At Rogers, we understand if you are considering the Nashotah Program, your daughter needs the intensive level of care only available in a residential setting. While here, your daughter will live on campus at Rogers’ Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, location, in a comfortable, homelike setting. 

In this level of care, we can reduce your daughter’s safety risks associated with her emotional dysregulation and work with her to gain skills and knowledge that will help lessen her risk of developing depression, personality disorders and other more severe symptoms later in life. A typical stay lasts 60 to 90 days. 

In addition to medical management, your daughter will receive 30 hours per week of skills training, group therapy, DBT-based experiential therapy and more within an individualized treatment plan. 

Immersion in DBT 

Led by a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, your child’s dedicated team of professionals are trained in the Linehan Institute’s model of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).  In conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral activation (BA), these DBT skills serve as a foundation of care. Here you will build distress tolerance, improve emotional regulation, maintain safety, and learn non-judgmental personal acceptance and mindfulness in managing life’s challenges. Other elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, including prolonged exposure, may be part of your individualized treatment plan. 

Other components of care at Nashotah include:

• Experiential therapy (art, music, recreation, movement)
• Academic and classroom work with certified teachers 
• Family therapy and education 
• Spiritual care options
   

Here’s what an average weekday in the Nashotah program is like:

Nashotah staff

At the Nashotah Program, staff members work closely together using a strengths-based, DBT-informed approach, which gives your daughter accountability for making real change in her life. Her experienced, multidisciplinary team is ready to offer her the guidance she’s looking for.

The entire clinical team is engaged in ongoing training in DBT therapy by Behavioral Tech, LLC, an internationally recognized training organization under the direction of Dr. Marsha Linehan, PhD. Staff participate in a weekly DBT consultation group, which ensures your child receives effective and compassionate care throughout her treatment stay. 

Members of the treatment team may include:

• Board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrists
• Licensed clinical psychologists
• Pediatric, family practice and internal medicine physicians
• Registered psychiatric nurses
• Registered dietitians
• Master’s level social workers/counselors
• Therapeutic specialists
• Experiential therapists
• Art therapists
• Certified teachers
• Child and adolescent-trained residential counselors

Erik J. Ulland, MD

Medical Director, Nashotah Program

Erik J. Ulland, MD, is a board-certified general psychiatrist and child and adolescent psychiatrist who serves as medical director of the residential Nashotah Program on the Rogers Memorial Hospital–Oconomowoc campus. He previously directed the child and adolescent inpatient program in Oconomowoc. Dr. Ulland earned his medical degree from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 2003 after completing his Bachelor of Science degree in bioengineering and post-graduate work in immunology and chaos theory applied to behavior in animal systems at Walla Walla College. He was a resident at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire from 2003 to 2006 where he was nominated for a Psychiatry Resident Teacher of the Year Award. He completed his child psychiatry residency in 2008 at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

Dr. Ulland’s clinical interests include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance use disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, and non-suicidal self-injury. In his work with patients and their families, Dr. Ulland uses predominantly a cognitive behavioral framework, while making use of motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy and the principles of dialectical behavioral therapy. He has additional interest in the areas of positive psychology and in the principles of evolutionary psychology and their application to creating a well-lived life.

Dr. Ulland has lectured to professional and lay audiences on a range of topics related to pediatric psychiatry. He enjoys playing guitar and is an author and photographer, with his work both published and exhibited. Dr. Ulland is a member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Academy for Eating Disorders, the American Psychiatric Association, the Wisconsin Medical Society and the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association.

Lisa Herpolsheimer

Clinical Services Manager, Nashotah Program

Lisa Herpolsheimer, LCSW, DBTC, is manager of the Nashotah program, and is responsible for oversight of its daily operations and the clinical supervision of the staff. She is also a DBT- and CBT-trained therapist and co-leads the weekly DBT consultation group, which is designed to support staff in being effective and compassionate as they deliver direct care to residents.

Lisa has been with Rogers since 2012, most recently as a primary therapist for children and adolescents in the Child and Adolescent programs. She is passionate about helping the Nashotah Program’s residents and their families improve their quality of life by learning new ways to better manage emotions, thoughts, behaviors and relationships.