Wilderness Therapy Programs for Troubled Teens in Fort Smith, AR
Within the last few decades, America (including Fort Smith, AR) 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 Fort Smith, AR 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 Fort Smith, AR 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 Fort Smith, AR area
For moms and dads from Fort Smith, AR 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 Fort Smith, AR area, including:
- attachment disorders
- attention deficit
- eating disorders
- anxiety, depression
- self-destructive or antisocial behavior behavior
- adoption-related issues
We lead troubled girls from Fort Smith, AR 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.
Fort Smith, AR Resources for Parents and Struggling Teenagers
Elk Mountain Academy is the favored choice for parents from Fort Smith, AR, 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 Fort Smith, AR 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.
As a result, Elk Mountain is committed to meeting the particular needs of each teenager with the utmost professionalism and compassion. Elk Mountain’s therapists and field staff discourage the use of judgments and labels, and never condone one’s diagnosis to interfere with a struggling teenager’s sense of self or ability to form friendships with one another. Elk Mountain has provided assistance to numerous families from all over the nation. Our experienced therapists offer superior treatment to set the path of restoration for teens struggling with trials such as food addiction (binge eating, overeating), bullying (or being bullied), or even behavioral misconduct.
In short, the therapists at Elk Mountain are skilled at guiding struggling teens from Fort Smith, AR 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 Fort Smith, AR. Call us at (208) 266-1122 to speak with one of our knowledgeable family advocates today!
Additional Counseling in Fort Smith, AR
Are you a parent of a troubled teen from Fort Smith, AR and need help for issues pertaining to domestic violence? If you are in crisis right now, call the Fort Smith, AR National Domestic Violence Hotline number listed here.
"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
- 1 Corinthians 6:11
No matter where you live in Fort Smith, AR, if you are a Christian family in crisis due to domestic violence, call the national hotline number now. The National Domestic Violence advocates in Fort Smith, AR are available 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). The Fort Smith, AR advocates speak in more than 200 languages. All calls from Fort Smith, AR are free and confidential.