
What is the difference between therapeutic boarding school and residential treatment?
Jul 30, 2020 · A therapeutic boarding school (TBS) is an alternative school that specializes in helping teenagers navigate their education while addressing behavioral, emotional and cognitive challenges that can not be addressed in a traditional school environment. A TBS will focus on ensuring students receive high-quality academic classes while also providing psychological …
Does insurance cover therapeutic boarding schools for teens?
Boarding Schools – this is an academic institution (school building) with residential housing onsite that allows teens to work on their academic subjects toward their high school diploma or GED, while at the same time, learning to change their behavioral problems and issues. These schools often cater to students from young teens through the early twenties.
Do boarding schools offer counseling?
Nov 04, 2014 · Therapeutic boarding schools differ from residential treatment centers in several ways. For therapeutic boarding schools, the emphasis is on school and staying caught up to grade level. Therapy is important as well but the emphasis on education is part of the healing and recovery process. Therapeutic boarding schools may also offer vocational ...
What is the difference between a teen residential treatment center and an elevations boarding school?
Feb 19, 2018 · In lay terms, residential treatment programs serve clients who are clinically more complex than a TBS. There are varying levels of RTC’s around the United States and a family can see the difference based on how the RTC secures their setting -- ie locked vs. staff secure, suburban vs. rural and so on. (Hint: these are some of the questions ...

What was the goals of boarding schools when they first started?
What is the purpose of a therapeutic boarding school?
How did the boarding schools work?
Are residential and boarding schools the same?
Is Elan School real?
What is the troubled teen industry?
Why did boarding schools start?
Indian boarding schools were founded to eliminate traditional American Indian ways of life and replace them with mainstream American culture. The first boarding schools were set up starting in the mid-nineteenth century either by the government or Christian missionaries.
Why did Native American boarding schools end?
When did Native American boarding schools start?
How did residential schools change Canada?
How is boarding school different from day?
Which countries have boarding schools?
How long does a teen stay in a therapeutic boarding school?
Length of stay: Teens may spend a year or more at a therapeutic boarding school. But a stay in teen residential treatment is typically between 60 days and six months. Number of residents: Therapeutic boarding schools have more students on average. Student population may be similar to a traditional boarding school—at least 60.
What are the benefits of therapeutic boarding schools?
But therapeutic boarding schools also provide. Regular counseling sessions for all students. A home-like environment, with fewer students and more residential staff, as opposed to a traditional dorm.
What are the benefits of boarding school?
Not all teens are ready to leave home for extended periods of time. However, for those who are, teen boarding schools offer a wide range of benefits. These include the following: 1 High teacher-student ratio: A teen boarding school often prioritizes small classes and personal attention for students. 2 Greater independence: Living and studying away from home gives teens a chance to become more resilient and self-reliant. A study conducted by the Arts & Science Group of Baltimore found that 78 percent of boarding school alumni felt well prepared for the non-academic aspects of college life, including independence and time management. 3 Safer environment: As a rule, youth at teen boarding schools have less exposure to drugs, alcohol, and other risky situations. 4 Peer support: Because they live together on campus, students at a boarding school have more opportunities to support each other in academic and extracurricular pursuits. 5 Character development: Teen boarding schools often emphasize campus-wide values and mutual respect among all members of the school community. 6 Strong connections: Students living together at a teen boarding school create strong bonds and make lifelong friends. This is especially important for teens.
What are the different types of boarding schools?
There are many different types of boarding high schools. These include religious, military, and performing arts schools . Moreover, some adolescents get the extra support they need at a therapeutic boarding school.
Do teens leave home for extended periods of time?
Not all teens are ready to leave home for extended periods of time. However, for those who are, teen boarding schools offer a wide range of benefits. These include the following:
What is therapeutic boarding school?
A therapeutic boarding school (TBS) is an alternative school that specializes in helping teenagers navigate their education while addressing behavioral, emotional and cognitive challenges that can not be addressed in a traditional school environment.
What is a TBS?
A TBS will focus on ensuring students receive high-quality academic classes while also providing psychological counseling services. Because students live at the TBS, staff and counselors come to know them on a deeper level, increasing their chances of healing and restoration.
What is Lake House Academy?
Lake House Academy has a specialized approach to treatment, prioritizing academics without shying away from clinical therapy. Our holistic approach weaves in research modalities and techniques that integrate emotional and social development with sensory and cognitive processing.
What is the purpose of the Empathy program?
The program recognizes the position these families are in and works to give hope to parents for the future, rather than criticizing parents for their failings.
What is an oversight program?
OVERSIGHT: The program is accountable to some sort of oversight, whether it be a board, a governing body, a strong accrediting body, or licensing with the state. If under an exemption for state licensing, the program should have a strong governing and oversight body.
