- Joint Commission accredited
- Girls-only home
- Ages 12 to 17
- Admissions 24/7
Dual diagnosis treatment for teen girls near Youngtown, AZ.
Sober by itself and struggling underneath by itself are two treatments that keep undoing each other. Nexus Teen Academy runs them as one, a single residential program for girls ages 12 to 17 at the licensed Cave Creek residence, a drive east of Youngtown off Grand Avenue and 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
Calling from Youngtown or elsewhere in the northwest Valley? Leave a number and a licensed admissions counselor will phone you back, usually within minutes, to talk through fit, coverage and what comes next, with 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
About Nexus Teen Academy's dual diagnosis program for girls.
Nexus Teen Academy is a licensed, Joint Commission-accredited residential program for adolescent girls living with a mental-health diagnosis and a substance problem together. One clinical team treats both sides at the girls' residence on desert acreage in Cave Creek, ages 12 to 17. For a lot of the working families who find us from Youngtown, the vaping or the drinking started as a fix, a way to turn down anxiety, mute a bad memory, or finally fall asleep. Take on the substance alone and the reason it started is still there; take on the mood alone and the using unravels the gains.
If a girl needs supervised withdrawal before she can start, that part is done at a hospital and admissions schedules the handoff so treatment opens the day she is released. The program is clinician-led, AZDHS-licensed, Joint Commission accredited, and LegitScript certified, with staff kept awake through the night.
Nexus Teen Academy provides residential treatment for teen dual diagnosis for families from Youngtown, 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
Inside our dual diagnosis treatment program for teen girls.
Substance-use recovery and mental-health treatment held on one plan, inside a girls-only home that keeps the same daily shape. Every girl who arrives from the northwest Valley receives each part listed here, checked each week against her own progress rather than a set number of days.
One shared assessment
Psychiatric and substance histories taken side by side, with school records and past care, so no one is left guessing which problem came first.
Detox handled up front
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 each 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 who is sure there is no problem, resistance is met rather than argued with, and every high-risk moment gets a written plan.
Family and parent group
Weekly family sessions plus the Saturday parent group, because the Youngtown 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 each change.
School that counts
A certified teacher runs credit-bearing classes every weekday, so the schoolwork that slid while she was using starts to recover.
A map for after
She leaves with a written relapse plan, a therapist and prescriber lined up near Youngtown, and a gradual return to her Dysart school.
- Her mental health and her using, worked on as one problem
Dual-diagnosis care
Mental health conditions treated alongside substance use.
In these families the anger or the flat mood almost never travels alone. Across the country, roughly 15% of adolescents went through a major depressive episode in the past year and 7.8% met the bar for a substance use disorder, and the overlap is steep: about a third of teens with depression reported illicit drug use, compared with 12% of those without it.
Inside the Cave Creek residence one team carries the diagnosis and the substance use on the same plan, with nothing shipped elsewhere partway through, because staying clean while the reason goes untouched rarely holds through the first rough week back home.
How co-occurring struggles take hold in girls
Primary focus
Co-occurring mental health and substance use in adolescent girls
Depression
Frequently the load the using was meant to lighten.
Anxiety & panic
Alcohol or cannabis reached for to quiet the noise.
Trauma & PTSD
Substances used to hold the memories down.
ADHD
Impulsivity meets easy access and moves fast.
Substance use
Alcohol, cannabis, vapes, or shared pills.
Defiance at home
The daily blowups that mask the using.
Self-harm
Often climbs once substances are pulled away; screened at intake.
Safety firstSuicidal ideation
Assessed before any other work starts.
Safety first- Whatever brought her here, one clinical team keeps every piece of her care on a single plan inside one residential home.
The setting
A licensed residential setting for teen girls.
The girls' residence sits on desert acreage in Cave Creek, close enough that a Youngtown parent can make the run in under an hour by way of the Loop 101. It is a genuine house set up for the early weeks of recovery: one predictable routine, no substances and no dealers anywhere near, 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
A typical day in residential dual diagnosis treatment.
Early in a stay the first stretch after waking is the toughest, so it holds the tightest structure. When every adult runs the day the same way, the cravings and the fights 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
How we treat co-occurring disorders in teen girls.
Integrated care, one team working both conditions at once, is what national guidance recommends for co-occurring disorders. A residential setting supplies the supervised hours that a weekly outpatient visit was never going to reach.
Core therapies
- 1
Motivational interviewing
Built for a girl on the fence. Instead of talking her into it, it starts from the reasons she already carries for changing.
- 2
CBT and relapse prevention
Triggers, high-risk spots, ways to refuse, and a written plan for the moments that usually end in using.
- 3
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills
Rehearsed daily, so she has something real to reach for once the substance is gone.
Supporting care, running alongside
Trauma-focused CBT and EMDR
When trauma is doing the steering, it is treated directly, once she is stable rather than in week one.
after stabilizationsafety firstFamily therapy and parent group
Weekly family sessions, in person for northwest Valley families and by secure video for those farther out, plus the Saturday parent group.
weeklyhome planEquine, 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 residential staff go by name 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
What Arizona families say about 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
The admission process, 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 on record, and whether anyone is unsafe, then tells you straight 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 say-so we check your plan and hand back plain numbers for residential behavioral-health care, where you stand in network, and the realistic out-of-pocket, and both benefits count here, the mental-health one and the substance-use one.
