What Are the Alternatives to Boot Camps For Teens With Mental Health Issues?
If you happen to be a parent of a teenager struggling with some form of psychological condition, then chances are that you may have come across the idea of boot camp as a solution to your teenager’s problems. It is true that there have been many research studies conducted in order to prove how ineffective the above solution could be for addressing the psychological issues of adolescents. However, fortunately, there are many other solutions available for dealing with the problem of psychological issues faced by adolescents.
Residential Treatment Centers: Structured Care With Clinical Support
Residential treatment centers (RTCs) are one of the most well-established safer alternatives to teen boot camps, which often rely on discipline, control, and fear-based methods rather than real therapeutic support. While boot camps do not offer such structure, RTCs have an environment that allows teenagers to receive therapy, family therapy, psychiatric services, and support for their emotional or behavioral issues. These types of programs are normally most suited to teens who require more attention than once-a-week therapy can provide. The aim of these programs is not to “break” the teenager, but rather to find out why he or she behaves as they do.
What Residential Treatment Centers Have to Offer Teens
Your teens will get to benefit from individual therapy, group therapy, psychological testing, and medication management at an RTC. The therapists will employ scientifically validated therapeutic methods such as CBT or DBT in helping your teens understand how to cope with their problems. Your teens will be safe and not fearful because of the routine that they have to follow daily.
Who Benefits Most From Residential Treatment
RTC programs are ideal for teenagers whose needs surpass those that can be provided through outpatient services. If your teenager has gone through a psychological breakdown, is affected by two disorders or requires intensive treatment due to his/her previous hospitalization, then he/she should be enrolled into an RTC program. It is upon the psychologist or psychiatrist to determine whether your teenager will gain anything from the program.
What to Expect during the Transition Process
The thought of sending your teen to a residential treatment facility may sound like quite a task. Fortunately, most residential treatment facilities have an admission process that will help you understand how things work and clear any doubts that you may have regarding the process. Family therapy is another part of the treatment plan that allows you to remain actively involved.
Therapeutic Boarding Schools: Combining Education and Mental Health Care
In case you have a teenager who finds it difficult to cope with his emotional issues, but still able to attend school without any problem, then therapeutic boarding schools can be considered the best choice for you. In such schools, your teenager will be able to study and learn without lagging behind in school.
Therapeutic Boarding Schools vs Regular Boarding Schools
While traditional boarding schools focus on academics, sports, and socialization, therapeutic boarding schools include therapists, counselors, and even psychiatrists among others in the mix. Your child attends school, participates in extracurriculars, and engages in therapy all in one week’s schedule. Therapy is no longer an extracurricular activity that your teenager does along with other activities, but rather a lifestyle choice.
The Mental Health Conditions These Schools Address
Therapeutic boarding schools are often utilized by those teenagers who have experienced depression, anxiety disorders, ADHD, trauma, and some behavioral issues. Therapeutic schools can’t be used for those teenagers who experience psychiatric crisis, but they are perfect for those teenagers who need long-term therapy along with successful academic achievements. If you think that your kid had not been able to handle traditional education due to psychological problems, then you should consider it.
Academic and Emotional Progress Under One Roof
Another great advantage associated with therapeutic boarding schools is that academic education and therapy go hand in hand. The teachers communicate with the therapists regularly; thus, all people involved in your teenager’s treatment know everything about the situation. This means that during a particularly difficult therapy session, the teachers know about it and reduce their expectations accordingly. Everything happens at the same time.
Wilderness Therapy Programs: Healing Through Nature and Experience
Wilderness therapy can be defined as therapy which is quite different from other types of therapies since it is based on shifting the teens from the normal environment to outdoor environment with professional clinical staff. It does not involve any element of physical difficulty; rather it is all about using nature for therapy.
The Therapeutic Model Behind Wilderness Programs
The licensed therapists operate and oversee the group therapy sessions in the wilderness therapy and have individual/group sessions under the open sky. Nature itself becomes an instrument of reflection and growth. Children get real-life experiences by facing challenging terrains and camping, experiencing real emotions of frustration, fear, and insecurity in the process.
Which Teens Are Good Candidates for Wilderness Therapy
The wilderness program may work well for those teenagers that appear disconnected, do not respond to conventional therapies, and have been entangled in bad behavior at home. In case your teenager is struggling with matters like depression, poor self-respect, problems with emotional control, or oppositionality, then the experiential nature of therapy may be more helpful than the conventional one in overcoming any resistance. It should be mentioned that seriously ill or emotionally disturbed teenagers may need further special treatment.
What Comes After a Wilderness Program
The wilderness therapy experience is usually brief, lasting typically eight to twelve weeks. After finishing the program, the treatment team usually recommends that you have a step-down placement for your teenager, where they will still enjoy the benefits of their gains while in wilderness, and these include therapeutic boarding school and intensive outpatient programs. The transition planning process is just as important as the program itself. An effective wilderness therapy company will help you plan for this beforehand.
Outpatient and Community-Based Mental Health Programs
Not all teens require a resident or inpatient facility for treatment. An outpatient or community mental health service will suit you best since these facilities can assist your teen without having him/her leave your home, go to school or disrupt their daily life.
Intensive Outpatient Programs and Partial Hospitalization
IOPs (Intensive Outpatient Programs) and PHPs (Partial Hospitalization Programs) fall somewhere between weekly therapy sessions and inpatient therapy. In case your teenager is attending an IOP program, he or she will be attending several therapy sessions on a daily basis for a number of hours. If your teenager needs to attend a PHP program, then he or she will need to attend five therapy sessions per week for several hours. This treatment comprises individual, group therapy, and psychotropic medications.
School-Based and Community Mental Health Services
Counselors or mental health institutions are normally found in school grounds at present times. The mental health centers in various communities provide their counseling services through the sliding fee scale; therefore, individuals from all economic backgrounds have access to these centers. In case affordability is an issue that you cannot ignore, then it would be wise to visit such places first.
The Role of Family Therapy in Outpatient Care
The outpatient approach will be highly successful if you involve your whole family. Through family therapy, it will be easier for your parents and brothers or sisters to understand your situation, communicate better and deal with any negative relationship that may be causing problems in your life as a teenager. Your own participation in the program will make it more likely to succeed.
How to Choose the Right Program for Your Teen
It is indeed a difficult task when there are so many possibilities and options from which to choose. There are, however, some basic principles that could assist in choosing the best option with ease.
Start With a Professional Assessment
Contacting these programs does not come first. Your teenager should go through a thorough assessment performed by a licensed professional. It will aid in determining what kind of diagnosis or diagnoses your teenager has, what he needs, and what kind of treatment would be best for him. The details gathered from this assessment become the guide in your whole process.
Questions to Ask Any Program Before You Commit
Ask whether the staff members are licensed in mental health counseling. Ask whether they know the staff-to-teen ratio, the kinds of therapy methods employed, and how family involvement occurs. Find out what their process is for discharging patients and follow-up care. A good program will give you an honest answer about all of this without any attempt at coercion. If they are unwilling to do so, it may be best to go elsewhere.
Trust Your Instincts as a Parent
You understand your teenager better than anyone else. Should it happen that the philosophy of the program is not suitable for your teenager, or some issue regarding the admission process bothers you, then you should give heed to your instincts. You can also seek the advice of other therapists. The perfect program will be that where you see yourself partnering with it.
Conclusion
For adolescents with real mental issues, boot camps will not always be the answer. Luckily, there are lots of different ways to help your teen, which include residential treatment facilities, therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs, and much more. To help your teenage son, you first need to determine his needs.