- Joint Commission accredited
- Girls-only home
- Ages 12 to 17
- Admissions 24/7
Eating disorder treatment for teen girls near El Mirage, AZ.
Most El Mirage parents ask what residential care will cost before they ask about therapy, and we think that is a sensible order. Nexus Teen Academy treats teenage girls, 12 to 17, who have ARFID, binge eating disorder, bulimia or anorexia at its licensed Cave Creek residence, and your insurance gets checked for free before anyone asks you to commit to anything.
- 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
Want numbers before anything else? Leave contact details, and a licensed counselor from admissions calls back promptly to cover coverage, costs, and next steps. There is no obligation of any kind.
- 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 El Mirage families.
What Nexus Teen Academy is: an AZDHS-licensed treatment home in Cave Creek, with Joint Commission accreditation, for girls ages 12 to 17 who have eating disorders. A single clinical team handles her care from intake through discharge. What it is not: a hospital, or a place that skips over why she quit eating. Restriction, purging and binges usually start somewhere, in anxiety, perfectionism, grief, or a body that changed fast, and that source gets worked on right beside the food.
Our limits, stated up front: a girl who is fainting, whose heart rate is far too slow, or whose labs look worrying is stabilized in a hospital before admission, and we then set her date around that clearance. On credentials: AZDHS licenses us, The Joint Commission accredits us, LegitScript certifies us.
Nexus Teen Academy provides residential treatment for teen eating disorders 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
What our residential eating disorder program includes.
Here is the whole list; nothing is saved for later. Supported meals, daily therapy, schoolwork and family sessions run off one written plan, and each week the team scores that plan against her medical and emotional markers, the same sort of progress detail insurers typically request while a stay is underway.
Assessment before a plan
Eating patterns, weight trend, labs, psychiatric history and school records get reviewed as a set before anyone writes her treatment plan.
Hospital care comes first
A girl whose vitals or labs show instability is stabilized in a hospital, and admission is scheduled once she is cleared.
Individual therapy, daily
Each weekday she meets one licensed clinician of her own to work on fear, food rules, and the emotions underneath them.
Structured meal plan
Three meals and scheduled snacks, staff seated with her, and portions that increase as her body recovers.
Parents in the room
Weekly family therapy, plus a Saturday group just for parents, teaches you to handle home meals well ahead of discharge.
Medication, with consent
A psychiatric prescriber on site addresses anxiety, depression or OCD symptoms, and you approve every change.
Credits keep counting
Weekday classes taught by a certified teacher, and credits that transfer to her school so she does not fall behind.
Written step-down plan
A written guide to meals and warning signs, outpatient referrals near El Mirage, and a measured return to Dysart Unified.
- Food, feelings, and the causes underneath, treated as one
Treated alongside
Mental health conditions linked to eating disorders.
Plan on more than one diagnosis. NIMH's adolescent survey pegs the lifetime rate at 3.8% among girls 13 to 18 versus 2.7% for all teens, and adolescents diagnosed with bulimia, or with binge eating disorder, usually met criteria for some other psychiatric diagnosis too, anxiety and mood disorders above all.
That affects your calendar and your paperwork as much as her recovery. Splitting the eating disorder from the anxiety or trauma means two intakes and two stacks of forms; in Cave Creek one team carries both on a shared plan, since progress with food alone tends to slide once she is home.
The facts on eating disorders in girls
Primary focus
Bulimia, anorexia, ARFID, binge eating disorder and OSFED in adolescent girls
Depression
Low mood that tends to worsen with restriction.
Anxiety & perfectionism
Perfectionism that makes food a scorecard.
Trauma & PTSD
Bingeing or restricting to push down a past trauma.
ADHD
Impulsive eating that makes binges harder to stop.
Substance use
Diet pills, nicotine or drinking to suppress hunger.
Dual diagnosis
Drinking or drug use layered on a mental-health diagnosis.
Self-harm
Screened at intake; it can surface as eating changes.
Safety firstSuicidal ideation
Assessed before any other part of care starts.
Safety first- One plan, one team, one home, whatever diagnosis sits under the eating disorder, with no handoffs to a second program.
The setting
The Cave Creek residence for eating disorder treatment.
It is an actual house on a desert parcel in Cave Creek, around 30 minutes above central Phoenix, with El Mirage 45 to 55 minutes away on the Loop 101. The day follows a fixed timetable built around meals, everyone eats at a single table, staff are up through every night, and AZDHS licensing covers the whole operation.
Take a self-guided 3D walkthrough of the home
Life inside
Structure and routine in residential care.
Early meals are the hardest part, so they get the heaviest support. Every staff member meets bargaining and food rules with an identical calm response, which removes the openings the disorder relies on to negotiate.
