- Joint Commission accredited
- Girls-only home
- Ages 12 to 17
- Admissions 24/7
Eating disorder treatment for teen girls near Anthem, AZ.
In a house that runs on practice schedules, honor-roll goals and early alarms, a daughter who skips lunch or suddenly swears off whole food groups can look disciplined rather than unwell. Nexus Teen Academy treats bulimia, ARFID, anorexia and binge eating disorder for daughters aged 12 to 17 at a licensed, girls-only house in Cave Creek, typically a 30 to 40 minute drive from 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
Parents in Anthem can ask for a callback here. A licensed admissions counselor typically rings within minutes to talk about how she has been eating, your insurance, and the options in front of you, with no pressure to decide.
- 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 Anthem families.
For many Anthem parents, the first sign is a pattern they almost admired: extra workouts, clean eating, a plate that keeps getting smaller. Nexus Teen Academy, an accredited residential program in Cave Creek, gives girls from 12 to 17 a single clinical team for their eating disorder. Restriction, bingeing and purging often take root as ways to cope with pressure, perfectionism, a hard loss or a body that changed too fast. Treatment there addresses the eating and those reasons at the same time.
A hospital sometimes has to come before residential care. Fainting, a heart rate that runs very slow, or abnormal labs mean she is stabilized there first, and admissions lines up her arrival with her clearance date. The home carries AZDHS licensure plus Joint Commission and LegitScript credentials.
Nexus Teen Academy provides residential treatment for teen eating disorders 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
What our residential eating disorder program includes.
Girls used to juggling five commitments often feel relief when the next step is already decided for them. Every resident takes part in all of the pieces below, and her team revisits her plan weekly, judging it by medical and emotional progress, never by a preset number of days.
An assessment of the whole girl
Eating patterns, weight history, labs, mental-health background and how school is going, reviewed together to build her plan.
Safe to start
If vitals or labs are unsafe, she goes to a hospital to be steadied, and admissions matches her arrival to her clearance date.
One-on-one therapy daily
Every weekday with a named licensed clinician, working on perfectionism, food rules and the feelings they cover up.
Structured, supported meals
Three meals plus planned snacks, staff at the table, a meal plan that grows with her recovery, and support after she eats.
Family sessions and Saturday group
Family therapy every week plus a parents-only group on Saturdays, where Anthem families rehearse supporting meals at home.
Psychiatric care on site
A prescriber on site can treat anxiety, depression or OCD symptoms with medication, and checks with you before each change.
Classes that keep her on track
A certified teacher leads weekday classes that count for transferable credit, so worry about falling behind can ease.
A written plan for home
Step-down care, providers near Anthem, written guidance on food and warning signs, and a staggered return to class.
- Less pressure, steadier meals, and the reasons treated too
Treated together
Mental health conditions linked to eating disorders.
NIMH's adolescent survey puts the lifetime rate for American teenage girls at 3.8%. It also found that teenagers with bulimia or binge eating disorder seldom had just the one diagnosis; anxiety, depression or another psychiatric condition was usually riding along.
In high-achieving girls, the push to get every grade, routine and rep exactly right tends to sit right next to the food rules. The Cave Creek team works on both in one plan, since eating gains usually fade when the perfectionism feeding them is left untouched.
When healthy eating turns into rules
Primary focus
ARFID, bulimia, anorexia (atypical included) and binge eating disorder in adolescent girls
Depression
Low mood that can hide behind a packed schedule.
Anxiety & perfectionism
Perfectionism that turns every meal into a test.
Trauma & PTSD
Restricting or bingeing to block out a hard memory.
ADHD
Impulsive eating, or forgetting meals altogether.
Substance use
Vapes or diet pills sometimes taken to suppress appetite.
Dual diagnosis
Substance use layered over a psychiatric condition.
Self-harm
May surface as eating changes; screened at intake.
Safety firstSuicidal ideation
Always evaluated first, before treatment starts.
Safety first- Whether it is anxiety, perfectionism or something else, the same Cave Creek team treats it inside her eating disorder plan.
The setting
The Cave Creek residence for eating disorder treatment.
Instead of a crowded calendar, her days at the Cave Creek house follow one steady pattern. The home sits on open acreage north of Phoenix; meals and snacks are cooked and shared at a single table; overnight staff stay awake; and AZDHS licenses the residence in full.
Take a self-guided 3D walkthrough of the home
Life inside
Structure and routine in residential care.
Early on, anxiety peaks at mealtimes, so that is where support concentrates. Staff meet negotiating and food rules calmly and identically, meal after meal, which leaves the disorder less room to argue its case.
- 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 eating disorders.
