It is said that you will need different strokes in dealing with different kinds of people. The same rings true in the troubled teen industry where programs and policies that offer a more individualized approach in its intervention practices are ultimately the more effective program. If you are a parent searching for the best intervention treatment for a troubled daughter, among your requirements should be individualized treatment that takes her needs, strengths and capability into account, should be family centric such that it involves your family in the decision making with regards to her treatment plans, and it should be developmentally appropriate.

There is no question that all these factors position therapeutic boarding schools as being the best intervention treatment for a troubled girl. And its true, even medical researchers and experts attest that long term therapy in residential environment provides teenagers the best chance at reducing their recidivism rates.

Here are a few more considerations why therapeutic boarding schools should be your choice intervention for troubled girls.

The non antagonistic, caring model is best suited for girls

According to several prominent researchers who studied data from the U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ), among the chief reasons why several intervention programs do not work is because it employs strategies that are antagonistic in nature, such as the scared straight tactics of military style intervention programs, such as teen boot camps and teen wilderness programs.

In her 2007 public report, Jamie E. Muscar of the King & Spalding LLP wrote that punishment and discipline based model may actually subvert rehabilitation and intervention efforts. Instead of promoting a lasting positive behavioral and psychological change, teens are instead scared into temporarily behaving better. Once the teen is released from the program, without a lasting psychological and behavior change, teens will just recede back into their previous negative ways, and this time with added bitterness to her family. Muscar opined that resources should instead be spent on programs that utilize the best aspects of an intervention, particularly treatment and aftercare components without using antagonistic model.

Because therapeutic boarding schools offer empathic treatment approach towards their charges, this helps foster a cooperative situation where teenagers interact better with their therapists and counselors to produce the best treatment output.

Therapeutic boarding schools ready your teen for reintegration back to her community

Successful programs take into account the time when a teenager completes her rehabilitation and prepares to return to her community. In order to produce a complete and convincing recovery, intervention programs must offer a “transition phase” wherein teenagers are prepared emotionally, behaviorally, and academically for transition back into their own community. Usually these takes form into life skills and leadership classes, i.e. how to communicate with peers better, lessons in choosing friends, or even regular extracurricular activities and regular off campus activities. Guided career interest counseling are also part of the reintegration process, and in most cases among the most crucial in the intervention process.

Inarguably, the aftercare component of an intervention program is the most essential aspect for maintaining positive change over the long run. It is the final decisive step in a continuum of care needed to a successful recovery. Generally, therapeutic boarding schools offer significant aftercare programs designed to provide continuing support in the form of planned activities such as alumni, family and community gatherings, or regular house visits and counseling sessions.

Academic component ensures that your teen is not left behind academically

Since therapeutic boarding school programs run for a year, they offer an educational component in their program, which can be a high school program, or a college distance learning program. When choosing a therapeutic boarding school, make sure that your choice is accredited by any of these six accrediting commissions, or either of the following: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Accreditation Commission, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Good therapeutic boarding schools can offer a high school diploma based on credits earned. Some offer additional academic services such as college preparatory, CLEP preparatory and testing, etc.

There are therapeutic boarding schools or programs available in Utah aimed at helping troubled teenage girls in particular. Some teenage girls need the appropriate intervention to help them overcome problems at home and in school and the teachings of a traditional school may not be enough to fulfill this type of need. A therapeutic boarding school does not only provide individualized therapy and counseling for your troubled daughter but a place where the environment is more controlled, educational and wholesome for her. Here are a few therapeutic boarding school for girls in Utah where parents can explore their options for their daughters:

Integrity House for Girls

A residential treatment center for girls ages 12-17. Situated in Cedar City, Utah, this treatment center is open for adolescent females experiencing issues within their schools, homes and the society. Teens girls who are going through behavioral, substance abuse and emotional problems are accepted here. The facility accepts a maximum of 29 girls who typically stays 9 to 14 months depending on their needs and positive response to the treatment. The staff to student ratio is usually 1:6 especially on an academic setting. The integrity house which is located in the scenic “Color Country” of Southern Utah, focuses its program on therapy, education and behavior modification.

In addition, this facility has student loans and limited scholarship plans available for qualified applicants. Integrity House for Girls believes in the effectiveness of being an all girls facility since a co-ed environment diverts the student’s energy, time and attention on trying to get the acceptance of the opposite sex rather than focusing on their treatment. Including the occurrence of the student’s unwillingness to discuss problems with the presence of the opposite sex.

New Haven

A therapeutic program for girls located in Provo, Utah. The program started on February 1996 and is accepting teenage girls from 12 to 18 years old from all over the United States as well as internationally. They help adolescent girls with eating disorders, substance abuse and anxiety problems. Their treatment approach is applicable not only to an emotionally problematic teenage girl but also gives treatment to help heal, support and nurture the whole family. The family systems approach that they pride in is a therapy which engages the entire family of the teenage girls to establish healthy relationships. They believe that these girls will respond well in a family-based treatment than a treatment focused solely on them. The average stay for completing the program is usually from 10 to 12 months or longer.

New Haven has different accreditation like that of InnerChange, Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association and the Joint Commission of Healthcare Organization. The facility is also a member of National Association of Therapeutic Schools as well as the Better Business Bureau. New Haven based their treatment goal on one specific question – “If this were for my daughter, how would I want it to be?”

