Wilderness Therapy Programs for Troubled Teens in Sanford, ME
Within the last few decades, America (including Sanford, ME) has seen the demographic of adolescents deemed, troubled, or out of control, reach epidemic numbers. While experts aren’t sure as to why our nation’s teens increasingly turn to negative behavioral patterns, modern-day issues such as easier access to drugs and the advent of the internet, social media and other screen-based distractions (to name a few) are most likely significant contributing factors.
But with the number of troubled teens rising each year, cities like Sanford, ME so too is the number of residential treatment centers that advertise their services to parents seeking respite and therapeutic healing for their child.
And, while many of these treatment programs are well-intentioned and run by those who truly believe in their program’s treatment model and core curriculum, parents from Sanford, ME and elsewhere are all too often duped into sending their teenage daughter to an expensive program that at best, is ineffective in treating their child’s behavioral and emotional issues, and, at worst, exacerbates said issues even further.
Among these detrimental programs are treatment facilities that pose as wilderness therapy programs for troubled teens when in reality, they are more akin to glorified outdoor boot camps.
With the wilderness industry's increasing popularity and recent mainstream exposure, parents sometimes unwittingly send their children to programs that omit the clinical aspects of wilderness therapy.
Though technically a wilderness program, these treatment facilities omit the very foundations that make wilderness therapy effective, and instead, utilize behavioral modification and punishments to enact change within their campers.
For example, instead of providing experiential group therapy, mindfulness-based therapy, and cognitive behavior therapy, like the most reputable, adventure-based programs, these facilities merely seek to exploit the natural environment as a means to 'break' their campers, before 'building' them back up again.
These tactics are not only deceitful and misrepresent genuine wilderness therapy camps, they often aggravate the very issues campers were sent there to correct, to begin with.
Considering the average wilderness program is $500 dollars per day with a $3,000 dollar enrollment fee (not including what it would cost to transport said teen through a transport company two or more times) choosing this route of treatment is quite expensive.
Legitimate and Cost-effective Wilderness Therapy Programs for teens from the Sanford, ME area
For moms and dads from Sanford, ME unwilling to pay double (or potentially triple) for a wilderness program for their teenage daughter, there are cost-effective and dynamic treatment options to consider - like that of Elk Mountain Academy.
Elk Mountain Academy is a Christ-centered wilderness therapy program and residential treatment center for troubled teenage girls.
Elk Mountain Academy offers affordable, expert treatment for life-controlling issues and disorders in girls from the Sanford, ME area, including:
- attachment disorders
- attention deficit
- eating disorders
- anxiety, depression
- self-destructive or antisocial behavior behavior
- adoption-related issues
We lead troubled girls from Sanford, ME to seek truth and to trust in the Holy Spirit, our Holy Comforter who was given to all believers in Christ. At EMA we coach and train our students to seek, trust, and rely on the Holy Spirit, who is their comforter.
For more information regarding our treatment program, please call us today at (208) 266-1122.
Mental Health Guidance for Struggling Youth from Sanford, ME
Families from Sanford, ME have made Elk Mountain Academy their top choice when it comes to the healing and transformation of their at-risk child coping with problems related to anxiety, drug abuse/addiction (including marijuana), or kleptomania. Parents can expect Elk Mountain to have a team of staff consisting of compassionate, trained counselors and leaders. Our counselors operate with the understanding that transformation must first come from the inside, rather than from external influences. Elk Mountain is dedicated to the proper guidance, not only for your at-risk child, but your entire family as well.
Because working with highly resistant adolescents is challenging, most programs rely on level systems, punishments, and other behavioral techniques to manage the girl’s behavior. However, Elk Mountain recognizes that the personal circumstances of one struggling child doesn’t always apply to all of our young students. Because of this, Elk Mountain’s professional counselors are dedicated to the management of each adolescents requirements; and they do this with professionalism and sympathy. At Elk Mountain Academy, we involve the entire family (especially the parents) in the adolescent’s therapy, transformation, and guidance. Elk Mountain has served numerous struggling teenagers over the years. Our track record has proven to cause life changing results for our young students and their families.
Elk Mountain has served numerous struggling young students from Sanford, ME, and we can give guidance for your child too. Don’t hesitate to contact Elk Mountain’s consultants for more information regarding enrollment, tuition, and insurance options. For testimonials from current and past Elk Mountain families, connect with our consultant at (208) 266-1122 today!
Additional Guidance in Sanford, ME
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH (NCBH): Mental Health First Aid - Mental Health First Aid is a course that requires eight hours for completion. This course teaches people in Sanford, ME how to give help to struggling adolescents and young women, who may be developing the signs of a mental health problem; or are coping with the warnings signs of an impending mental health crisis. This training educates people in Sanford, ME on being able to identify, understand, and properly respond to the warning signs of girl and young adult mental illnesses and substance use (including marijuana) disorders.