Find Treatment for Troubled Teens: Compare Wilderness Therapy Programs Vs Military Style Boot Camps
After 18 years of working with troubled teens, I have found it vitally important to start with the end in mind when it comes to seeking parenting help for youth with behavior problems. Parents dealing with an out of control child may wonder just what kind of teen camp is best. Let's examine two options: Wilderness therapy programs and military style boot camps.
One major difference between these two kinds of camps for youth is how they employ the locus of control. Boot camps often use intimidation to make troubled youth comply. The idea is to "break" a defiant teen and then "build" them back up. This kind of boot camp for teens relies on external - or outside in - locus of control.
Fear may be one of the tools boot camps use to control teen behavior. Remember the old saying, "If they won't obey you they better fear you?" This type of external locus of control can add to a troubled teen's feeling a lack of personal control over his life. Teenage behavior may change but it's usually only temporary. When the external pressure is removed or relieved - watch out!
A quality wilderness therapy program will help troubled youth develop an internal locus of control. In other words, therapy for teenagers is based on change that occurs from the inside out. The goal is to help adolescents develop an internal sense of control over their lives, behaviors and emotions.
One way this kind of troubled teen therapy works is by using Mother Nature as a therapy partner. The best therapists understand how to help struggling teens interpret their wilderness experiences in a way that teaches time tested principles. These are the same principles defiant teens have been trying to avoid.
For example, a defiant teen who quickly and poorly builds a shelter for the night may very well get wet when it rains. Mother Nature delivers consequences that are consistent and non-negotiable. Nature provides a life lesson - not a drill sergeant. With the help of his therapist, this teen in crisis begins to understand how a wilderness therapy experience such as this is similar to other behavior choices he may make.
As this pattern is repeated day in and day out, a struggling teen understands he alone is responsible for his choices and that each choice carries with it a consequence. Self esteem grows as adolescents learn self-mastery and competency.
Treatment and therapy for depressed or defiant teenagers can be very expensive. Many struggling teens will require a great deal of time, resources, and emotions as parents help them learn to navigate their life's journey,
Choosing a treatment approach that results in lasting change is critical. Parents desperate to gain control over an at risk child may inadvertently reinforce an external control perspective vs. the internal sense of control we desire for our children. Boot camps have proven successful in developing respect and compliance. Frankly, some parents who are at their wits end and fear for their own sanity and their child's safety may choose expediency over long term results.
While that therapy choice may solve an immediate behavior problem, will it result in the kind of lasting change parents are hoping for?
Would they like their troubled teen to gain insight and more importantly, desire to make life decisions because they want to change or because they are forced to? How will their adolescent handle free time in the future when no one is there to set or enforce boundaries? Is it important to them that their son or daughter operate with an internal locus of control vs. external? Is their investment in their child geared to long term or short term results?
With these questions in mind, parents are better prepared to view and evaluate the overwhelming number of teen help websites and make very difficult choices. For many parents of troubled teens the wilderness program option makes a lot sense. For more information please visit http://www.redcliffascent.com or call us at 800-898-1244.
One major difference between these two kinds of camps for youth is how they employ the locus of control. Boot camps often use intimidation to make troubled youth comply. The idea is to "break" a defiant teen and then "build" them back up. This kind of boot camp for teens relies on external - or outside in - locus of control.
Fear may be one of the tools boot camps use to control teen behavior. Remember the old saying, "If they won't obey you they better fear you?" This type of external locus of control can add to a troubled teen's feeling a lack of personal control over his life. Teenage behavior may change but it's usually only temporary. When the external pressure is removed or relieved - watch out!
A quality wilderness therapy program will help troubled youth develop an internal locus of control. In other words, therapy for teenagers is based on change that occurs from the inside out. The goal is to help adolescents develop an internal sense of control over their lives, behaviors and emotions.
One way this kind of troubled teen therapy works is by using Mother Nature as a therapy partner. The best therapists understand how to help struggling teens interpret their wilderness experiences in a way that teaches time tested principles. These are the same principles defiant teens have been trying to avoid.
For example, a defiant teen who quickly and poorly builds a shelter for the night may very well get wet when it rains. Mother Nature delivers consequences that are consistent and non-negotiable. Nature provides a life lesson - not a drill sergeant. With the help of his therapist, this teen in crisis begins to understand how a wilderness therapy experience such as this is similar to other behavior choices he may make.
As this pattern is repeated day in and day out, a struggling teen understands he alone is responsible for his choices and that each choice carries with it a consequence. Self esteem grows as adolescents learn self-mastery and competency.
Treatment and therapy for depressed or defiant teenagers can be very expensive. Many struggling teens will require a great deal of time, resources, and emotions as parents help them learn to navigate their life's journey,
Choosing a treatment approach that results in lasting change is critical. Parents desperate to gain control over an at risk child may inadvertently reinforce an external control perspective vs. the internal sense of control we desire for our children. Boot camps have proven successful in developing respect and compliance. Frankly, some parents who are at their wits end and fear for their own sanity and their child's safety may choose expediency over long term results.
While that therapy choice may solve an immediate behavior problem, will it result in the kind of lasting change parents are hoping for?
Would they like their troubled teen to gain insight and more importantly, desire to make life decisions because they want to change or because they are forced to? How will their adolescent handle free time in the future when no one is there to set or enforce boundaries? Is it important to them that their son or daughter operate with an internal locus of control vs. external? Is their investment in their child geared to long term or short term results?
With these questions in mind, parents are better prepared to view and evaluate the overwhelming number of teen help websites and make very difficult choices. For many parents of troubled teens the wilderness program option makes a lot sense. For more information please visit http://www.redcliffascent.com or call us at 800-898-1244.
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