- 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; her last use and any withdrawal history settle whether hospital detox has 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 handles medical clearance, the trip in, school records, prescriptions, and a packing list gone over for safety, so nothing about arrival day catches you by surprise.
- 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 rhythm, and your first family update is on the calendar before you head back toward Youngtown.
- From here: predictable days, weekly updates, and a team your teen knows by name.
Coverage & cost
Insurance coverage for dual diagnosis treatment
For most Youngtown families on a major private plan, residential mental-health care is a covered behavioral-health benefit, and with a dual diagnosis the substance-use benefit counts just as much as the mental-health one. Nexus Teen Academy works with most major commercial insurers. We check your exact benefits, in-network or out-of-network, free and confidentially, usually the same day, and walk you through any out-of-pocket cost in plain terms before you decide anything.
- 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
Find out, free and in confidence, what your plan pays toward residential dual diagnosis care, with nothing to sign.
After discharge
Step-down care and aftercare near Youngtown.
Discharge planning begins weeks out with you in the room: a teen PHP or IOP step-down where it suits her, an outpatient therapist and prescriber arranged close to Youngtown, a written relapse plan that names the people, places, and hours that put her at risk, and a return to class coordinated with the Dysart district.
Answers
Frequently asked questions about dual diagnosis treatment
Direct answers for Youngtown 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 forty to fifty minutes east of Youngtown by way of the 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 one team on both together, rather than passing 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 changes what can be said out loud: sexual-trauma history, self-harm, disordered eating, and the social pressures that push a lot of teenage girls toward using all get worked on openly, and groups, bedrooms, and staffing are shaped around that one group.
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. What matters clinically 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 certain they do not belong here. The approach builds from her own reasons to change, and the steady routine gives her a sober baseline to measure against, 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 returns your coverage, network position, and likely costs before you decide anything.
Family work is built in: weekly family therapy, easy to attend in person given the short drive from Youngtown, 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 being told, a family ready for the home plan, and a step-down in place. Before discharge your case manager lines up an outpatient therapist near Youngtown and stages her return to school.
A certified teacher runs credit-bearing classes on site every weekday, and the credits transfer back to her Dysart 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 starting. Our counselors coach you through the conversation, and many girls who arrive sure they do not belong ease up 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.
The data
Teen dual diagnosis statistics parents should know
Teenage girls report more substance use than they did ten years ago, and the mental-health piece is usually already present. Every figure below carries a 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).
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 sides is often the faster route.
Residential care vs. a teen group home
It looks like a group home and works like treatment.
Looking for a teen group home near Youngtown? Girls from the northwest Valley live at our girls-only home in Cave Creek, which AZDHS licenses as a behavioral-health residential facility. Therapy, schooling and recovery all happen right inside the house, never across town.
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 every city listed here are treated at our Cave Creek residence. We help families plan the drive, and parents join weekly family therapy either in person or over secure video.
Across Arizona
From Youngtown to Cave Creek: travel and visits.
The girls' residence sits north of the metro in Cave Creek, roughly forty to fifty minutes from Youngtown, which keeps it an easy trip for weekly visits and family sessions. Admissions answers around the clock.
Forty to fifty minutes from Youngtown
From Youngtown, the drive to Cave Creek runs east by way of Grand Avenue and the Loop 101, usually forty to fifty minutes. That keeps weekly family sessions and weekend visits within an easy afternoon.
In person or on secure video
Most Youngtown parents can make weekly family therapy in person in Cave Creek, and on weeks when work or school runs late the same session moves to secure video, so no week of her treatment gets skipped.
Aftercare lined up around Youngtown
Before discharge we set up step-down and outpatient care close to Youngtown and plan her return to class with her home district, whether that is Dysart Unified or Peoria Unified.
Nexus Teen Academy, Cave Creek · girls’ residence
Admissions 24/7
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Directions from Youngtown to Cave Creek
40 to 50 min to Cave Creek via Loop 101
Saddle Mountain Rd, 85331 · 20 min north
Sun City, Peoria and El Mirage too
Travel, telehealth & aftercare
Every Nexus program, statewide
Find the right program for your daughter.
Eight conditions, a single clinical team, and a route that starts in Youngtown. Pick what your daughter is dealing with and see how care works for families in the northwest Valley.
Nexus Teen Academy offers licensed residential treatment for teens aged 12 to 17 across eight conditions: anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, self-harm, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, substance use and ADHD. Girls are treated at our girls-only residence in Cave Creek, a drive of roughly forty to fifty minutes from Youngtown. Families from Youngtown and every other corner of Arizona receive drive-time guidance, help with travel, and family therapy by secure video whenever an in-person visit is not practical.
Depression care, statewide
Nearby cities we serve for dual diagnosis care
Girls from each city below are treated at our Cave Creek residence. We guide families through the drive, the return to school with their home district, and the questions parents from each area raise most often.
Related teen treatment programs
Every condition links to its Arizona guide, and the city links beside it explain care for families living 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
Don't see your city? We accept girls from anywhere in Arizona and from out of state. Call (480) 485-3424 and we will walk you through the drive to Cave Creek and what the first week looks like.