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FOR FIVE summer days, the Glen Deven Ranch in Big Sur became an idyllic respite for six teenage girls whose homes are often the opposite of paradise.

Julianne Leavy, a Carmel therapist and founder of the nonprofit Harmony at Home, said the fourth annual Teen Enrichment Summer Camp helped the girls "learn to communicate and function in healthy ways" despite living in homes where the parents fight frequently, are abusive to each other and their kids, or are going through high-conflict divorces. Children who are abused tend to be abusive or enter into abusive relationships when they grow up. Harmony at Home seeks to end this "cycle of domestic violence" through teaching, therapy and other programs.

"Children who are witnessing abuse and are exposed to it have a lot of pain inside, and they haven't developed healthy ways to express the pain, so they take it inward," Leavy has said of the group she aims to aid. "I see a lot of drug and alcohol abuse, and cutting - self-mutilation. The emotions are so intense and unbearable, they like feeling physical painbecause it relieves emotional pain for a brief moment."

Run by Leavy and other therapists who volunteer their time, the "therapeutic camp" helped the teens develop productive ways to handle that pain, she said. They also learned how their decisions and actions affect their futures, and to recognize their own value and accept praise and recognition from others.

"In their home lives, they are criticized. They are not really accepted," Leavy said. In collaboration with the Big Sur Land Trust, Leavy organized the stay at Glen Deven Ranch to provide the girls - who range in age from 15 to 17 and live all over the county - a healthy, safe, compelling environment.

Originally set at the maximum of 10, the number dwindled to six after two canceled and two more could not attend due to crises at home, according to Leavy. Smaller than in past years, the camp was therefore "more intimate," she said. "Sometimes things happen the way they're supposed to, and it was just a perfect fit."

The week was far from the conventional, on-the-couch therapy many troubled teens endure. An ecologist taught the girls about the ranch, taking them on a tough but satisfying hike. A massage therapist demonstrated "healthy touch," which Leavy said helps victims overcome fears stemming from abuse.

Attendees created art, wrote in journals, danced and did almost everything as a group, which they began referring to as their "family" within a few days of meeting each other.

"They were really respectful of themselves and each other, and I think that happened because they were being respected," Leavy said.

"And I was impressed with the risks they took - they embraced every project."

The hiking was challenging, but they all participated without complaint. "The art projects were really introspective.

They put their hearts and souls into them," she said. "Overall, it was a profound experience for them and all the staff."

Sharing meals, as many families do at home, helped the teens practice communicating with each other and adults while resisting acting out, fighting or yelling, according to Leavy. She is confident they took those newfound skills and the mindset of "a healthy family system," home.

"They all walked away with a new model," she said.

For a surprise on their final day, Leavy and the Ventana Wildlife Society arranged for the girls to release rehabilitated birds at Andrew Molera State Park. A VWS representative taught them about the program and the flying creatures they were setting free in the wilds of Big Sur.

Afterward, Leavy said, the girls were clearly moved by that experience and the many others presented by the Teen Enrichment Summer Camp. They pledged to raise money for future camps and said they want to participate again.

"They want a reunion camp," she said.

"I'm going to try to set one up in the wintertime."