For adolescents, eating-disorder-focused family treatment carries the American Psychiatric Association's 2023 recommendation, and CBT-E has evidence among teens. A residential stay layers on daily meal support that no once-a-week office visit can match.
Core therapies
- 1
Family-based treatment
You take charge of meals for a time, then give control back as she heals, a structure that suits families used to doing everything.
- 2
CBT-E
Goes after the rules, the mirror checking and the belief that her worth depends on her shape, weight or performance.
- 3
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills
Daily practice with big emotions and distress, so the sting of a bad test or a lost game meets a skill, not a skipped meal.
Supporting care, running alongside
Exposure and body-image work
Once medically steady, she takes on feared foods and moments like a team dinner or a restaurant meal in small steps, with body-image work too.
feared foodsreal-life practiceFamily therapy and parent group
Weekly family therapy, in person for most Anthem parents or on secure video during packed weeks, plus the parents' group on Saturdays.
weekly sessionsparent groupEquine, art and experiential
Friday means equine sessions, and art and music fill out the week. All three let her body do something that is not measured, timed or scored.
horses on Fridaycreative work
Your teen's clinical team
Meet our licensed clinical team.
A licensed primary therapist is assigned to your daughter by name, a psychiatric prescriber joins her care, and you will come to know the residential staff too. Every Arizona license and accreditation shown below is public record you can confirm.
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
Expect a licensed counselor to ask, gently, what her plate looks like on a normal day, where her weight has gone, whether bingeing or purging has started, about dizziness or other warning signs, what she has been diagnosed with or treated for, and her safety. You finish the call with an honest opinion on whether this level of care suits her.
- What to have ready: nothing. Just call, questions are welcome, and there is no obligation.
2
- Same day
- Free & confidential
Coverage check
With your OK, our benefits team phones your insurer and returns with specifics: what the policy pays toward a residential behavioral-health stay, our network standing with them, and a frank guess at your out-of-pocket total. Your plan treats eating disorder care as mental-health coverage, and we translate what that means in dollars.
- 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 reads through everything: how she has eaten over time, where her weight has gone, psychiatric history, what treatment she has had, and any safety concerns, then names the level of care that fits. If her pediatrician's newest vitals or bloodwork look shaky, hospital stabilization is arranged ahead of admission.
- 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
One coordinator keeps track of medical clearance, school paperwork, prescriptions and travel, and hands you a vetted what-to-bring list, so move-in day feels organized, not rushed.
- 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
On arrival day she gets to know her team and shares a meal with the other girls, and your first family session gets a date before you head home.
- From here: predictable days, weekly updates, and a team your teen knows by name.
Coverage & cost
Using insurance for residential eating disorder treatment
Residential eating disorder care generally counts as behavioral-health coverage under major private plans, and Nexus Teen Academy works with most commercial carriers. For Anthem households we look into your daughter's specific policy for free and confidentially, often wrapping up that same day, and report whether we are in network plus a clear figure for what you would pay yourself, all 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
Learn what your insurance covers for her residential eating disorder treatment, at no cost or obligation.
After discharge
Aftercare planning for Anthem families.
Weeks before discharge, you help shape the next chapter: a PHP or IOP program if her team advises one, outpatient providers near Anthem (therapist, dietitian, pediatrician), a written sheet on meals and what an early slide looks like, and a staggered return to her Deer Valley school.
Answers
Eating disorder treatment FAQs for Anthem families
From the I-17 drive to meal plans and school credits, here is what Anthem families tend to ask first.
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. For Anthem parents searching adolescent eating disorder treatment near me, the closest Nexus Teen Academy option is a Cave Creek house just for girls, roughly 30 to 40 minutes off I-17, serving ages 12 to 17. Admissions: (480) 485-3424, any hour.
Most Anthem parents drive over for the weekly family session, since the trip runs 30 to 40 minutes. On weeks crowded with a sibling's games or work travel, you can join by secure video instead.
Yes, only girls 12 to 17 live in the Cave Creek home. Body image, periods, measuring herself against feeds online, and pressure from sports or dance surface daily in eating disorder work, and those talks come easier among girls.
Many girls say exactly that, because the disorder presents restriction as discipline. Our counselors help you plan the conversation, and girls who arrive reluctant often soften once meals are predictable and no one is debating food with them.
Care & cost
Yes. Perfectionism, sports and dance can hide restriction for months because it looks like dedication. Skipped meals, rigid food rules, secret exercise or lightheadedness at practice all warrant an assessment, whatever her report card says.
All the main ones. That means binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, ARFID, OSFED for patterns that do not fit neatly elsewhere, and anorexia nervosa, whether classic or atypical. We treat the purpose the behavior serves for her, not only its name.
