One of the most common questions we have from parents is “How to find a local therapeutic boarding school?” It is completely normal for families to want to be as close as possibly to their teenager, especially if they are not fully educated on how therapeutic programs are designed.
When choosing a program for their geographic location rather than their qualifications, it is probably one of the most common mistakes a parent can make in selecting the right therapeutic program for your troubled teen.
Therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers are not like your short-term programs. These are not places that you will be visiting weekly or daily — there will be family workshops usually bi-monthly and you will have weekly family sessions via Zoom. In other words, choosing the program that best fits your child’s emotional needs should be your priority.
Therapeutic boarding schools are going to be a major part of your child’s life, it’s imperative you take the time to choose the right one that best fits their needs. In most cases, limiting yourself to your local radius or even your own state is not benefiting your teenager.
On the contrary, you potentially could be setting them up for failure. Why?
Immediately you are limiting your options on the best outcome for your teen by only considering therapeutic resources that are near you.
When teens are placed into local facilities are likely familiar with their surroundings. This creates temptation of escape especially if they are having a bad day. Teens are less likely to have thoughts of elopement if they are in areas they are not familiar with.
Particularly if you have a teenager that is 16 years old and up — knowing the states that provide parent rights is crucial. This means if your teen does runaway, the school can return him rather than have the authorities give the choice to go back home.
Although you may believe your teen is willing to attend a program and wants to get help, they could be facing a day where things are getting extremely hard, maybe they are being asked to do chores they don’t want to do — or face things in therapy they don’t want to face. Will they decide to walk out that front door, or have they been plotting to run with others?
Do you believe your teenager is too immature, too fearful or they don’t know the legal age to walkout of leave a program? He/she would never do that! Don’t be so naive, although your teen may enter the program not knowing their legal rights in that state (or even their home state), the kids in the program will quickly inform them.
This is why it can be more difficult to find programs for 17+ year olds, however there are many very successful schools that specialize with this age group.
3 Steps to find the right therapeutic boarding school for your troubled teen:
1. Location. Now that we have determined that being close to home is not the best idea, depending on your child’s age, it is important to review the states that have the right of parent — so you don’t set your teenager up for failure.
As we remind families, this is a snapshot of your teen’s life, yet a very important one that will have a long-lasting impact on them in a positive way. Typically, programs will be 6-9-12 months depending on your child’s needs.
2. Money. This is a reality of life. No matter what your income status, there is help for your teenager — this is information about searching for schools and programs within your financial limits.
Many of these websites are you glancing at don’t give you tuition costs. Some are third-party sites, hoping you will bite so they can acquire your email or phone number and send you lists of programs they are affiliated with — financially. This is not in the best interest of your child, so it’s best to be very careful as you put your information online.
The average tuition starts at $9000 monthly and up. Shorter term programs (such as wilderness) will likely give you short-term results. This money can be better spent on a long-term program with long lasting behavioral changes.
Contact your insurance provider. Most PPO’s will provide out-of-network allowances. This helps pay for a portion of these programs (the clinical component). Most of these programs will run a courtesy verification of benefits (VOB) for you. This gives you a strong determination of what will be covered.
If you have HMO, state (Medicaid) or *Tricare — they typically require you to stay in-network. Contact them directly and ask them for in-network providers. You will have better financial coverage by doing this.
*Some Tricare policies do offer out-of-network benefits.
Review our financial page for more options.
3. A.C.E. Factor. Determining the right placement for your troubled teen is based on what we have developed as the A.C.E. factor:
A. Accredited academics. Whatever school/program you are interviewing, be sure they are accredited academically. Many of these teens entering these programs are typically very smart students yet underachieving in school. It’s important they continue their education. Although we share with parents that their emotional growth is priority in these schools, academics is still important. You can ask to see a copy of their accreditation.
C. Credentialed clinical team. Teenage mental health is a priority. Placing a distressed young teenager into a therapeutic boarding school is hard for the entire family, although therapy typically didn’t work at home, when placed into a new environment, removed from the stressors and triggers of home (as well as peer influences and devices) — the student is able to focus on themselves through both individual and group therapy. Check the credentials of the clinical team, this is also imperative if you are using your insurance. If they are not credentialed, insurance likely won’t cover it.
E. Enrichment programs. These programs are so important to help troubled teens. Enrichment programs are designed to stimulate your child in a positive direction, build self-worth to make better choices and develop coping skills. All of these extra behavior therapy programs can help teens that struggle with anger, rage, depression, anxiety and stress.
Examples of enrichment programs:
–Art Therapy
–Animal Assisted Therapy
–Sports Therapy
–Horticultural (Gardening) Therapy
–Music Therapy
Finally, when you did your online search, you may have stumbled on sites and reviews that gave you pause. You thought you found a program — until you read some troubling reviews or fearmongering websites about the troubled teen industry. Take a moment to learn how to analyze the troubled teen industry negative reviews.
There are safe therapeutic boarding schools to help your troubled teen. Don’t allow a few bad apples to prevent your teen from getting the help they need.
Also read:
5 Benefits of Therapeutic Programs for Teens
Success Rate of Therapeutic Boarding Schools
Image credit: Freepik, pvproductions