- 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.
No hype, just the guideline: APA guidance from 2023 recommends that adolescents get family treatment whose focus stays on the eating disorder, and CBT-E carries research support among teenagers. Residential care adds the one thing outpatient cannot: staff support at every single meal.
Core therapies
- 1
Family-based treatment
Parents take over meals for a period, then return control to her in stages. The APA's 2023 guideline recommends this kind of family treatment for teens.
- 2
CBT-E
Targets the rules, the checking and the over-focus on shape and weight that keep an eating disorder going; supported for teens.
- 3
Emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance skills
Daily skill practice for strong emotions, giving any urge to restrict, binge or purge somewhere else to land.
Supporting care, running alongside
Exposure and body-image work
Once she is medically stable, she takes on the foods she dreads and the situations she dodges, in measured steps, her therapist present.
exposurebody imageFamily therapy and parent group
A family session every week, in Cave Creek or by a secure video connection, along with Saturday coaching for parents on home meals.
family sessionsparent groupEquine, art and experiential
Equine work every Friday, plus art and music, giving her hours inside her body that have nothing to do with size or numbers.
equine Fridaysart and music
Your teen's clinical team
Meet our licensed clinical team.
You get names rather than a rotating cast: her licensed primary therapist, the psychiatric prescriber, the residential staff. Each license on this page is a public record, and we would rather you verify them than trust us.
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
Step one is a phone call with a licensed counselor. Expect questions on what she eats at the moment, weight changes, any purging or bingeing, medical warning signs, prior diagnoses and treatment, and safety. You get an honest read on whether residential is the right level, including when it is not.
- 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 we call your insurer and come back to you, usually the same day, with the answers: in network or not, which residential behavioral-health benefits apply, and a realistic number for your share. Eating disorder care counts as a mental-health benefit, and we tell you how your particular plan handles it.
- 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 clinician weighs her weight trend, her eating and psychiatric background, any past treatment, and her current safety before recommending a level of care. That recommendation also helps document medical necessity for your insurer. Recent labs and vitals from her pediatrician show whether a hospital 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
One coordinator owns the logistics, from medical clearance and school records to prescriptions, travel and packing, and flags ahead of time anything that needs your signature.
- 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
Arrival day: introductions to her care team, a first meal inside the residence, and a family update date set before you leave for El Mirage.
- From here: predictable days, weekly updates, and a team your teen knows by name.
Coverage & cost
Using insurance for residential eating disorder treatment
Most large private plans put residential eating disorder treatment under the mental-health benefit, and Nexus Teen Academy takes most large commercial carriers. Approval usually hinges on medical necessity. We confirm her benefits, network or not, at no charge and in confidence, typically that same day, and state plainly what, if anything, your share comes to 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
Ask for a free, confidential benefits check on residential eating disorder care. No obligation attached.
After discharge
Aftercare planning for El Mirage families.
Discharge planning starts weeks early, and you are in it. Expect a recommendation on partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient where it fits, referrals near El Mirage for outpatient therapy, dietitian visits and a pediatrician, a written plan covering meals and warning signs, and a gradual restart at her Dysart Unified school. We also help you check how your plan pays for each step-down.
Answers
Eating disorder treatment FAQs for El Mirage families
What El Mirage parents ask us, from the drive and girls-only care to insurance, medical necessity, and privacy.
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, within driving range. No program sits inside El Mirage itself, but for families typing eating disorder help near me, the girls' residence Nexus Teen Academy runs in Cave Creek is under an hour away, northeast via the Loop 101, and treats girls ages 12 to 17. Call (480) 485-3424, day or night.
Budget 45 to 55 minutes per leg on the Loop 101. Parents come out for family sessions and scheduled visits, and when the drive does not work that week, the session moves to secure video.
Yes. Only girls ages 12 to 17 live in the Cave Creek house. Topics like periods, body changes, social media and past sexual trauma are easier to raise in a group of girls, and that openness helps the work move.
Resistance is expected; the disorder often convinces her she is fine. Admissions counselors help you plan what to say, and girls who come in reluctant commonly ease up once meals become routine and nobody argues about food.
Care & cost
It is the standard insurers use to decide whether a level of care is justified. For residential eating disorder care, plans typically look at medical status, weight and eating behaviors, safety, and whether outpatient care has been enough. Our clinical assessment documents these points.
Ask whether residential mental-health treatment is covered, whether prior authorization is required, what your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum are, and whether out-of-network benefits apply. Or let us run the free benefits check and ask for you.
You share your plan information, we contact the insurer, and usually within the day you hear back on network status, what residential behavioral-health coverage looks like and a realistic cost estimate. It is confidential and commits you to nothing.
