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Therapeutic Boarding Schools for Troubled Teens

Therapeutic boarding schools combine the traditions and academics of regular boarding schools with intense therapeutic interventions to help troubled teenagers. The average stay is usually a full school year. Scientific outcome studies of these schools indicate that most students maintain or continue to improve on a long-term basis after they leave their programs. Some students enroll in therapeutic boarding schools because they have behavioral issues such as anger management, or psychological problems around issues such as adoption, family conflict, divorce or negative peer pressure.

Catering to the non-traditional student, therapeutic-based boarding schools offer social, emotional, physical, and spiritual guidance, in addition to educational enrichment for troubled boys/girls. Therapeutic boarding schools work with such students to permanently change negative behaviors and self-perceptions through a nurturing, supportive curriculum that offers counseling within the academic environment.

Troubled teens receive continuous support through experiential learning exercises which help develop a more positive sense of self, improve decision making, problem solving, and interpersonal skills.

A good therapeutic boarding school should have a long intake process that involves psychological testing, interviews with both parents and teens, and reports from teachers and counselors in the home environment. There should be a strong after-care component to help the students keep improving once they leave the schools. Therapeutic boarding schools have worked miracles for many families.