Troubled Teens Resources

Parents are warned that the initial period of time after a young man or woman returns home from a troubled teen boarding school is a critical part of their continued recovery. Relapse is a realistic concern and the parent or care giver of a troubled teen has to be cognizant of the factors that will tempt the teen to return to drug use.

For anyone who has ever quit smoking cigarettes, they find that they also cut down considerably on coffee or beer. Why? Because the act of drinking the cup of coffee or can of beer is associated with smoking the cigarette that used to accompany it, triggering a craving for nicotine.

For the recovering teen addict, triggers are those places and people that the teen went to and associated with while using drugs. Music can also serve as a powerful trigger, diverting the teen’s attention back to the evocative stimuli that formed a soundtrack to their time as a user.

An effective teen boarding school or brat camp will have equipped the teen to deal with these expected challenges. Learning methods of defeating temptation is simply a necessity in life and it is a coping skill that an effective teen treatment program will impart.

“Among other things, addicted people must learn how to avoid contact with the triggers that may set in motion their brain’s demanding cry for drugs or alcohol. And when those triggers are unavoidable, people must develop the skills that will prevent the craving from taking over. Learning these skills must be a core element of any treatment program; maintaining them should be part of an after care program or long-term recovery plan.”
(source)

“Geesh, they act like self-mutilation is something new.”

I looked over at my neighbor and friend, Pat, rather surprised by this comment. We both have at-risk teenagers that we are very concerned about, but this topic had never come up.

“Well, it may not be new,” I responded, “but I’m sure it was pretty rare when we we’re teenagers.”
Looking more distraught by the moment, Pat finally blurted out that it wasn’t as rare as I might think.
” I did it.”
“Did it - did what? Hurt yourself?”
Heaving a deep sigh, Pat gave me what, I guess, amounted to a confession of sorts.
“Yes, yes - I did it. You know I was a stupid hippie, and well- I was busted for dealing and I ended up in a psych ward and I used to take safety pins, or anything that could hurt and just basically poke and gouge myself - anything that would give me pain.”

I sat back rather surprised. I knew about Pat’s background and knew she carried a lot of guilt,thinking her addictive personality had somehow contributed to her teenage daughter Karen’s present struggle with drug abuse.

In fact,that is why we met today - to share our research about boarding schools and teen treatment programs. While her troubled teenage daughter had been caught with some prescription drugs she had bought from friends,my own teenage son was slinking around the house, perpetually angry, sleepy and out of sorts. I had just discovered a pipe and other paraphernalia in his room that he claimed he was just keeping for a friend. Yeah, right. Some friend.

Both of us had decided we were not going to wait for incident after incident of out-of-control behavior from our troubled teens but bite the bullet now. We were determined to educate ourselves on all of the teen treatment programs, boarding schools and boot camps that we could find. We were blessed to be able to afford them and had decided preemptive actions could save us and our out-of-control teens a great deal of heartache down the road.

Pat continued speaking softly. “I saw some cigarette burns on Karen’s ankles. Guess she thinks I never see her barefoot, but i was just watching her sleep the other night when I noticed… she is just like me - god forgive me.”

I sighed and reached across the table to grab her hand.

“Feeling guilty is not going to help you or Karen right now. You have always been a good mother no matter how crazy you were at her age. Now let’s just go over these boarding school materials. We are on the right track.”

We had found some excellent teen treatment programs that not only addressed issues of self-esteem but also on building a troubled teen’s sense of responsibility and accountability by giving them charge over a foundling dog - some even had equine therapy programs.

It is important that parents not let their own guilt cloud their judgment regarding their out-of-control teen. And it also wise to not wait until something tragic and life altering happens before exploring the boarding school and teen treatment programs available today.

Start educating yourself now.

Reviewing the comprehensive teen treatment programs at Tipton Academy for Boys and Meadow lark Academy for girls is a good place to start.