Looking Ahead to NATSAP Utah
What We’re Excited to Learn About the Future of Young Adult Care
This June, Brightstone Founder Tim McMahon and Director of Clinical Operations Lauren McMahon, LCSW, will travel to Provo, Utah to attend the 2026 Utah Regional Conference hosted by the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), alongside conversations taking place across the Outdoor Behavioral Health community. The conference will bring together professionals across therapeutic schools, residential programs, outdoor behavioral health, clinical leadership, educational consulting, and transitional living to explore evolving best practices in care for adolescents, young adults, and families. (natsap.org)
Conferences like this are valuable not simply because of presentations and research—but because they create opportunities for people across different models of care to ask important questions together: What is working? What are families asking for? How do we create more meaningful outcomes? And how do we better support young adults as they move toward sustainable independence? These questions feel especially important to us right now.
The Industry Is Continuing to Evolve
One of the most exciting shifts happening across behavioral healthcare is a move toward greater integration. Programs are increasingly recognizing that growth rarely happens in isolation. Young adults often benefit most when emotional support, executive functioning, relationships, identity development, vocational growth, family work, and real-world practice are allowed to work together rather than separately. That evolution is showing up in conversations across levels of care.
Outdoor and experiential models continue to contribute important lessons around:
resilience
confidence-building
discomfort tolerance
connection
identity development
experiential learning
At the same time, transitional and community-based models continue to deepen conversations around:
application of skills
sustainable routines
executive functioning
independent living
employment
social belonging
family integration
Rather than seeing these approaches as competing philosophies, we see them as part of a broader continuum. Each serves an important purpose. The question is often not which model is best? The question is: What support does this young adult need right now?
Why These Conversations Matter for Young Adults
Young adulthood occupies a unique developmental space. This stage asks young people to build:
self-awareness
emotional regulation
decision-making
daily living skills
self-advocacy
community connection
confidence through experience
And yet many young adults—especially neurodivergent young adults—have never had the opportunity to practice these skills in environments designed specifically for this stage of life. That is one reason we continue to be excited by conversations happening within NATSAP and among leaders in experiential and outdoor behavioral health.
The field is increasingly acknowledging that outcomes are not only about stabilization. They are about translation. Can growth transfer into real life? Can confidence continue after support changes? Can young adults begin creating lives that feel meaningful and sustainable?
What We’re Listening For
As Tim and Lauren participate in conference conversations this month, some of the themes we are especially interested in exploring include:
Clinical care that lives inside everyday life
How can emotional support integrate naturally into daily experiences rather than existing only in scheduled appointments?
Executive functioning as a treatment target
How do we move beyond motivation and build systems that support action?
Family engagement that promotes autonomy
How do families remain connected while supporting ownership and independence?
Measuring outcomes that matter
How do we evaluate not only progress in program—but long-term success after transition?
Continuity across levels of care
How do we better support movement from one environment into the next?
What We Continue to Believe
At Brightstone, attending conferences is not about returning with dramatic changes. It is about staying curious. Listening. Learning. Continuing to refine how we support young adults and families.
Our philosophy remains rooted in what has always mattered most: Relationships matter. Real-world practice matters. Families matter. Growth happens through experience. And independence becomes more sustainable when young adults are given opportunities to apply skills in everyday life.
Our mission continues to guide us: Independence Through Application. Because meaningful growth is not measured only by insight—but by what young adults begin doing with it. Tim and Lauren look forward to connecting with colleagues, learning from leaders across the field, and bringing new perspectives back to the families and young adults we serve.
Learn more about Brightstone Transitions and our approach to supporting young adults.