Depression Treatment for Boys from Your State

About Our School

Cherry Gulch is a small, relational, private owner-operated, award-winning therapeutic ranch designed to provide early intervention and prevention for boys in 5th through 9th grades. Our mission is to help boys struggling with depression and related challenges find hope, healing, and the tools they need to thrive.

Located near Boise, Idaho, our 220-acre ranch offers a tranquil and therapeutic setting surrounded by mountains, valleys, Black Canyon Reservoir, and the Payette River. Students benefit from the serenity of country living while enjoying access to museums and the cultural experiences of a metropolitan area. This balance allows boys to experience both the restorative power of nature and the enriching opportunities of a modern city.

At Cherry Gulch, we combine accredited academic programming with evidence-based therapeutic services tailored to meet the unique needs of each student. Our Master’s-level therapists use research-supported approaches to address depression, helping students build emotional resilience and develop healthy coping strategies. Through strong relationships and a safe, supportive environment, we empower boys to overcome the challenges of depression and rediscover their potential.

We also prioritize making every experience educational and therapeutic, blending structure with fun and purpose. From outdoor adventures to personalized academic support, our program helps boys grow into thoughtful, confident, and emotionally balanced young men. By partnering with families, we provide the guidance and tools necessary to create lasting change and a brighter future for the students we serve.

Our program provides individualized educational and treatment plans for each boy and varied real-life experiences to help them overcome their challenges.

Interventions for each boy include:

Highly compassionate 1:4 staff-to-student ratio

Family Involvement and a Strong Parenting Program

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy

Wide Variety of Activities and Learning Experiences

Individual, Group, and Family Psychotherapy with Experienced Doctorate & Master’s-Level Therapists

Fully Accredited Educational Program, All Credits Earned are Fully Transferable

Medication Monitoring by a Licensed Psychiatrist

Involvement in Clubs, Leadership and Ranch Activities

Benefits of a Large School Within a Small School Atmosphere

Character Development with a Focus on Growth, Success and Happiness

Individual Academic Plans (IAP) that Assist in Making and Obtaining Goals

Boarding School Benefits

It is clear that if a student is suffering from emotional or behavioral problems, then they should attend a therapeutic boarding school. Therapeutic boarding schools clearly offer something more (a strong therapeutic component) than a traditional boarding school. However, it is also clear that there are advantages to a boarding school education. The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) reports that boarding school students are more satisfied with their academic experience than their peers who attended a public school or a private day school. Students who attend boarding school find their coursework more challenging and have more confidence in the quality of their teachers than students who attend school from eight to three o’clock. Students at boarding schools show noticeable increases in maturity, self-discipline, independence, and critical-thinking life skills.

Dynamic Learning

The skills that students learn at boarding school help them in college and beyond. The overwhelming majority of graduates from boarding schools report that if they were given the choice to attend boarding school or to attend a day school, they would gladly repeat their boarding school experience because of the superb and dynamic learning experience they encountered. Students who attend boarding school study longer, report being around more motivated peers, state that they are very well prepared for college, and say that their school offers opportunities for leadership, and achieve positions in top management by mid-career more often than their day schooled counterparts. Boarding schools offer a 24/7 learning experience where learning never stops. Interactions in the dorm or at the barn, or on outings and activities are every bit as valuable as lessons learned in the classroom. The entire boarding school community is a learning laboratory.

Lifelong Success

Boarding school alumni often report that the years they spent in boarding school are the central reference point in their life. Alumni tend to consider their years at boarding school as more formative and critical to their personal development than the time that they spent in college or graduate school. Boarding school students explore athletic, creative, and leadership-building activities every day. They learn a strong work ethic and develop the focus that they need for lifelong success. Boarding school students learn to take care of themselves (independence), as well as to take care of others (community). They also learn the importance of service. In short, they learn lessons that will resonate throughout their lives.

Cherry Gulch Provides Depression Treatment for Boys From These States:

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