Teenage is beautiful, yet no doubt challenging, both for the parents and kids. There is the addiction issue, constant family fights, the pressure of exams, depression from being unable to handle the stress – all of which lead to a very unhealthy scenario for teens and is detrimental to their overall development. Often, parents force excessive punishment on their aggressive kids and that in turn only worsens the situation. What one should realize is that troubled teens need to be handled with love and respect and taught with care, the value of life as well as how much their bad attitudes are actually self-punishing.
Psychologists have long patronized the correctional possibilities of wilderness therapy as troubled teen programs. If you are also looking for a functional approach to ensure a meaningful rectification of your teen child, wilderness therapy from anasazi foundation would be good for you.
To start with, Anasazi focuses on a non-punitive program that helps the teens to realize their inner strength and how capable they are of performing something actually meaningful. The program is meant for youths between 12 to 17 years of age, who are into substance abuse, any sort of addiction, and other behavioral or emotional concerns. The participants are taken to boot camps in the wilderness in Arizona, where they have to spend at least 50 days with many other fellow troubled teens. The boot camps lead a primitive lifestyle where the participants would have to learn to do everything on their own, like the ancient people.
The wilderness therapy from Anasazi is used to address biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of the participants. First, the teens are taught the importance of a healthy diet, exercise, healthy sleeping habits, and the derogatory effects of addiction or substance abuse- and how a healthy lifestyle offers them the ability to cope with the challenges of daily life.
Afterward, the Anasazi troubled teen program works by instilling confidence and hope in the teens, making them believe that they are actually capable of coming out of wrong deeds and contributing to meaningful actions. As the teens here have to do everything on their own, they learn the value of self-sufficiency. The Anasazi therapists (Shadows) have received training in advanced empirical-based systematic treatment modules, which help them to induce a positive perspective of psychology in the teen minds. By taking a non-punitive approach, they teach the teens to take responsibility of the natural consequences of their actions so that they can learn the need and value of hard work and pragmatic effort. Moreover, as the Anasazi boot camps make the teens work hand in hand with fellow participants, they also develop the strength and willingness of a harmonious co-existence.
Here are some highlights of the Anasazi wilderness therapy-
- Individualized care by licensed independent clinicians
- Enables teens to consider their family values and belief systems
- Healing and strengthening of family relationships
- Counseling for parents so that they can help the teens in implementing the new lessons learnt beyond the boot camp
- Lasting change of heart and mind for the troubled teens