By the time most parents reach Turning Winds residential treatment center, they have already walked through seasons of heartbreak they never imagined they would face. They have tried everything with their teen including therapy appointments, school meetings, consequences, medication changes, late-night conversations, desperate prayers, and a thousand small attempts to reconnect with a child who seems to be slipping further away.
Some have spent years fighting cycles of emotional withdrawal or dangerous behaviors, while others simply do not have the tools to help their child battle very real addiction patterns that have rippled through their families for generations.
Behind their exhaustion is a grief few can understand unless they have lived it themselves. It is the grief of watching your child struggle and feeling powerless to stop it. The Baisden family understands that grief intimately.
It is the very reason Turning Winds exists.
In 1993, just two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Vanessa Baisden was taken hostage and murdered. Her father, John Baisden, and her brother, John Jr., along with the rest of the family, were thrust into a level of pain that permanently reshaped their lives. Grief can harden some people, but for the Baisdens, it did the opposite. Their loss became a calling. They wanted to help other families avoid the agony they had endured. They wanted to create a place where brokenness could begin to heal and where teens on the brink of crisis could rediscover the possibility of a different future.
Nearly a decade later, in 2002, they opened Turning Winds.
What began as one family’s mission of compassion has evolved into one of Montana’s most respected therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers for adolescents. Over the past twenty-plus years, Turning Winds has welcomed teens ages 13 to 18 from across the country, helping them work through depression, anxiety, trauma, substance use, behavioral issues, family conflict, school withdrawal, and the emotional fallout of a world that often moves faster than they can manage.
Their average stay of six to nine months is far longer than most modern treatment programs and is one of the keys to their success. Change takes time, and Turning Winds is built around that truth.
“Our mission is simple,” said CFO John Baisden Jr. “Rescue teens from crisis, renew their belief in their potential, and reunite them with their families.”
Turning Winds sits on a 150-acre campus in the remote Yaak Valley of Northwest Montana, a landscape that feels untouched by the noise and pressure of the outside world. For many parents and teens, that first glimpse of campus -- the river, the mountains, the stillness -- brings tears. It is the feeling of finally being somewhere that understands.
The setting is not an aesthetic choice. It is intentional. Nature slows the mind, quiets the nervous system, lifts depression, and opens space for teens to reconnect with themselves in ways traditional clinical environments often cannot. Students hike, bike, boat, play intramural sports, serve the community, and learn responsibility through daily routines. They participate in structured therapeutic programming, but they also rediscover joy in the simple things -- something many families have not seen in their child for years.
“The campus feels like home,” Baisden said. “There is authentic joy in the simplest pleasures. Nature teaches that happiness is found in things we often overlook.”
For teens whose lives have been dominated by screens, isolation, fear, or instability, the tech-free environment provides a much-needed reset. Without constant digital noise, they begin relearning how to connect in real time with real people. They learn to look others in the eye again, to sit at a table and hold a meaningful conversation, and to engage in healthy play without distraction or self-consciousness. They rediscover laughter, presence, and the simple joy of being part of a community.
Perhaps most importantly, they begin developing emotional intelligence. Through daily interactions, group work, and guided reflection, teens learn how to identify what they feel, understand why they feel it, and respond in ways that strengthen relationships rather than damage them.
It is not a wilderness program, though Turning Winds incorporates the restorative benefits of nature. Unlike traditional wilderness models, which typically last only weeks and often lack clinical continuity, Turning Winds blends outdoor experiences with licensed, accredited, 24/7 clinical care and academics. That combination -- nature plus structure, therapy plus education -- creates long-term change rather than short-term behavioral resets.
A teen’s journey at Turning Winds is anchored in the Integrated Therapeutic Curriculum (ITC), a multidisciplinary model that blends clinical therapy, accredited academics, and experiential learning into one seamless path forward. It is a system built for teens who have lost momentum, confidence, or direction, and for families who feel like they are running out of answers.
“We want wins for each one of our clients,” Baisden said. “If we aren’t getting movement clinically, we create it academically or recreationally. Every discipline supports the others.”
Evidence-based therapy sits at the core of the program. Licensed clinicians provide individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, trauma-informed care, and a range of cognitive-behavioral and experiential models tailored to each teen’s needs. The approach is steady, structured, and deeply relational, allowing students to process their emotions, understand their patterns, and build healthier coping strategies over time.
The impact is measurable as well as visible. The 2024 patient outcome review showed statistically significant decreases in anxiety and depression among participants, reflecting the program’s ability to deliver meaningful therapeutic change rather than surface-level improvements.
The academic program mirrors the same intentionality. Turning Winds is fully accredited by Cognia and staffed by teachers who understand both education and mental health. Students receive one-on-one instruction when needed and learn in small class settings with an average of ten students per teacher. Some accelerate through coursework; others rebuild foundational skills or recover credits they thought were lost for good.
For many parents, watching their child re-engage with learning is one of the most hopeful milestones of the entire process. Education becomes attainable again, not because expectations are lowered, but because support is individualized, consistent, and compassionate.
Beyond the classroom, students take part in a wide range of experiential and outdoor activities. They hike, bike, participate in intramural sports, tackle outdoor challenges, and contribute to community service projects. Many also join international service-learning trips where they help build water systems or educational accommodations in developing countries.
Perhaps the most defining piece of Turning Winds is the family integration component. Healing is never isolated to the student; it involves parents just as deeply. Families participate in weekly family therapy, complete clinical homework assignments, attend workshops, and make on-site visits where parent and child dynamics can be observed, guided, and strengthened in real time. They also join a parent support group moderated by former Turning Winds parents, an invaluable lifeline for those walking a similar road.
“When parents engage meaningfully, it transforms outcomes,” Baisden said. “Parents heal alongside their children.”
Turning Winds is not only a treatment center, it is also a leading advocate for expanding youth mental health access nationwide. Its leadership played a key role in shaping Montana SB191, a landmark bill that created a residential treatment center license. This legislation improved safety standards, strengthened oversight, and made it possible for more families to use their insurance benefits to secure the care their teens need.
Today, Turning Winds offers in-network and contracted coverage options with many major insurers, including TriCare East and West, Allegiance, Pacific Source and First Choice Health Network. As a treatment center, we work with most major insurance companies which includes BCBS, Atena, Optum and Cigna, just to name a few. For countless families, this level of financial access is the difference between receiving help and going without it, removing a barrier that often stands in the way of timely and effective treatment.
For families exploring treatment options, accreditations and licensing provide important assurance, and Turning Winds holds the highest standards through its Joint Commission accreditation and rigorous clinical oversight. The Baisden family believes, however, that the most meaningful measure cannot be captured on paper. It is the feeling a parent gets the moment they step onto campus.
“Visit, visit, visit,” Baisden said. “You cannot fake good vibes and smiles among the clients at Turning Winds or any treatment center for that matter. Also, meet the team and get a feel for who will be interfacing with your child. To me, that is the most important piece when deciding where to place your child for care.”
