As parents, we like to think that we can handle everything that the world throws our way. When we are faced with the reality of raising children in modern society, with all of its complexities, many of us begin to wonder about our abilities as parents. If the usual supports of educational and spiritual supports, and professional therapists, also fail to provide the benefits we seek, we often blame ourselves fearing to take the next logical step of sending our troubled child to a therapeutic boarding school.

As much as we would all like to believe we can offer our child all of the support they will ever need, the reality is that there are times when teens need the kind of support that few families are able to provide. This can be particularly true when your teen is making choices that place them in harm’s way.

If your teen is struggling with addiction issues, you are most likely going to need to help your child by helping them to wipe the slate clean. Substance abuse rarely happens in isolation, and it has side effects that can create dangerous situations for every member of your family.

Substance abuse is often accompanied by mood swings, extreme acts of defiance, violent outbursts, and risky decision-making that may have lifelong implications for your child. Although all parents are concerned about substance abuse, it isn’t the only behavior that can have long-term impacts on your child’s life trajectory. If your teen is engaging in delinquent behaviors like trespassing, shoplifting, gang activity, or drug-related, activities, failing to act rapidly and decisively may have long-term negative impacts on your teen’s life.

Likewise, if your child has entered a downward spiral at school with poor grades, truancy, school suspensions, and/or negative outbursts or ongoing conflicts with peers and teachers, they may well benefit from the added support available in a therapeutic boarding school. Although sending your child to a therapeutic boarding school may seem like an extreme reaction, it is exactly this type of response that may best help your child to self-correct when faced with a series of bad decisions that seem to be weighing them down.

You may wonder how a therapeutic boarding school can do what you have been unable to do. A therapeutic boarding school:

1. Is able to offer your child a complete break from the environment in which they are making these negative decisions. Gone are the drug-dealing friends and negative support systems that your teen is surrounded by.

2. Is able to replace negative environments with a healthy structure. Boarding schools are able to structure your child’s life in a way you and their school can’t. A boarding school can structure meal times, school time, time for homework, time for structured exercise, and sports.

3. Is able to provide counseling and therapeutic interventions as a part of daily life.

As parents, we all want what is best for our children. Sometimes doing what’s best for your child means allowing someone with a specific set of skills to support your child in a way you can’t. As much as you want to fix your child’s life when they are suffering, there are times when the answers are beyond your ability. If you are concerned that your troubled teen may need the support available to them in a therapeutic boarding school, Liahona Treatment Center may be a considerable solution for your troubled teen.