Therapeutic Boarding School for Girls

Our treatment program is based on a cognitive behavioral model, Accountability Based Cognitive Restructuring (ABCR).  This approach has been recognized by The National Institute of Health as the most effective approach to dealing with the at-risk girls we enroll.

This approach means  we are focused on

Thinking, emotions and behavior are all related; negative thinking patterns often lead us to negative emotions, which lead us to negative behavior.  So in order to change behavior, we need to focus on our thinking patterns.

For example, let’s think about how a fight in the locker room may have been prevented. Mary is in gym class and she sees two of her friends off to the side whispering and giggling. Rather than approach them and ask them what they are talking about, she thinks, “I wonder what they’re talking about…they must be talking about me. I can’t believe they’re doing that, they’re not good friends and they have no right to talk about me that way.”

“I’ve been able to have a better relationship with my parents. I’ve gained confidence in myself. I loved the activities.”
Arlette, student. These thinking patterns lead Mary to become angry, and the more she thinks about it, the more angry she becomes. She confronts the girls in an angry manner, accuses them of talking about her behind her back and tells them they aren’t good friends. The other girls become angry and defensive at the accusation. Mary does not receive the apology she believes she deserves and thinks, “I can’t believe how mean they are,” and she punches one of them in the face.  A fight ensues.

Once things settle down, the girls are able to explain to Mary what they were talking about, and Mary sees that her thinking and behavior were irrational and she was mistaken; however, it is too late,  and her friends have decided that they can no longer trust her and do not want to be her friend.

In our program, girls learns how to evaluate  their “self talk”; specifically, what they are thinking and telling themselves about a situation, and they learn to identify how their self-talk allows such an intense emotional reaction to specific situations.   After consistently analyzing their own thinking patterns, the girls can then begin to see how their thinking is actually causing the intense emotions that lead to maladaptive behavior, and that they are the only ones who can change their behavior.

While the girls are working on changing their thinking patterns, we also immediately start to help them work on her behavior.   Everyone involved in our program: case managers, teachers, parents, fellow students, and even our resident monitors, constantly contribute to that behavioral change.   We use a daily point system which rewards the girls not only for very simple tasks such as keeping a clean room, helping prepare meals, or doing homework, but also for making small, positive changes to their thinking/behavior patterns and for learning to better manage their emotions and behavior.  This constant feedback slowly helps the girls to understand when their behavior is not appropriate, and how to behave in more effective ways so that their needs are being met in a healthy manner.

This approach of working both on immediate behavior and on thinking patterns has been proven to be extremely effective with troubled teens.