Parenting difficult teenagers is climbing today. Parents are searching for schools for troubled teens. What is the purpose of residential treatment for mental health for teens?
We are facing a teenage mental health crisis, since 2020 teen depression and anxiety has doubled. Experts say part of this cause is the increase in screen-time.
Do these describe your teen:
-Teen depression, anxiety
-Teen ADHD, ODD, RAD
-Bipolar, mood disorders
–Underachieving, skipping classes, school refusal
-Teen defiance, rage, rebellious
–Internet addiction (cell-phone or video gaming)
-Teen drug use, drinking, vaping
–Withdrawn, isolation – not participating in family functions
–Changing peer groups
–Self-harm, suicide ideation
-Stealing, lying, manipulating
-Drifted from your family values
-Property destruction, explosive behavior
If you are experiencing a few of these behaviors and have tried counseling (therapy), outpatient treatment has failed, the school setting is not working and a short-term hospital stay was unsuccessful, it might be time to consider a therapeutic boarding school for your troubled teen.
What is the purpose of a therapeutic boarding school?
A therapeutic boarding school is a type of alternative boarding school that specializes in educating and helping troubled teenagers and young adults.
Therapeutic boarding schools help troubled teens that have behavioral and emotional challenges as well as cognitive learning challenges that can’t be properly addressed in a traditional school environment.
These programs also offer psychological counseling and help restore students’ mental, physical, and emotional health.
The goal of therapeutic boarding schools is to rehabilitate the student and make them healthy emotionally. Many therapeutic boarding schools offer additional therapies such as: animal-assisted therapy, art therapy, music therapy or horticultural therapy. These are all beneficial for helping teens learn how to manage their feelings and build self-worth through developing coping skills.
Many parents assume that therapeutic boarding schools mean you must sacrifice your child’s education. This is not true. In most situations, when a teen enters the program, they are typically failing (underachieving) in their home school setting, usually due to their behavior or mental health issues.
A quality therapeutic boarding school with accredited academics should be able to get your teen back on track again. (Tip: Ask for a copy of their accreditation to be sure their transcripts will be transferable back to your school). Reality is, their emotional growth is priority, but you should not have to neglect their academics.
A well-rounded therapeutic boarding school also encourages and provides opportunities for family therapy and parenting workshops. This is a great source for parents to be able to have mediated conversations with their teenager and start the healing process.
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