Choosing a Therapeutic Boarding School

Even healthy, well-adjusted teens go through mood and behavioral changes that can lead to odd or explosive behavior.  But how can a parent determine if these changes are becoming truly problematic, possibly requiring therapy? 

Within a family, it is often easy to get caught up in minor issues that are irritating but have little long-term impact on our teens.  We need to learn how to assess our child’s level of struggle and determine what is considered a core (root) problem that could require therapy and what might only be a symptom or something typical of all teenagers.  As parents, we want to ensure that we address behavior with the right approach and get to the root of the problem if behaviors are unusually problematic for the child’s future.

Here are five strong signals that teens have become unsteady and are potentially headed for a fall.

1.  Withdrawing From Family and Friends

Root Issue:  Guilt, shame, and lack of open and accepting communication with family members.

When a young person desires independence, the family must deal with that request.  If parents are unwilling or unable to adapt to these expectations, the family will probably experience increased stress levels and even more distancing.  To deal with the developmental changes occurring in an adolescent’s life, balanced families will allow for autonomy, whereas extreme families will resist change.

For many reasons, struggling teens will distance themselves from their best support. Often guilt and shame push them into isolation and secrecy. They know what they are involved in is unacceptable to the beliefs and practices of the family, so they distance themselves, avoiding the need to explain or defend the disparity between actual behavior and expectations.

To combat this slide away from the family, parents need to build cohesion through improved communication and activities that connect family members. Positive communication skills include sending clear and congruent messages, showing empathy, using supportive statements, and practicing practical problem-solving skills. Parents that build structure, routine, and positive communication skills into their families are more able to adapt and flex under the pressure of a distant teen.

Should a parent not turn this around, they may want to consider looking into a program that will help facilitate the needed changes with the teenager and relationships among the family.

2. Spending More and More Time with New Friends Who Participate in Questionable Behavior

Root Issue:  Lack of perceived recognition and acceptance from family.

Acceptance builds healthy soil for developing deep, powerful roots through self-confidence.  Teens will often seek outside support when parental leadership becomes absent, too strict, or erratic.  They will become increasingly attracted to other, more rebellious teens (kids who are more “free” from parental control). They may even become obsessed with keeping these new friends happy or showing them how much they can be like them.  It can show up in the form of less commitment to school (loss of normally higher grades) and dropping out of extra-curricular activities (sports, clubs, etc.), increased “sick” days, being late to school, or skipping classes altogether.  This can often be the beginning of substance misuse and the teen trying other risky behaviors new to them but not their newfound friends.

This struggle is complicated because it often comes after the water has already gone under the bridge. For the parent to now set ever-increasingly restrictive boundaries will often cause the teen to interpret these new limitations as a further lack of acceptance and greater proof that parental authority must be challenged.

Parents tend to “over-control” when feeling “out of control.”  But working on setting boundaries too late creates a unique bind that can become even more restricting and damaging to the overall relationship.  The point is, don’t just put the squeeze on your teen.  Instead, work on opening up your communications first and find new ways to give them more freedom in healthy ways.  They may not be the same ways your teen is requesting (which can be negative) but work hard on rebuilding your relationship and giving them positive outlets, one step at a time, to curb their appetite for more freedom.

To slow the mounting tensions within the home, parents may want to seek counseling support to gain some perspective on their unique situation and learn better ways to communicate with their teen.  A counselor can help the parents understand what is going on and how to defuse the situation.  At the beginning stages of this struggle, it is often better to attend counseling without the teen to gain some guidance without the tension of the teen being in the room or the challenge of bringing them into therapy.

Forcing therapy on an oppositional teen often results in greater distancing because they resent being seen as the “patient” or the problem.  However, suppose parents cannot curb the trajectory of the teen’s negative behavior through improved parenting skills. In that case, increasing the intervention and including the teen in therapy often becomes necessary.  Outpatient therapy would be the first step. If that fails, placement in a secure residential setting, a therapeutic boarding school, may be called for. This would allow teens some space to look at themselves and identify issues without the distraction of home life and the influences of their familiar peers.

3.  Lying is Becoming Routine

Root Issue:  Lack of trust by the teen in how their parents will react to the truth.

Lying about significant issues damages the connection between parent and teen and greatly impairs the parents’ ability to help their teen through life.  Without honesty, it is almost impossible for parents to provide effective direction and support or leadership within their family.  And, of course, this is the teenager’s purpose in lying — to provide a distraction from effective intervention, enabling them to continue their destructive behavior and attitudes unchecked. When parents don’t get the right information, they feel slighted and become fearful for their teens.

