Boarding Schools and Therapy
Once parents understand their troubled teen is heading in the wrong direction, important decisions must be made in a timely manner. Depending on the severity of your child's problems, there is an intervention available that can work. You may want to take our Troubled Teen test. Click here to determine the severity of your troubled teen's problems. Below are a few possible options for helping your youth. The options near the top of this list should be considered for adolescents with fairly minor problems and the options at the bottom are more appropriate for helping troubled teens facing major issues and challenges.
- Counseling
- Restriction
- Removal from Environment
In addition to these options, we have compiled a wide range of other troubled teen programs and schools for troubled teens that may be more appropriate for your teens, such as therapeutic boarding schools, Christian boarding schools, boot camps, wilderness programs, Christian programs and many others. To learn more about these services, please select a program from the menu on the left. If you would like to speak with a professional representative who can answer your questions and guide you in the right direction, please select Get Help from the menu at the top of this page and fill out our online form.
Troubled teens need guidance and encouragement to make the right decisions in life. My Troubled Teen is available to provide you the parent with the resources you need to make a difference in your troubled teen's life. Although it may seem like there is a long difficult road ahead, we believe there is always hope when it comes to defiant, addicted and/or troubled teens. Since every child is different and comes from a unique background and upbringing, it is best to take your time and research the best possible program for your teen. While one teen may need a boot camp to get him/her back on track, another might respond better by attending a Christian counseling center. Choose from transitional programs, family-style programs, troubled teen schools, emotional growth programs, therapy for troubled teens, and much more.
Social and Emotional Development for Your Troubled Teenage Girl
Aside from the capacity to express their thoughts and ideas through verbal and written communication, one of the hallmarks of growing up children is their ability to identify, understand, and manage their emotions in positive ways.
This includes understanding that acting out of their emotions can have direct and indirect consequences affecting not only themselves but others as well and that no one but themselves are ultimately responsible for their actions. Once teens have mastered these skills, they will have the confidence to take on adult roles. They will have the mental and emotional conditioning to take on life's challenges without being consumed by emotions. They will have the capacity to restrain or delay impulsive reactions to powerful, intense emotions. These emotional proficiencies are collectively referred to as emotional self-efficacy.
For troubled teenage girls, which according to the National Institute of Mental Health have higher prevalence of social and emotional disorders compared to boys, their lack of emotional self efficacy will interfere with their capacity to fulfill the three crucial life goals that are determined during adolescence: breaking away from parents, finding one's life work, and finding a life partner. Thus, the failure for a teen girl, or any teenager for that matter, to develop emotional self-efficacy can have lifelong consequences.
According to Ida Rose Florez, Ph.D., assistant professor of early childhood education at Arizona State University, teachers play a vital role in helping teenagers develop foundational social and emotional self-efficacy. It is through identifying the teenager's development needs and planning the kinds of modeling, hints, and cues to continue his or her development, giving/arranging and planning enough opportunities in everyday experiences for self regulation lessons, withdrawing direct support as teenagers begin to demonstrate new skills, and continuous monitoring of the teen's activities to ensure that lessons are applied in everyday experiences.
Programs that Help Troubled Teens Develop Self-efficacy
Fortunately, there are programs designed to help troubled teens develop self-efficacy. A foremost example is therapeutic boarding schools where teenage girls live in a structured and supervised environment where there is an abundance of opportunities for developing social and emotional skills. Programs that are community-based and adapted from the therapeutic community model are found to be most effective in providing intervention and treatment to children suffering from social and emotional disorders. These programs for troubled teens are usually long term, with participative, group based treatment approach.
Some important things to consider when deciding on a therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens are the accreditations or certification it has, certified and qualified staff that puts the needs of the patient at the forefront, a good teacher to student ratio, and a financial plan that is affordable.
Although no therapeutic boarding schools for troubled teens are alike, some schools for troubled teens have a broader offering, with additional self-enrichment programs also offered, such as life skills training, spiritual programs, and social events programs, as well as academic programs such as college preparatory, distance learning, etc. Some programs for troubled teens offer music and art classes that complement therapy and rehabilitation as a way to provide patients a creative outlet for stress management and enjoyment.