Casie’s Story

Casie came to a residential facility at The Village Network after a county caseworker removed her from a home of anger and abuse. She can’t remember a time when mom and dad weren’t violently fighting, and she was sexually abused by her cousin when she was six years old. Her father was then incarcerated and her parents divorced by the time she was finishing elementary school.

When Casie was 14, she could no longer keep up with her classmates academically or socially. Unable to control her anger and outbursts, she became a danger to herself and her peers.

Upon Casie’s arrival at her new home at The Village Network, her therapist completed an assessment as part of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) evaluation in order to create her treatment plan.

Her initial evaluation showed that the trauma she had endured had caused a delay in development of her frontal cortex. This crucial area of the brain is responsible for decision making, self-awareness/ self-image, short term memory/ learning and abstract cognition. As a result, Casie struggled with conflict resolution and with managing her emotions.

Casie’s NMT evaluation suggested different therapies to promote self-regulation and relationship building.  She took part in art therapy where she was exposed to the pattern of repetitive movement technique which helps youth develop an internal rhythm as a regulating stress response.

To help Casie learn how to build trusting relationships, the NMT model also suggested animal assisted therapy.  Casie participated in The Village Network’s equine therapy program.

Because of Casie’s NMT evaluation, her therapist was able to communicate to the entire staff what her needs were. Understanding what her triggers were and where she needed to improve allowed them to have more patience and strategy in reacting to her outbursts and episodes. Casie went from multiple critical incidents and restraints in a week to zero in her last month at The Village Network.