Making the major financial and emotional decision to choose a therapeutic boarding school is not an easy one, however it can help when you better understand the goals of residential therapy.
5 Goals of a Therapeutic Boarding School
When you place your teenager into a therapeutic boarding school or residential treatment center, these environments provide intense help for students with emotional and behavioral problems. When they are struggling with emotional issues, it also impacts their schooling.
Let us start by understanding the goals of residential treatment:
1. Evaluation. Your teen (once removed from their home environment and peer influences) will likely have a comprehensive evaluation to assess emotional, behavioral, medical, and social needs, and support these needs accordingly and safely.
2. Treatment plan. Determining the right residential treatment program for your teen includes finding one that can meet his/her individual needs. Residential programs will design an individualized treatment plan that puts into place interventions that help your teen attain their goals.
3. Therapy. When your child was at home, it is likely he/she either refused to attend counseling, maybe manipulated the therapist, or possibly simply did not engage with them. While in residential treatment, your child will be attending both individual and group therapy to help them through their healing process.
Now that your teen is in a therapeutic setting, it is more difficult for them to keep up their walls. These therapists are trained to work with youth that are difficult to breakthrough.
4. Family involvement “peacefully”. Well-rounded residential programs encourage and provide opportunities for family therapy and contact through on-site visits, home passes (when the time comes), telephone calls and other modes of communication. Trained staff is always available to help navigate issues of concern for both the parents and when/if the teenager gets upset from meetings or letters.
Most residential treatment programs and therapeutic boarding schools also offer parenting and family workshops. These can be extremely beneficial in making the transition back home.
5. Builds self-worth. Residential treatment programs not only offer clinical teams to help your teen emotionally, but most also provide additional behavioral therapy through enrichment programs. These are designed to help your teen develop coping skills as well as building self-esteem to make better choices in life.
Choosing the right therapeutic boarding school is a big decision for the entire family. Never forget you are your child’s best advocate.
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