When your teen lies, you start to see them as “sneaky,” and you lose trust. Even so, parents need to be careful not to give their teenagers lies too much power.  Find other ways to get to the truth.  This takes more work, but it is vital.  If you have a teen that believes they can get power over you by telling you a lie, they’ll use dishonesty as a tool to get even more power.  They’ll withhold information and lie by omission when you’re trying to get to the truth. They’ll give you little pieces of information, making them feel powerful.

If your teen is dishonest, explain how honesty is the one thing that helps you give them more freedom and power, while dishonesty does quite the opposite.  Would you please help them understand that trust is gained over time and through consistent truthfulness, while that trust can vanish with even one instance of untruthfulness? And make sure they know that being truthful is always the best route — lying will lead to more significant consequences than if the teen is truthful.

It is important for you as the parent to build trust in the home.  A good place to start building truth within the home and with your teen is through the consistency of your own rules.  Teens thrive when they understand the rules of the game.  It hurts their trust in you when new rules pop up without their previous knowledge or rules are changed without notice. Teens need consistency, especially when their attitudes and behavior are anything but predictable and stable.  If an issue of impropriety arises, expect your teen to prove their innocence rather than you proving their guilt. Follow through on consequences because that consistency is also important — your teen will love it if they “get off the hook” without consequences. Still, it will lead them to an underlying feeling of unease due to the duplicity of the message it sends.

Should you not turn around habitual and dangerous lying, you may want to consider a therapeutic boarding school because other issues could affect the rest of your teenager’s life.

4.  Displays Extreme Mood Swings

Root Problem:  Lack of self-awareness and emotional discipline.

Teens tend to bring their problems home with them. If your teen seems to have developed a terrible attitude at home, they may be simply comfortable venting their frustrations at home, not to authorities at school, which is a good thing! If they are belligerent at school, that is a more serious issue, and there might be something behind it, such as stress, depression, lack of sleep, hormones, substance misuse, or anxiety. These often manifest themselves through talking back, inappropriate language, or sarcasm.

As long as your teen displays their bad attitude at home only, a wise parent will try to keep it in check but not give it too much credence or concern. It hurts because it seems like an attack on you as a parent, but it is just an emotionally immature phase and a way for your teen to release steam. However, if it is happening outside of the home and affecting your child’s relationships, that is another matter and must be dealt with.

Extreme mood swings can make it really difficult to deal with a teenager.  One minute they can be happy and loving, and the next, ranting and argumentative.  Explosive arguments between parents and teen are often a result of misunderstanding and miscommunication. They can be extended by a parent feeling slighted by the teen when the teen had no intent to be disrespectful.  Make sure you pick your arguments wisely and also apologize to your teen if you got overheated, so they understand what is inappropriate and how to apologize if they step over the line.

As parents, we might not understand our teenagers, but often teens don’t really understand themselves either.  This problem can be tough. Parents will inadvertently focus on the symptoms, the actions, and the actual emotion.  They will try to help extinguish the outbursts but fail to understand the root cause.  They may inadvertently build up walls and cause the teen to stop interacting with them altogether if they fail to be a safe place to vent.

If you are at a loss about what to do, don’t be afraid to consult others.  Find out if your teen is acting the same to authorities at school.  If not, then their outbursts are not so much of an issue.  Teachers, friends, and others can help gain a deeper perspective and appreciation for the root cause of the emotional outbursts.  Use consequences as a tool to stop inappropriate behavior, not for emotional outbursts, since the emotional teen may not even realize why they had an outburst. In this case, consequences will do no good, leading them to even more frustration.

Figure out where the outbursts are coming from and what issues are causing these moods, and attack them with strategy.  Ask your teen relevant questions that help uncover and open up a conversation. Please help them understand that the words they use can hurt you (and others) since they may not readily recognize that.

Most of all, help your teen realize that no matter how difficult things can become between you and them, nothing they do can make you love them or accept them any less.  Let them constantly know that your love is unconditional; you are a safe place for them, no matter what they have done or how they have acted to you in the past.

5.  Evasive Interactions are Becoming Normal

Root Problem:  Feelings of inferiority, shame, and guilt.