What are acceptance guidelines?
ACCEPTANCE GUIDELINES: The program has well-defined guidelines for the level of care it can or cannot provide. The program does not place just any teenager, but maintains a complete understanding of the problems the program can address and the level of care it can actually provide.
How Are They Similar?
Therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers are similar in many ways. The are both options for treating teens with a range of issues, from ADD/ADHD, depression and anxiety to substance abuse, eating disorders and anger issues.
How Are They Different?
Therapeutic boarding schools differ from residential treatment centers in several ways. For therapeutic boarding schools, the emphasis is on school and staying caught up to grade level. Therapy is important as well but the emphasis on education is part of the healing and recovery process.
Summary
The difference between therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers are enough that you should really get some expert advice on which kind of facility is best for your troubled teen.
Start With What You Have
We recommend that you first look at the assets you have right in front of you. If you have wealth and you can utilize that wealth to pay for a therapeutic program, begin the process of letting it go now so that it will be easier for you to do so when it comes time.
Move Outward, Look to Your Close Friends and Family
We talk to so many parents who are great parents but feel lost as to how to help their child. Many families harbor great shame about the fact that their teenager is struggling, and so they are not willing to ask for help from others. This is a humbling experience for many, so we encourage you to embrace this process.
Still Need Help? Ask Your Local Community
If your assets and your family’s help are still not enough, you can then move toward your local community to ask for help. Write a letter of support and ask your friends if they know anyone who might be interested in helping. You will be surprised at the resources you may find in the process.
Apply for a Behavioral Health Loan
If you have exhausted all of the above options, your last resort may be applying for a behavioral health loan.
Do You Have Health Insurance?
If your insurance covers mental and behavioral health, some programs can bill insurance for Out of Network Benefits, which will cover the cost of therapy only. We encourage you to look at our article titled, "Can My Health Insurance Policy Help Me Pay for Residential or Therapeutic Boarding School?".
Does Your Child Have an IEP?
If your child has an IEP States are required by law to provide funding if a case can be made that the school setting will not be enough to meet their IEP. See wrightslaw.com for more information.
Was Your Child Adopted?
The Adoptive Families Coalition welcomes and helps families with post-adoption challenges. They offer a unique plan to assist in meeting the high cost of therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, and wilderness therapy programs.
Troubling Treatment: Efforts are underway to reform teen behavioral programs
Chelsea Filer was 15 when her mother hired men to take her from her home in San Diego to a teen treatment center in Ensenada, Mexico. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Filer.
Looking at the industry
Allegations of abuse and mistreatment aren’t unique to WWASP-affiliated programs. In June 2020, three staff members at a residential treatment facility for youths ages 12 to 18 in Michigan were charged with involuntary manslaughter after they restrained a 16-year-old boy who had thrown part of a sandwich at another student.
Early efforts
Philip Elberg is one of the first attorneys who spoke out about potential harms in the troubled teen industry.
Spreading the word
Public awareness of problems in the troubled teen industry has grown in recent years, due largely to a grassroots social media movement.
Seeing the benefits
From Megan Stokes’ perspective, significant improvements have been made in the troubled teen industry.
Pushing reforms
A couple of years ago, Democratic Oregon state Sen. Sara Gelser learned her state was sending foster care kids to residential treatment centers across the country. She led an inquiry into their living conditions, which resulted in Oregon removing its youth from all out-of-state facilities in 2020.

Types of Boarding Schools
Benefits of A Teen Boarding School
- Not all teens are ready to leave home for extended periods of time. However, for those who are, teen boarding schools offer a wide range of benefits. These include the following: 1. High teacher-student ratio:A teen boarding school often prioritizes small classes and personal attention for students. 2. Greater independence: Living and studying away from home gives teens a chance t…
What Does A Therapeutic Boarding School offer?
- Therapeutic boarding schools for troubled teens are designed for those who need extra emotional and psychological support while progressing academically. Traditional boarding schools, such as college prep schools or performance-based schools, do offer counseling if students request it. But therapeutic boarding schools provide much more comprehensive mental health services. Te…
Therapeutic Boarding School vs. Residential Teen Treatment
- Therapeutic boarding schools are academic environments that offer enhanced mental health services. However, residential teen treatment programsput the primary focus on healing mental health challenges. While such programs do provide academics, treatment and therapeutic care are the top priorities. Hence, therapeutic schools and residential treatmen...
Competency
Accountability
Communication
Consistency
Unity
Planning
Collaboration
- OPEN INQUIRY:The program leaders and staff are willing to ask questions. They are willing to inquire of others as to how to make the program better, and willing to admit that the way they are currently operating may need to change. CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT:The program operates under the assumption that it can always improve, gain new knowledge, and gr...
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