Summer Camps for Troubled Teens

A troubled teen can be very challenging.  Like walking on pins and needles, a great deal of strife in the home can come from a troubled teen, affecting the entire family.

When your child is on a downward spiral, you may try to find quick solutions like a summer camp or boot camp, but you’ll find that they are a waste of time and money. With a troubled teen, no short-term program like a summer camp will solve the deeper issues that have been building up the wall between your child and you, the parent.  Moreover, their anger and acting out fits right in with their growing need for independence, but their actions are harmful and destructive, and you want to prevent them from ruining their life.

If you could, you would do anything to make your child healthy, happy, and on a better path in life.  But the chasm between you and your child has widened too far.  You may even find that weekly counseling sessions have no effect.  So, it is time to get the intervention of a longer and more intense nature.  Thankfully, our professionals can help you find the right options.

Troubled Teens Need More than a Summer Camp

To get to a place where you can all begin healing, it is important to know what is truly at risk. Teenagers will take any risk to shut out the pain and emptiness that they feel, or to make their days seem more exciting.  For instance, more high school-aged youth than ever are smoking marijuana. The modern strains of marijuana have five times the amount of THC found in marijuana products just two decades ago.  While states have gotten on the bandwagon of legalizing marijuana for the sake of more tax revenue, they are short-sighted regarding the effect of marijuana on teens.  It can lead to lethargy, high anxiety, psychosis, depression, and higher auto accident rates.  Also, prescription drug abuse now accounts for more deaths of teenagers of cocaine and heroin combined.  Teens can easily acquire all of these drugs today.

Drug abuse is, in fact, one of many causes of depression in our youth. Suicide rates are therefore skyrocketing — it is now the second most common death cause for teens today—most teens who attempt suicide exhibit red flags in the months prior. There are thousands of suicide attempts every day from middle school to college-aged kids.

Studies have shown that there is a high repeat rate among teen boys and girls for teenagers with criminal histories. If your child has committed an offense, there is a high likelihood that they may potentially commit another crime, especially if they got away with their first crime attempt. Teens spared going to jail have a higher re-offense rate than those who go to jail and learn to understand the consequences of criminal behavior.

Signs Your Teen May Be In Need of Help, But Not from a Summer Camp

Consider the below signs to be red flags of a serious problem that needs more than a summer camp to solve:

• Self Injury – If your teenager has been showing signs of self-harm, it is time to get them to help immediately. Purposefully injuring themselves can both be a cry for help and an attempt to deal with desperate times of extreme stress and emotion.  In either case, cutting or hazardous behavior both require professional intervention and therapy.
• Anger Management Issues – Adolescents may struggle with keeping their temper in check from time to time. But if they are easily frustrated and unable to control themselves in violent rages, especially if they begin to threaten or intimidate, it is cause for alarm.

• Sudden Changes from Good Friends to Bad Ones – Teenagers will frequently find new friends, and having a group grow or change over time isn’t unusual. But when they suddenly stop spending time with people they were with before — peers who were more of a positive influence– and begin to spend all their time with negative ones, it should be cause for concern.

• Depression and Desperation – All teenagers go through anxiety and evasiveness, especially at times of high stress or due to environmental issues. Their changing hormones can further worsen their feelings of sadness and frustration. However, prolonged periods of intense sadness, sleeping too much or too little, anxiety, apathy, and other related symptoms could be signs of clinical depression, a serious psychological condition that must be treated through professional intervention and sometimes with medication.

• Suicidal Ideation – Suicide attempts are generally preceded by suicidal ideation. This is when the person in question will glorify the idea of suicide. They may express, “The world will be better off without me,” or “No one would even notice that I’m not here.” These may seem like over-dramatic declarations, but they could be a signal of a growing risk that your child may want to end the hurt they feel by ending it all.

• Substance Abuse Problems – Any use of substances such as alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs is dangerous for a teenager’s developing mind and can lead to all kinds of psychotic issues. When drug or alcohol use becomes necessary, it is time for a serious intervention.

• Other Signs – ADD/ADHD, truancy, compulsive lying, personality disorders or OCD, irresponsible sexual behavior, and criminal behavior like theft or vandalism are all red flags that could mean a much bigger problem on the horizon.

Therapeutic Boarding Schools Excel Over Summer Camps For Troubled Teens

Summer camps for troubled teens can help your child explore the source of their problems and even learn ways to cope or show them that they need more help, but they cannot deal with the deeper issues.  Professional counselors, both therapeutic and activity, are needed over many months to help your teenager heal.

Therapeutic boarding schools are licensed therapeutic programs emphasizing therapy, academics, and activities. Professionals are on hand 24/7 with decades of experience and the knowledge needed to help your teen through this difficult time. All within a setting with their peers, they make them feel supported as they make new friends facing similar struggles.

Your family doesn’t have to go through this difficult time alone. You can find out more about better programs than summer camps for troubled teens by visiting with us on the phone.

Call Us Toll-Free for FREE HELP at (888) 940-6278

All our services are free, and we can offer unbiased information since we are not affiliated with any treatment center. Parents who are desperately looking for residential treatment centers for troubled youth will ultimately be pleased with the quantity and quality of programs available and will gain peace of mind knowing that such a program is just what their teen needs to transition successfully from adolescence to adulthood. Please let us provide you with assistance in locating the best help for your teen, and let us share our amazing resources with you.