Mental health recovery with lasting well-being is a broad and holistic concept. It requires more than addressing a limited set of symptoms, coping mechanisms, experiences, or skills. Well-being and resilience rely upon self-confidence, a sense of belonging, a clear identity, and supportive relationships with others.
At The Wave Clinic, our residential programs focus on building all of these things, not only through psychotherapy but also through enriching experiences, unforgettable memories, and meaningful friendships. By combining exceptional therapy with unequalled fun and global citizenship, we support young people to find long-term mental health resilience as they build fulfilling futures.
Our Therapy and Psychiatric Management
Our psychiatric and therapeutic teams comprise experts in child and adolescent psychiatry from around the world. We offer a diverse selection of evidence-based modalities that draw upon the latest medical research.
Rather than limiting treatment approaches to talk therapy, we emphasise a combination of approaches, including creative arts therapy, experiential therapy, and mind-body therapy. We address experiences of trauma from the start of the treatment process, focusing on the emotions, traits, and experiences that maintain mental health symptoms. We use both individual and group therapy, combining the unique benefits of both approaches.
Family involvement is central to our programs. We believe that families can play an invaluable role in mental health recovery, helping young people reinforce positive change while providing stability and support. We offer family therapy, parenting intensives, and experiential family activities, as well as close collaboration in treatment decision-making processes.
Our Enriching Experiential Activities
Alongside exceptional clinical care, our residential programs include enriching experiences that bring fun and practical learning to the therapeutic process. Situated in the breathtaking natural beauty of Malaysia, our treatment spaces offer unrivalled opportunities for outdoor adventure.
Many young people who join us at The Wave have developed social anxiety or a level of distance and isolation from others. Through our experiences, young people gain the practical skills, knowledge, and expertise to confidently approach social situations and connect with others.
We also encourage young people to share their talents, gifts, and passions with others.
Some of our experiences include:
- Camping adventures
- Jungle survival skills training
- Wild water adventures
- Orienteering
- Team games and challenges
- Martial arts
- Cooking and kitchen garden
Our Global Citizenship Programs
Through our global citizenship programs, young people become more aware of the wider world and their place within it. We create opportunities for young people to take responsibility for themselves and the world around them, growing in social awareness. Young people might take part in environmental and community projects, volunteer for charities, and acquire skills and knowledge from other communities.
Over the years, young people from The Wave have discovered and supported many projects, making a difference in the lives of other people, animals, and the environment as they continue their own journeys of personal growth.
Motivation in Residential Treatment
Motivation is a core prerequisite of growth and change. In the context of mental health recovery, intrinsic motivation is particularly important. Intrinsic motivation is the desire to engage in treatment because treatment is rewarding, not because of external rewards or consequences for engagement or disengagement.
Experts use different approaches to deconstructing and conceptualising intrinsic motivation. According to self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation is based on three core elements: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
- Autonomy involves believing that engagement in therapy is self-determined and a personal choice
- Competence involves feeling able to perform the tasks required by therapy
- Relatedness involves feeling connected to and supported by others
As these components vary and change, so can a young person’s motivation. Intrinsic motivation is dynamic and not static, fluctuating with time and changing conditions.
Fun, Friendships, and Motivation
Making residential treatment fun is a key part of maintaining intrinsic motivation. Including activities that young people can look forward to in residential programs helps adolescents choose to engage in treatment autonomously.
Experiences like team challenges, outdoor adventures, and global citizenship projects provide opportunities for young people to feel competent as they overcome fears, contribute to communities, help others, and complete tasks.
These opportunities enable young people to build deeper, meaningful friendships through shared experiences. As adolescents take part in enriching activities, learning, and growing together, they learn to trust one another and develop a sense of belonging. These connections and support systems encourage young people to commit to treatment and recovery.
Experiential Activities, Identity Building, and Learning by Doing
Activities and experiences during residential treatment are not only about motivation. These experiences help young people to develop their identities, discover interests and passions, and understand their place in the world.
Having a clear and stable identity, accompanied by a sense of belonging in a community, is a core aspect of mental health resilience. A coherent sense of self helps young people manage more turbulent emotions or instability in daily life and stay committed to pursuing the things they value in the future. This sense of safety and security in oneself provides a source of calm and comfort when things are tough.
Experiential activities are also opportunities to learn by doing, developing emotional, social, and other life skills in practice. This might involve improving interpersonal skills through team projects or reinforcing coping mechanisms for anxiety in challenging outdoor adventures. It might also involve other life skills, like management or leadership, that support young people to build stable and fulfilling futures.
Friendship in Mental Health Recovery
Interpersonal relationships, including friendships, family, and romantic relationships, are fundamental to our well-being and mental health. On the other hand, interpersonal difficulties, such as insecure relationships or social isolation, frequently contribute to and underpin mental health challenges.
Young people who begin residential treatment have often experienced insecure relationships with early caregivers or traumas growing up. These experiences can impact their ability to trust other people, form meaningful connections, and develop stable, mutually supportive relationships. Interpersonal difficulties are associated with a range of mental health disorders, including eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, and depression.
For example, recent research suggests that interpersonal problems are a key factor in both the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Social isolation can cause young people to put more and more focus on eating and body shape, without the broader perspective and value systems that friendships bring.
On the other hand, strengthening and building supportive relationships is a fundamental part of eating disorder recovery, helping young people to develop a rich and full identity with resilience and self-belief. More broadly, friendships with peers are an important source of support and acceptance where young people can develop social and emotional skills that underpin mental health recovery.
Research in residential care settings has established the importance of social support, supportive caregiving, and positive relationships with friends and family members for young people’s mental health.
Friendship During Adolescence and Young Adulthood
As young people move through adolescence, friendships take on an increasingly important role in their lives. They become more intimate and mutually dependent, and are often prioritised over other relationships. Young people tend to feel more comfortable sharing emotions and experiences with their friends than with other figures in their lives.
Research has consistently found that friendships protect against depression among adolescents. Teenagers with friends report feeling happier and having higher self-esteem.
Friendships formed during residential treatment not only support their mental health recovery at the time but also in the future. These friendships tend to be deep, close, and enduring, often developing into lifelong bonds. As young people move into young adulthood, their friendships play a vital role in self-worth and mental health resilience.
Finding Fun, Friendship, and Well-Being at The Wave Clinic
With all this in mind, The Wave Clinic strives to place fun and friendship at the centre of our programs. Our experiences and global citizenship programs nurture well-being and recovery, both in the short- and long-term. They lay the foundations for fulfilling and resilient futures, where young people can stay true to themselves and pursue their dreams.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our programs, get in touch today.