Self-doubt has an immobilizing effect in all of our lives, especially in the lives of teens who don’t yet know what their “self” is or what they want to shape it to be.  Their search marks the period of adolescence for significance and their development of self-worth. They will often hide problems by becoming evasive.  Teens use evasive tactics to pull the spotlight off their own trouble areas, breaking eye contact, changing the subject, and defensiveness are all evasive tactics.  Our job as parents is to press in during these times while being empathetic and compassionate.  We want to encourage them in their abilities, help them understand their emotions and how others perceive them, and refrain from focusing only on their mistakes.

Empathy is often tough to put into practice because it requires us to get outside of ourselves, set aside attacks on ourselves, and share in the feelings of others.  When my teen acts out, my natural reaction is not to empathize; it is to become defensive.  So I tend to become frustrated or start a long lecture.  Some of my reaction comes from my own insecurity as a parent; I don’t know how to handle my teen’s issues or solve “the problem.”  So I try to provide answers when the teen wants a listening ear or empathy.  Instead of the “facts,” parents need to stop and ask the teen to explain the emotions behind their behaviors.  When the emotions are revealed, the teen and the parent both understand each other and themselves.

Empathizing with my teen might also be difficult because it’s hard to see where they are coming from.  I fear that if I empathize, I may be condoning their behavior.  To be empathetic, a parent can respond in ways such as, “That must be difficult” or, “That sounds like it’s been a struggle.” In using empathizing one-liners (without sounding demeaning), I am opening the conversation to continue; the teen begins feeling as though I understand their struggle (and therefore understanding them).

While a parent cannot condone inappropriate behavior, they can seek to understand and care about what is behind such behavior.  In doing so, it may help the teen also to understand why they did what they did. Taking the time to listen, rather than reacting in anger or frustration, opens my heart to connect with the heart of my teen.  Being empathetic doesn’t mean letting the consequences slide; however, we can even be genuinely empathetic while enforcing consequences, such as saying, “I am really sorry, and I know you were looking forward to it, but as you know, this means that you will not be going to that party Friday night.”

Regardless of whether or not you send your child to receive therapy, be there for them, not always to solve their problems or set them straight, but to help them learn how to work through them.  In doing so, you help the teen solve future problems better, and your child will learn from and value your truth and love.

If you cannot deal with your teen’s behavioral or emotional issues, and their safety or future is threatened, a therapeutic boarding school should be considered.

1. Learn about the program before you visit.

Read materials from the program and check out their website. If you visit more than once on a particular day, refresh your memory about that school just before you arrive. Be sure to spend at least a half-day at each program. You should have a chance to meet with the executive director and members of the admission, clinical, education, and residential life teams. Ask what accreditations and licenses the program and staff have.

2. What is the typical student profile?

Ask what other programs clients often visit when considering this program. Find out how many students this program serves.

3. Evaluate the environment of the campus.

Is the campus located in a rural or metropolitan area? Decide if the environment feels safe and secure and if it is clean and organized. Look at bedrooms, bathrooms, and the kitchen area. Sit in on classes and check out the library or other on-campus resources. Notice the rapport between students and faculty in the program. Learn about the policy on technology use. If your student is over the age of 18, what are local educational or employment opportunities and policies?

4. Assess the academic program

Ask questions that help you clarify the academic program and the type of student who is most comfortable and successful there. Find out if learning support or accommodations are available. Ask if there is homework. See if they have a list of boarding schools and college acceptances.

5. Look into life beyond academics.

Check out the athletic facilities, theater,  and student center. Read the notices posted in the dorms or on bulletin boards. Request to speak to students (if appropriate). Take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions about campus life. Eat lunch in the student center and
watch student interactions.

6. Examine the clinical philosophy.

Find out how often the students receive therapy (individual, group, and family). Ask about the theoretical framework undergirding the program, the model of treatment, and how the staff is trained. Look into the crisis intervention model that is used. Ask if a clinical director is on campus and how often the psychiatrist is on campus. Is there a nurse on staff?  Look into the policy on medication administration.

7. Check out the level of parental involvement.

Ask if they offer parent workshops, how often the parents must attend, and the visitation policy.

8. Ask if the program collects data on its alumni’s success.

If so, find out if it is available for review and if the program participates in research or data collection.

9. Write down your impressions of each program you visit.

After a while, the visions of different programs start to blur if you don’t immediately stop to record your thoughts. Also, consider taking some photos to help you keep track of the campuses you visit (please avoid taking pictures of students).

10. What is the cost?

Ask if there are any additional financial obligations besides monthly tuition and if they offer financial aid.  Also, find out if they provide someone to help with insurance, their recent experience with insurance covering some of the cost, and if school systems ever cover part of the cost.