New Hope House

New Hope House serves 12 to 17 year old girls who are primarily from the Western United States characterizing the diverse income levels and ethnic backgrounds. The House offers at-risk teenage girls who usually have problems with drug addiction, negative behaviors and those who have experienced abuse affecting their holistic development. New Hope House is located in Tooele, Utah and was established since 1968. The program believes that by providing their students with a biblical aspect of teaching and instilling the importance of learning how to learn or critical thinking, they become aware of their potential and be able to reach their goals.

NHH is accredited by Light House Christian Academy (LCA), Southwest Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and Commission on International and Trans-regional Accreditation (CITA).

Kolob Canyon Residential Treatment Center

This is a residential treatment center exclusively for girls ages 12 to 17 which can accomodate 12 students. The facility is located in the scenic Southern Utah, an appropriate place for healing. Girls affected by depression and low self esteem are accepted here. Common issues being treated at Kolob Canyon also includes self-mutilation, eating disorders, oppositional defiance, parent/child conflict, suicidal thoughts, failure in school, issues on adoption, learning disabilities and drug and alcohol abuse. Through their extreme blend of non-traditional and traditional therapy in a nurturing environment, they are aimed at helping troubled teenage girls alter their behavior patterns as well as create better choices for their future.

Kolob Canyon uses Equine Therapy which made use of horses to help the troubled girls overcome their different issues and be able to teach them the importance of respecting others, gaining confidence and eventually become more self-accepting. Troubled girls come in and typically stay from 7 to 12 months.

Saratoga Springs Academy

A private school setting for girls in the scenic Saratoga Springs in Utah. The Academy is an intimate and small setting that houses a capacity of 18 girls ages 13 to 17. They address a teen girl’s complex needs of social, education, skills in independent living, and recreation while giving them appropriate treatment for positive transformation. Their school program enables these girls to practice their newfound skills to help them as they go through a challenging phase in their lives.

La Europa Academy

Teenage girls who are aged 14 to 17 years old are welcome in this residential treatment center. The Academy was founded in 2005, situated in Murray, Utah and a member of NATSAP. La Europa helps each student unlock their unknown potentials, develop their own skills and overcome the challenges that they are facing. This is done through their expressive arts program which aids in expressing a troubled girl’s emotional pain to help her heal. Their participation in the arts which is art therapy and expressive therapies are ways to help these students reduce their post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression and anxiety. These types of therapies also help the student identify her own resiliency factors, restore her health as well as provide a place for her to explore, change and grow.

La Europa Academy brags of their Nationally Certified Art Therapist with a master’s degree in Art Therapy and a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Their therapist who employs an effective art program makes troubled girls express their issues that they cannot articulate to just anyone. The student becomes increasingly attuned into her emotions, her senses and non-verbal cues, and eventually strengthens her learning in talk therapy.

The Single Sex Education Debate

There are different schools of thoughts regarding the question of whether single-sex education is better than coeducational education. One study commissioned by the Department of Education in 2005 concludes what many have suspected before; the study concludes that there’s no conclusive evidence that one is better than the other. It’s all a matter of knowing what an individual needs and what works better for him/her. Some children learn better in a coeducational setting, some thrive more in a single sex setting.

Gender Differences in Learning

In a classroom setting, knowing a few differences between girls and boys can be helpful in maximizing the way that they absorb the lessons taught them.

According to several studies, girls and boys see things differently. Boys are more likely to be visually drawn to motion and direction. It affects the way that they perceive the world. Teachers who teach in an all-boys school tend to integrate motion in the way that they teach in order to hold the attention of boys longer.

Girls, on the other hand, are drawn more to colors, textures, and details. They’re generally not interested in motion and action and are more interested in stories. Girls learn better in an environment where they sit closer together in a circle, facing one another. They learn more when their teachers use descriptive phrases and catch their attention through colorful visual aids.

Girls are more receptive to teachers who use a softer tone of voice rather than those who use harsh tones and loud volume. Physiologically speaking, girls have a more finely-tuned aural structure than boys. They can perceive the differences in tone much better and associate high vocal tones with tension. Boys interpret a high pitch and volume in voices to be excitement and authority.

Sociologically speaking, the dynamics inside a coeducational classroom is very different from what you can see in a single-sex classroom. Young women in a coeducational classroom are more likely to act in what they perceive to be socially acceptable gender roles for women. Most of the time they take the back seat while boys, being more demanding than girls, take the leadership roles.

Troubled Young Women in Single Sex Schools

Some young women may fare better in troubled girls schools than in coeducational schools. Some of the benefits include the following:

1. Removing distractions – Some troubled girls may be more able to focus on themselves and what they are making of their lives when there are no distractions around them. They can be less competitive with other girls, less attention-hungry, and devote more time really getting to know themselves rather than what they think they should be.
2. Positive female role models – Young women who have poor self-esteem may be able to see themselves in a better life if they have positive female role models around them. Women holding positions of responsibility rather and are successful at what they do.
3. More leadership opportunities – Young women studying in troubled girls schools don’t need to compete with boys to take advantage of leadership responsibilities. They also don’t need to feel constrained to socially-accepted roles of girls. Once they are able to step out of their shells breaking stereotypical gender roles, they have a better chance of improving their self-esteem. They become more confident, comfortable, and are able to be themselves than in a coeducational setting.

All things considered, the main consideration is the happiness of students. While single-sex education may have a lot of advantages to give parents pause, it’s always best to be sensitive to the teens’ responses to their environment and make changes as necessary.