The good news is that there are many programs available for your troubled teen. Boot camps for teens and other types of camps abound. The not so good news is you may have to work hard to discover the right program.
You see it all depends on the type of problem faced by your teen and how deeply they have gotten into that issue. Then there is their level of maturity. If your teen is in a fragile state to begin with, sending them far away for weeks or even months may do more harm than good. That’s why daily or short-stay programs are also available.
So the first step is to ascertain the problem or problems being faced by your teen. Are they involved with drugs and alcohol? Have they become violent at home and/or at school? Have their grades dropped badly? Is there some physical or mental problem which is the root cause of their anti-social behavior? There are many experts who can assess your teen and help you discover what is wrong and why they are behaving the way they are.
Then you need to discover the range of options available to treat your teen. A boot camp can be quite short – as little as two weeks – and consists primarily of hard, physical activities. It has a military style of operation. There is no time for therapy sessions either solo or in a group. If your teen needs a wake-up call, then getting out of bed and getting stuck into life is what they will do at a boot camp.
Apart from boot camps there are wilderness camps, residential treatment centers and specialty boarding schools. Each is unique and adopts their own individual approach. It is vitally important that you know what is wrong with your teen before you place them in the appropriate facility. In some cases the military type discipline of a boot camp for teens might be perfect for your child. With another teen, sending them there could be the worst form of treatment possible.
A teen who has lost their self-respect and confidence is nothing like a teen who is full of anger and wants to take on the world. Get your teen’s assessment right first and then using advice from the professionals in teen behavior, select a program which offers activities tailor-made to assist your child.
Remember too that different programs not only offer different activities, they can last for varying periods of time. A teen in a specialty boarding school might reside there for a year or even two. A wilderness camp experience could last for many months. A basic boor camp stay could be as little as a fortnight.
A teen who is depressed or who is addicted to drugs or who has a criminal record and a serious anti-social behavior problem all need help in a specific way. There are different therapies delivered in different ways over varying periods of time. Get the right program and thereby help your teen to overcome their problems and turn their life around.
Here are additional resources you might be interested in:
Turning Winds, A residential treatment center for adolescent
Boot Camps for Troubled Teens – Take action to help discipline your child
