Adolescence is a challenging time for most teens. Their bodies and hormones are rapidly changing, and even their brains are going through new development. There is also the additional challenge of changing social dynamics as friendships begin to hold more importance than family relationships. Young women are beginning to figure out who they are as individuals as they discover new interests. Because of all these changes, many teens can feel like the ground is constantly shifting underneath their feet, and find themselves struggling to keep their balance. Teens can benefit from residential treatment in surprising ways.
Changes and challenges are normal during adolescence, but there may be times when young women and assigned females at birth face particularly difficult struggles. In these situations, If your child has been struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, or learning differences, it may be beneficial to look into enrolling in a residential treatment center (RTC).
Why Enroll in an RTC?
Residential treatment centers for teens are typically a good fit for young women and assigned females at birth who have already pursued some sort of outpatient therapy and have achieved limited success. One of the difficult things about outpatient therapy, especially for teens, is getting engaged in the therapeutic process. If a teen doesn’t want to attend outpatient therapy, they may skip appointments or be purposefully late. Or if a teen doesn’t feel like sharing, their therapist may be left in the dark. With residential treatment, that isn’t an option. Therapists are on-site with their students and are kept up to date about how each of them is doing day-to-day. Long-term residential treatment programs are often more successful than outpatient therapy or brief hospital stays as teens have more opportunities to apply the skills they’ve learned and internalize these changes. The skills that they develop while enrolled in an RTC are practiced daily with peers and staff trained to support them on their treatment path.
Residential treatment centers not only benefit teens, but it can also help their families. Because teens will likely return to the home environment after treatment, it is important to involve family members so that old patterns and behaviors can be addressed. Additionally, family dynamics can be worked on in family therapy sessions. This type of family involvement results in better outcomes for the teen in the long term. Using an interdisciplinary treatment team, Solstice offers a holistic and comprehensive program for therapy and overall care. With each student’s primary therapist leading the treatment team, we incorporate all the professionals that serve each student to provide an unmatched combined treatment approach, all within the context of our relationship-focused therapeutic approach.
Through this relationship-based work in family therapy, we are able to restore families to healthy, trusting relationships. Solstice’s family focus helps our teens heal more quickly, and this healing extends to all family members. Families have weekly distance therapy sessions as well as quarterly on-campus family seminars.
Finding the Right RTC for Your Teen
Girls and assigned females at birth can benefit in any number of ways from a residential treatment center like Solstice. When looking for an RTC that is a good fit for your child there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Removal from a Toxic Environment. Negative peers, easy availability of drugs or alcohol, stress at home or school, bullying, and other forms of mental and physical abuse negatively impact teens’ healthy development. RTCs provide a safe, supportive environment where your teen is distanced from stressors and negative influences. This gives them the chance to focus on the underlying issues they’ve been struggling with, which go beyond the behavioral problems they may have been experiencing. The structure of a new routine helps teens find stability and discover their personal motivation to make changes in their lives.
- Providing Valuable Resources. Caring, expert staff have experience dealing with the unique needs of troubled teens. Through individual, group, and family therapy, staff provides education about coping skills, thinking patterns, and changing personal habits for both teens and their families. Long-term success depends on strengthening your child’s support system at home, not just in the program.
- Connecting with Peers. Teens identify with other teens. RTCs provide a supportive community where your teen connects with others going through similar experiences. These connections create a unique support network with a focus on recovery. At Solstice, we believe that relationships are at the core of everything we do. The positive influence of peers can promote a powerful and sustainable change when combined with the intentional application of other therapeutic interventions.
- Teaching Transferable Skills. If your child cannot take the skills they’ve learned in the program back home, what use are they? A residential treatment center should strive to help your child build life-long coping skills that will continue to help them when they exit the program. Quality residential treatment centers for teens provide varied opportunities, such as adventure therapy, to learn and shift perspectives. When these experiences are integrated with individual therapy, your teen develops positive qualities like self-confidence, emotional resilience, and effective communication skills.
- Continuing Academic Progress. Many parents fear that their daughter’s education will be put on hold if they decide to enroll their in a treatment program. Teachers at Solstice work closely with the entire treatment team (parents, educational consultants, therapists, future school) in order to complete an individualized academic plan that will make certain a transition plan to the next school or post-secondary institution. With an accredited year-round academic program, girls and assigned female at birth are able to earn, catch up on, or get ahead of high school credits. The core classes offered are aligned with the state curriculum.
With many choices for treatment for your child, it is important to research your options to help you find a program with a mission statement and treatment plan that best suits your teen and your family. As a leading residential treatment center for teens, Solstice is known for our compassionate and relationship-based therapeutic approach. We believe that teens heal best in the context of healthy relationships, so we have created a safe and nurturing space for our students to do so.
The Benefit From Residential Treatment for Teen Girls
A residential treatment center for teens can help struggling teens by providing an increased level of support from what is available in the home environment. This typically includes individual therapy, family therapy, and group therapy throughout the week. RTCs for teens also have some sort of academic programming available. The types of therapies and academic options vary from one RTC to another, depending on the individual needs of the students served.
RTCs are considered “residential” as students live on-site while they are receiving therapeutic support. At Solstice, the close-knit environment created by the milieu on campus encourages life-long friendships and positive growth. Milieu therapy is an experiential therapeutic approach that utilizes the residential environment of our program to better understand how to help your child approach and overcome their challenges. At Solstice, milieu therapy is carried out by observing your child’s behaviors and emotions throughout the day, within a variety of different settings. Milieu therapy provides an invaluable “in the moment” understanding of your child’s challenges, unique from traditional talk therapy. The length of time that a teen is at a residential treatment center varies greatly and depends on their individual goals as well as the RTC they are enrolled.
Guided by our relationship-based approach, the therapists understand the clinical value of spending time with the students beyond the walls of the therapist’s office. The ability to build rapport outside of the office setting is critical to the development of a therapeutic alliance, which is necessary in the healing process. Therapists often participate in outings, camping trips, recreation activities, and mealtime with students. Participation in these and other activities outside of the therapy office results in deeper, more trusting relationships, thereby facilitating a more effective therapeutic impact.
Solstice RTC Can Help
Solstice West is a residential treatment center for young girls and assigned females at birth ages 14-18 who struggle with issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and/or relationship struggles. This comprehensive program provides three types of therapy: individual, group, and family therapy to allow girls and assigned females at birth to explore themselves in a variety of ways. Solstice is dedicated to teaching teens how to incorporate healthy habits into their lives.
Our goal is to equip them with the tools needed to lead happy, successful lives. We provide a nurturing and welcoming environment for teenage students and help them recognize that they are on the cusp of something wonderful: the chance to heal from their past and become the best version of themselves. Students will leave with the skills they need to transition into the world feeling confident, happy, and able to manage their emotions.
For more information about how your child might benefit from residential treatment center, call 866-278-3345. We can help your family today!
