Wilderness Therapy Programs for Troubled Teens in Utica, NY
Within the last few decades, America (including Utica, NY) 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 Utica, NY 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 Utica, NY 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 Utica, NY area
For moms and dads from Utica, NY 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 Utica, NY area, including:
- attachment disorders
- attention deficit
- eating disorders
- anxiety, depression
- self-destructive or antisocial behavior behavior
- adoption-related issues
We lead troubled girls from Utica, NY 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.
Counseling for Parents of Struggling Teens in Utica, NY
Elk Mountain Academy is the favored choice for parents from Utica, NY, 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 Utica, NY 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.
EMA’s therapists and field staff discourage judgments and labels, and never allow a diagnosis to interfere with what troubled teenagers have in common with each other - their humanity. We have provided assistance to numerous families from all over the nation, including those from Utica, NY; Our experienced therapists offer a variety of relevant residential treatment strategies (equine, life training, behavioral therapy); helping students toward the path of restoration for teenagers experiencing pain medication abuse/addiction, clinical depression, or academic failure related trials.
In short, the therapists at Elk Mountain are skilled at guiding struggling teens from Utica, NY with lasting restoration. As a premier therapeutic boarding school, we offer a variety of relevant residential treatment strategies (equine, life training, behavioral therapy), outdoor recreation and adventure therapy, and life skills development and experiential education; leading our students to a healthy, balanced life. If you feel you may benefit from our therapeutic boarding school, we encourage you to contact our family advocates as the first step to creating lasting change in your troubled child’s life. We offer assistance to vulnerable teenagers from Utica, NY. Call us at (208) 266-1122 to speak with one of our knowledgeable family advocates today!
Additional Institutions in Utica, NY
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS (AA): Giving a global organization for anyone who has trials with alcohol, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) operates in Utica, NY, and across the globe. The authority is based on the principles set out in the twelve step program described in the iconic Alcoholics Anonymous book, published in the late 1930s. AA is self-financing and has no political, religious or racial bias. It is open to all who have drinking issues that they want to address. Over the past few decades, AA has been guiding millions of struggling teens and young adults nationally, internationally, and in Utica, NY; to maintain a sober lifestyle.