Wilderness Therapy Programs for Troubled Teens in Tuscaloosa, AL
Within the last few decades, America (including Tuscaloosa, AL) 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 Tuscaloosa, AL 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 Tuscaloosa, AL 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 Tuscaloosa, AL area
For moms and dads from Tuscaloosa, AL 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 Tuscaloosa, AL area, including:
- attachment disorders
- attention deficit
- eating disorders
- anxiety, depression
- self-destructive or antisocial behavior behavior
- adoption-related issues
We lead troubled girls from Tuscaloosa, AL 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 Resources for Struggling Youth from Tuscaloosa, AL
Elk Mountain Academy is the favored choice for parents from Tuscaloosa, AL, who are seeking an therapeutic boarding school to offer help to their troubled child experiencing ADD/ADHD (attentional disorder), pain medication abuse/addiction, or academic failure related trials. Here at Elk Mountain, parents and families from Tuscaloosa, AL can expect the best results from our compassionate and licensed therapists. Our research-validated approach to a variety of relevant residential treatment strategies (equine, life training, behavioral therapy) and outdoor recreation and adventure therapy makes our work a success! Elk Mountain’s serene and distraction-free setting helps even the most treatment-resistant teens find their way toward healing and restoration.
Because working with highly resistant teenagers is challenging, most programs rely on level systems, punishments, and other behavioral techniques to manage the teen’s behavior. However, Elk Mountain recognizes that the personal circumstances of one troubled child doesn’t always apply to all of our students. Because of this, Elk Mountain’s licensed therapists are committed to the management of each teenagers requirements; and they do this with professionalism and sympathy. At Elk Mountain Academy, we involve the entire family (especially the parents) in the teenager’s therapy, restoration, and help. Elk Mountain has served numerous troubled teens over the years. Our track record has proven to cause life changing results for our students and their families.
In short, Elk Mountain knows how to support troubled teens with lasting restoration; and how to forge a new path for proper help and purpose in life. We are considered a premier therapeutic boarding school, where we provide a variety of relevant residential treatment strategies (equine, life training, behavioral therapy) and outdoor recreation and adventure therapy that leads to a healthy, balanced life. If you are ready to take advantage of the leading therapeutic boarding school that Elk Mountain can offer, we encourage you to contact our family advocates; to begin the lasting change in your child’s life. We give assistance to struggling teenagers from Tuscaloosa, AL. Call us at (208) 266-1122 to speak with one of our knowledgeable family advocates today!
Further Counseling in Tuscaloosa, AL
NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE (NIDA): NIDA has one simple goal: to utilize science to effectively tackle the substance abuse (including marijuana) problem in Tuscaloosa, AL, and within our country. They aim to do such by both guiding and conducting multi-disciplined research. From there, they work to quickly and effectively disseminate this research to improve the prevention and treatment of pain medication abuse/addiction for troubled adolescents and young adults. Through their website, one can find a vast amount of information relating to current pain medication abuse/addiction, growing trends in drug use in Tuscaloosa, AL, and the correlation between mental illness and drug use.