Bring us her latest pediatric visit. If she has passed out, her pulse has slowed a great deal, her blood pressure dips, her electrolytes are off or the weight is dropping fast, hospital doctors steady her first; we then set her Cave Creek start for the day they release her.
Often, yes, provided medical necessity is established, since eating disorder care is a mental-health benefit. We work with most major private insurers, and our free benefits check usually comes back within the same day.
Plan for about 30 days or more at first; the real length depends on her clinical progress. By the time she comes home, step-down care, outpatient providers near Anthem and a written meal plan are ready.
Licensing & privacy
Yes, and we encourage it. Arizona's Department of Health Services issues the license (behavioral-health residential), accreditation is held with The Joint Commission, and LegitScript provides certification. Each organization confirms status directly.
HIPAA governs her health information, which reaches only people you have approved, perhaps her pediatrician or one school contact. Conversations with admissions stay confidential and commit you to nothing.
Only with your written permission. Some families choose one school contact so credits from our weekday classes transfer smoothly; coaches hear nothing unless you decide they should.
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.
Why it matters
Research on eating disorder in teen girls
The CDC's 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey heard persistent sadness or hopelessness from more than half of the country's high school girls. Many eating disorders begin against that backdrop; each figure below lists its source.
3.8%
of American girls aged 13 to 18 have dealt with an eating disorder during their lives so far, versus 2.7% of teens as a whole (NIMH, NCS-A).
3.0%
is the lifetime figure at 17 to 18 years old; at 13 to 14 it was 2.4%, so the numbers climb as high school goes on (NIMH, NCS-A).
49%
full remission rate for teens with anorexia one year after family-based treatment, compared with 23% for those given individual therapy (Lock et al., 2010).
1 in 4
teenagers in Arizona needing mental-health care called access very difficult or impossible (AZDHS, 2026).
Because rates climb through high school and girls carry most of the burden, a slide from 'eating healthy' to strict rules deserves a real evaluation early.
With a quarter of Arizona adolescents saying needed mental-health care was very hard or impossible to reach, Anthem parents are wise to call early; Cave Creek is 30 to 40 minutes away and admissions picks up at any hour.
Group home alternatives for teen girls
Warm like a home, structured like treatment.
Plenty of families start their search with the words group home. Our Cave Creek house has that lived-in, family-table feel for girls only, while operating as an AZDHS-licensed behavioral-health residential facility. Her meals, therapy and school all stay under that one 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
Anthem is one of many cities whose girls have been treated in Cave Creek; here are others. We help with trip planning, and parents stay in weekly family therapy, sitting in person or joining over a secure connection.
Across Arizona
Residential eating disorder care within reach of Anthem.
Most Anthem parents reach the residence in 30 to 40 minutes via I-17 and then east, a trip that fits an evening family session or a weekend visit. Calls to admissions are picked up day and night.
30 to 40 minutes via I-17
From Anthem, parents take I-17 south from Daisy Mountain Drive and turn east toward Cave Creek, usually 30 to 40 minutes. That fits a weekly family session after work or a Sunday visit.
Family therapy on your schedule
Plenty of Anthem parents make family therapy at the house a weekly habit, and a secure video link steps in when tournaments, recitals or work trips crowd the week.
Coming home to Anthem
Discharge planning lines up a step-down program such as PHP or IOP, a therapist, dietitian and pediatrician in reach of Anthem, and a paced return with Deer Valley Unified schools.
Nexus Teen Academy, Cave Creek · girls’ residence
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Distance from Anthem to the Cave Creek residence
About 30 to 40 min by car
Saddle Mountain Rd, 85331 · 20 min north
Desert Hills, New River, north Phoenix
Travel, telehealth & aftercare
Every Nexus program, statewide
Teen treatment programs by condition.
Begin with the concern that sounds most like your daughter, then see what treatment looks like for families from your area of the state. One team treats them all.
Teens from 12 to 17 receive licensed residential treatment at Nexus Teen Academy for a wide spread of needs: eating disorders first on this page, then depression, self-harm, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar disorder, substance use, suicidal ideation, and trauma and PTSD. Anthem daughters with eating disorders stay at the Cave Creek residence, a home kept for girls alone, and parents from here or elsewhere in the state get directions, travel help, and a video link for family sessions on weeks the drive will not work.
Depression care, statewide
Eating disorder care in other Arizona cities
Daughters from the cities below come to Cave Creek for care. Each city page explains the drive, keeping meals steady at home, how she re-enters her local school, and what parents there usually ask.
Other conditions we treat for teens
Each condition opens onto its Arizona guide, and the nearby town pages cover the drive and details 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
Town not on the list? Girls come to Cave Creek from all around Arizona, and some from other states. Dial (480) 485-3424 for directions and a plain walk-through of admission.