Success For Your Child Within A Therapeutic Program

Offering hope to struggling adolescents and their families, when other options have failed.

As a parent, one of the most difficult jobs you have is supporting your child through the difficulty of emotional regulation, navigating friendships and academic struggles. Not to mention, peer pressure and temptations to use illegal substances. Year after year, the evidence shows positive growth and success for adolescents within therapeutic programs.

Anne grew up in a household with an alcoholic father. She was so happy when she was finally able to leave the chaos, after turning 18. Anne met and married a wonderful man a few years later. They had three beautiful children, and her life felt like a dream come true.

Then, when Anne’s son turned 13, he started drinking alcohol and not coming home at night sometimes. She began hovering over him, watching every move. Anne was so obsessed with what her son was doing at any given moment that she began ignoring the other two “well-behaved” children, along with her husband. The situation almost destroyed her dream family.

Wouldn’t it be easier if you (and Anne) could just take over and control everything about your child’s life? But that is not an option. Each child comes with their own personality and needs.

When you find yourself feeling inadequately equipped to help your child, a therapeutic program can offer the hope and positive outcomes you’ve been looking for.

What is a therapeutic program?

A therapeutic program is an intense and structured program. Most of the time a residential program, whether short or long, is much more effective at resetting a young mind than weekly therapy, or an outpatient setting.

They are clinically designed to access and improve behavioral, emotional or cognitive issues in adolescents. There are many program choices. Especially among the adolescent ages, they are very specific and customized to individual needs and customized treatments. Your choice of therapeutic program will depend on what type of struggle your child is experiencing. This is where a therapeutic consultant comes in to help.

Evidence based therapies.

Therapeutic programs for children and teens offer a wide variety of therapies designed to address the multitude of challenges kids face today.

Here are some standard clinical treatments within most adolescent programs:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Addresses distorted thinking patterns and helps improve an understanding of others, build problem-solving skills and increase confidence.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) – Focuses on feelings more than thoughts and how to manage them. It helps with accepting the reality of their lives and behaviors.
Experiential Therapy – Allows a person to recreate, or re-enact an experience from their past or present, using props, guided imagery, animal care, arts and crafts, music or role playing. Under the guidance of a trained therapist, they can explore unwanted emotions of which they have previously pushed away.
Equine Therapy – A mental health professional supervises activities using horses to teach and mirror the person. Especially for teens, working with horses is successful in treating anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders, addiction, and depression… almost anything, really. Working with horses quickly helps a teen build confidence, empathy and self-awareness.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy – This technique combines talk therapy with guided eye movements to help the brain process and resolve traumatic memories.

Growth you may notice after treatment with these therapies within a program.

Therapeutic programs are designed to provide a holistic and clinically proven approach to healing using therapy, education, nurture, community and experiences. When the right program is fit with your child’s personal needs, success will happen.

Here are some of the improvements you will see:

Emotional and psychological growth – Your loved one will have more emotional control and be more resilient to life’s stressors.
Better social skills – Your loved one will be better able to build healthy relationships and interact with peers appropriately.
Stronger academics – Your loved one will feel more confident in school, with improved grades and the ability to stay on top of assignments.
Improved life skills – Your loved one will be better able to take responsibility for actions, get along with others and get their needs met in a healthy way.

*Names and identifying information have been changed for anonymity.

Sources:

APA.org: What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Harvard Health Publishing: Dialectical Behavior Therapy: What is it and who can it help?

Psychology Today: Experiential Therapy

Psychology Today: Equine-Assisted Therapy

Psychology Today: How Does EMDR Therapy Work? What Makes It So Effective?

To discuss therapeutic program options schedule a no-cost discovery call with Rae Guyer, your therapeutic consultant.

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