Hillcrest Center in Lenox specializes in the treatment of boys and girls with extreme psychiatric, emotional and behavior disorders. Most Center students have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse and have become severely aggressive, sexually reactive, self injurious, or engage in fire setting. Most have been in psychiatric hospitals and/or have not succeeded in other residential settings due to the severity of their needs and behaviors. Many Center students have moderate to serious learning disabilities.
     The Center's integrated and highly structured therapeutic, medical, educational and residential programs are designed to teach the skills and foster the self-esteem and social competence necessary for self-control, continued growth and success for students who have known little but failure. As in all Hillcrest programs, the essence of the Center's approach to behavior change and growth is the systematic integration of program elements and student supports that include:

• Cognitive-behavioral skills training
• Adventure Based Counseling
• Individual and group therapy
• Behavior Motivational System
• Individualized special education and rehabilitation services
• A full range of health care services
• Growth stimulating activities, recreation and prevocational services

     Within an intensely structured, therapeutic and nurturing environment with high staff ratios, students learn the appropriate social skills and self-control necessary to function in a less restrictive setting. The extreme and/or dangerous behaviors that caused these students to fail in the past are managed and replaced with alternative, productive behaviors so that students are able to experience success and continue to grow.
     Hillcrest Center's 14-acre campus provides excellent recreational opportunities utilizing two athletic fields, a playground, two swimming pools, a go-kart track and a full size gymnasium. Students are active in Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, and they participate in camping, biking, skiing and other outdoor activities year round. The surrounding Berkshire communities offer a wide variety of educational, cultural and recreational resources.