When you have a defiant teen girl everything feels broken. Her heart. Your heart. Her mind. Your mind. Her future. The lines of communication. The path to a healthy and happy relationship. When everything feels so broken, it can be difficult to see where or when healing might come.
Healing Approaches
Depending on where you stand in the process, there are many different routes to pursue to heal the broken parts. It usually begins with communication and boundaries within the home. As a parent you lay down rules and consequences. You try talking with your defiant teen daughter about her behavior and attitude. For some, for the lucky ones, this is enough.
Others need outside help. Counselors, teachers, coaches, extended family – creating a support team is a critical step when a defiant teen no longer responds to parental authority. With hard work and the right combination of mentors, your defiant teen can begin a healing and rehabilitation process.
Unfortunately for many, healing needs a more concentrated and indirect approach for the complex issues facing defiant teen girls. If your teen has failed to respond to parental or counseling efforts, the comprehensive approach of a therapeutic boarding school. It can be especially true for girls with addictions from which they need to be removed, and replaced with healthy outlets.
Equine Therapy
Many therapeutic boarding schools have found success and solace with horses. Using horses taps into basic physical and emotional needs for defiant teen girls. They are able to turn their focus to something other than their struggles, unhappiness, addictions, or contempt. Equine therapy can stimulate calm, and provide the path to healing. Girls begin with learning, then practice, and finally responsibility as they interact with horses on a regular basis. The horses help them build relationships of trust and support at a basic, even nonverbal level, which helps them reset – both in mind and heart.
There are many opportunities and varieties of healing for defiant teen girls. From strict control to structured military academies to extensive talk therapy, you will find boarding schools and therapy programs that focus on fixing issues or preventing further damage. But schools who rely on equine therapy have a commitment to healing, which is what a troubled teen girl desperately needs. Equine therapy is the path to healing from the inside out, with a gentle and indirect, yet effective, approach. She is not doomed to a life of pain or addiction, and it just might take a horse to teach her that.
Think Havenwood Might Be For You?
We encourage any visitors considering placing their daughter in treatment to fill out our online assessment as soon as possible. This two minute form will give our admissions team all the information needed to determine if your daughter is a good fit for our program.
Eric Allred was born and raised in Rigby, Idaho. He grew up on a family farm where he learned the value of work. He graduated from Rigby High School and attended Rick’s College, now known as BYU-Idaho. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Utah State University, received a master’s degree in organizational behavior and human relations from the University of Phoenix and a second master’s degree in marital and family therapy from Phillips Graduate Institute. Eric has been involved in Rotary and was president of a local Rotary Club. He enjoys being with his family and doing outdoor activities such as fly fishing.
Chase was very fortunate to start in this industry as a struggling 17 year old kid looking for a mentor and something to be passionate about. Wilderness therapy was Chase’s first stop in this industry and was truly a transcendental experience for him. Chase has an enormous love for this line of work and the power that it has in creating change in everyone involved. Chase’s biggest belief is the power a mentor, strong, healthy relationships, and accountability can have on anyone, especially youth. Taking a very relational approach to his work, Chase has always been very relatable to the students he works with. Being able to understand and relate to a vast variety of the same struggles as a lot of the students he works with has been able to help him continue to grow, learn, and teach. Chase believes that with great rapport and trust, he can use his experience to continue to coach and train new staff, and has the ability to find those staff with the passion for this industry, and help them grow. His love and passion can be felt the moment you talk with Chase about this industry and he passes that on to others he works with. In his spare time you will find Chase cheering for the Eagles, Yankees, and Mavericks, hanging out with his brother, learning more about Eastern Psychology, and continuing to grow and learn.