girls now report more substance use than they did ten years ago, and the mental-health piece is usually already there. 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 arriving as a pair far more often than either turns up by itself.
The Arizona access figure is why northwest Valley families reach out early: when nearby help is thin, one program that treats both halves is often the faster route.
Group home alternatives for teen girls
Built like a family home, run as treatment.
Many Peoria parents begin by searching for a teen group home. Our girls-only home in Cave Creek, around 40 minutes east, holds an AZDHS license as a behavioral-health residential facility, which means the therapy and daily treatment take place inside the house instead of a separate site.
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
Girls from the cities listed below, Peoria among them, are treated at our Cave Creek residence. We can help you plan the drive, and parents join weekly therapy either on site or by secure video.
Across Arizona
Residential dual diagnosis care within reach of Peoria.
The residence sits north of the metro in Cave Creek, an easy trip east from Peoria that keeps weekly visits and family sessions doable for northwest Valley families. Admissions answers around the clock.
Around 40 minutes east of Peoria
Most of Peoria sits 35 to 45 minutes from Cave Creek, heading east along Loop 101 and up into the north Valley. That puts a weekly in-person family session within an evening's reach for many working parents.
Family therapy, near or far
Peoria families can attend weekly family therapy in person at the Cave Creek home or log in by secure video on busy weeks, and the Saturday parent group keeps you connected between visits.
Step-down care back in Peoria
Ahead of discharge we arrange step-down and outpatient care close to Peoria and work with Peoria Unified School District on a planned return to her own classroom.
Nexus Teen Academy, Cave Creek · girls’ residence
Admissions 24/7
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Distance from Peoria to the Cave Creek residence
35 to 45 min east to Cave Creek
Saddle Mountain Rd, 85331 · 20 min north
Glendale, Sun City and Surprise too
Travel, telehealth & aftercare
Every Nexus program, statewide
Teen treatment programs by condition.
Families in Peoria and fourteen other Arizona cities reach the same clinical team for eight conditions. Select the concern that fits your daughter, then read how care works from your area.
Licensed residential treatment at Nexus Teen Academy covers eight conditions for teen girls aged 12 to 17: anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, self-harm, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, substance use and ADHD. Girls live and are treated at our girls-only residence in Cave Creek, east of Peoria across the north Valley. Families from Peoria and every other part of Arizona get drive-time guidance, travel help and family therapy over secure video when coming in person is hard.
Depression care, statewide
Dual diagnosis care in other Arizona cities
Whichever city below you call home, your daughter is treated at our Cave Creek residence. We guide families through the drive, plan school re-entry with the home district, and cover what parents in each area ask most.
Other conditions we treat for teens
Open any condition for its Arizona guide, then use the city names alongside it to see care from those communities.
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
If your town is missing from this list, we still admit girls from across Arizona and out of state. Reach us at (480) 485-3424 and we will explain the drive to Cave Creek step by step.