Placement Options for Out of Control Teenagers

The decision to send your out of control teen away is a difficult one; but there are options that will offer supportive environments with specialized professional help.

Therapeutic Boarding Schools - These are similar to traditional boarding schools, but they have a more structured setting, therapy and activities that are focused on positive behavior, personal responsibility and allowing the teen to continue school work while learning new skills and improving behavior. You can find schools that address such issues as ADD/ADHD, mental illness, being overweight, depression, substance abuse and academic failure, as well as those that address the general issues of rebellion, defiance and simply being too much for the parents to handle in home.

Military Schools - This is generally the first thing that comes to mind when parents are wondering what to do with an unruly, uncontrollable teen. Most people think that the discipline of a military school will create a compliant child. This may be the case for some teens, but military schools are not the most appropriate option for children who are struggling with significant emotional or behavioral problems. Military schools are not equipped to offer the appropriate therapy and interventions for psychological problems.

Boot Camps - These are similar to military schools in regards to the discipline that is expected. However, some boot camps are substitutes for juvenile jail. These are meant to be short-term alternatives and though they were designed to take bad kids and return them as "good soldiers," this is rarely a lasting effect. Once back in the real world without the extreme discipline, children will sometimes have even worse behavior than when they went in.

Wilderness Camps - Wilderness programs and outdoor therapy offers a therapeutic approach that emphasizes positive behavior changes over sheer discipline. They still have strict guidelines to ensure safety but nature serves as the teacher here. Nature does not conform to our desires. Wilderness programs can help teens develop self-confidence and develop spiritually by giving them a sense of the bigger world picture. Many of us find that getting into nature is therapeutic in and of itself, so you can see the benefit that wilderness camps provide.

Animal Assisted Therapy - Animal assisted therapy programs involve using professionally trained animals as part of the counseling process. The site we found states that domestic animals shy away from aggressive behavior, so this helps the teens learn to be gentle and quiet in their behavior. Spending time with animals also increases endorphins and decreases cortical, the hormone that controls stress. Equine therapy is the most familiar animal assisted therapy; where you work with horses. There are also programs that use bovine assisted therapy, canine assisted therapy and elephant assisted therapy.

Whatever option you are looking at, you should know that pricing for these types of residential programs can be quite expensive. Most of the ones we researched started around $3,000 for a month and ran up to a high cost of $10,000 a month for some. You should research each option thoroughly and find out if there are financial assistance programs available to you through your state or the individual institutions.

Resources
Military School Options

Teen Boarding Schools

Boot Camps Info

Wilderness Programs Info

Equine Therapy Programs