Behavioral Health Therapy

By Author: family programs
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For parents who are just beginning to investigate options and opportunities for a struggling adolescent or teenager, the term “behavioral health therapy” may sound like an overly clinical response to a problem that may be resolved with a bit more attention and some stronger discipline.

In truth, behavioral health therapy has applications across the spectrum of unacceptable behaviors, from disrespectful speech through substance abuse and full-blown defiance. In some cases, effective behavioral health therapy may consist of a few outpatient therapy sessions; in other instances, a young person may require the intensive behavioral health therapy that can only be provided at a round-the-clock program such as a therapeutic wilderness program or a boarding school for struggling students.

Students who are strong candidates for behavioral health therapy at a residential program are those who have been demonstrating some, many, or even all of the following:

• Defiant and/or manipulative actions
• Skipping or refusing to attend school
• Dramatic ...
... decline in academic performance
• Low self-esteem and/or poor self-image
• Depression
• Poor or nonexistent peer relationships
• Persistent conflicts with family members (including parents and siblings)
• Substance abuse (including drinking alcohol, using illegal substances such as marijuana, or abusing prescription medications)
• Grief and/or separation anxiety
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

At its most basic and general levels, the purpose of behavioral health therapy is to help students modify the actions or reactions that have prevented them from interacting with peers and authority figures in a productive, non-combative manner.

For example, for students with learning disorders, behavioral health therapy may be focused on helping them to channel the anger or frustration they feel when they are incapable of keeping up in class or performing to the level that they would like to achieve. For students who are prone to periods of depression or low self-esteem, behavioral health therapy may involve helping them to identify healthy ways to cope with their emotional challenges.

In many cases, behavioral health therapy for struggling adolescents and teenagers involves developing an appropriate respect for parents, teachers, and other authority figures. However, effective behavioral health therapy doesn’t necessarily lead to blind submission to authority; instead, it teaches young people how to react to stresses, pressures, and potential conflicts in a way that avoids confrontation and allows for healthy and mutually beneficial resolutions.

At a therapeutic wilderness program such as SUWS of the Carolinas, the natural environment – and our students’ experiences in nature – form the foundation of our behavioral health therapy efforts. For example, a defiant student may initially resist following directions because he or she has been able to do so in the past with at least a modicum of “success” (getting what he/she wanted, or getting out of doing something that he/she did not want to do.)

In nature, though, acts of defiance such as refusing to learn how to properly set up a tent are met with dispassionate consequences such as having to sleep on the hard ground and potentially getting very wet. As students come to see that their behaviors have direct results that are not dependent upon bad moods or “unfair” actions by parents or teachers, they develop a greater appreciation for the power of cooperation and the benefits of avoiding self-defeating behaviors.