If vitals or labs show her heart rate running very slow, blood pressure dropping, electrolytes out of range or weight falling fast, a hospital steadies her first. Admissions stays in touch with that hospital team and books her Cave Creek start around her clearance.
Expect a planned length of roughly 30 days or more, adjusted against clinical markers like steady eating and medical stability. Conditions treated: anorexia (atypical anorexia included), ARFID, bulimia, OSFED and binge eating disorder.
Licensing & privacy
AZDHS licenses the Cave Creek residence for behavioral-health residential care. The Joint Commission accredits it, LegitScript certifies it, and each credential is public and checkable before you decide.
HIPAA protects her records. Information goes to your insurer only as needed for coverage, and to others, such as her pediatrician or school, only with your authorization.
Yes. Her primary therapist updates you regularly, family therapy is weekly either face to face or over secure video, and the Saturday parents' group covers home meal support in practical terms.
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 numbers
Research on eating disorder in teen girls
In 2023, CDC data found persistent sadness or hopelessness in more than 50% of U.S. high school girls. Below are the sourced numbers on eating disorders specifically.
3.8%
is how many U.S. girls 13 to 18 have ever had an eating disorder; across all adolescents the share is 2.7% (NIMH, NCS-A).
3.0%
lifetime share by 17 to 18 years old, compared with 2.4% among 13- to 14-year-olds in the same survey (NIMH, NCS-A).
49%
full remission rate a year out for teens with anorexia who received family-based treatment; individual therapy reached 23% (Lock et al., 2010).
1 in 4
Arizona adolescents needing care for their mental health called getting it very difficult or impossible (AZDHS, 2026).
Rates climb across the teen years and peak in girls, which argues for an assessment at the first signs, not after a year of watching.
For El Mirage parents, the Arizona access gap is a reason to get a benefits check and a clinical assessment moving now, instead of waiting for an outpatient slot to open.
Group home alternatives for teen girls
Homelike to live in, clinical in how it works.
Comparing group homes because your daughter has an eating disorder? Know what sits on each side of the comparison. The girls-only Cave Creek house holds a state behavioral-health residential license from AZDHS, which makes meals, therapy and school part of licensed treatment.
A typical group home
- Licensed for shelter and supervision
- Daily living and structure
- Supervision, not clinical treatment
Nexus homes
- AZDHS behavioral-health residential licence
- Daily therapy and psychiatric care
- Accredited school on site
Families from the Phoenix metro 9 cities
Families from Greater Arizona 6 cities
The cities listed here all send girls our way. We work through the drive with each family, and weekly family therapy happens on site or on a secure video link.
Across Arizona
Residential eating disorder care within reach of El Mirage.
From El Mirage the drive heads northeast on the Loop 101 and usually runs 45 to 55 minutes, short enough for a standing weekly visit. Admissions picks up around the clock, weekends and holidays included.
Under an hour from El Mirage
The Loop 101 links El Mirage and Cave Creek in roughly 45 to 55 minutes, short enough that weekly family sessions and visits never require an overnight stay.
Video when you need it
Family therapy meets weekly, face to face when you can make it and on secure video when you cannot, so staying involved never has to cost you a missed day of work or a lost shift.
After discharge, close to home
We recommend partial hospitalization or IOP where it fits, make referrals near El Mirage to a dietitian, a pediatrician and an outpatient counselor, and coordinate her return with Dysart Unified.
Nexus Teen Academy, Cave Creek · girls’ residence
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Distance from El Mirage to the Cave Creek residence
Loop 101 northeast, under an hour
Saddle Mountain Rd, 85331 · 20 min north
Surprise, Glendale and Youngtown as well
Travel, telehealth & aftercare
Every Nexus program, statewide
Teen treatment programs by condition.
Start with the issue your daughter is facing. Every condition is handled by one clinical team, and each page shows what the process looks like from your corner of Arizona.
Nexus Teen Academy's licensed residential program, open to teens 12 to 17, covers depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal ideation, trauma and PTSD, substance use, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. Girls whose main struggle is an eating disorder stay in the girls-only Cave Creek residence. El Mirage families get a free benefits check, straightforward cost information, drive-time help, and video family therapy on a secure connection whenever the trip cannot happen.
Depression care, statewide
Eating disorder care in other Arizona cities
Every city page below explains the trip to Cave Creek, what school re-entry involves with that district, and the coverage and logistics questions parents there raise.
Other conditions we treat for teens
Condition links go to our Arizona overviews, and city links add the local drive and school details.
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
Your town is not here? That does not change eligibility: admission is open statewide and to out-of-state families. Call (480) 485-3424 for drive details and a free benefits check.