A troubled teen camp may be in your future.

Troubled teen camp operators see and hear many of the same things again and again. Have you heard or thought any of these?

"Everything that is said is returned with sarcasm, rudeness, wisecracks, or criticism—even when it doesn’t even involve him."
[ ] Yes [ ] No

"He seems to find so many ways to hurt himself. Is he that hungry for any kind of pain?"
[ ] Yes [ ] No

"His behavior towards his parents is hostile, almost without exception. He seems to see the hatred all the time."
[ ] Yes [ ] No

"I sent him to his room and forbid him to use the car. He went to it, through it, out the window, took his mother's car, and that was several hours ago. I have no idea where he is now. What am I going to say when I catch up to him?"
[ ] Yes [ ] No

"The school called today. He beat the crap out of another student, threatened a teacher with a beating, broke a window and left campus. What's worse, it seems no one can tell me what set him off."
[ ] Yes [ ] No

"Okay. It's now gone from mischief and bad behavior to illegal things such as drinking, drugs, vandalism, theft—and our home is not void of those behaviors either. This has to stop but I am at a loss at how."
[ ] Yes [ ] No

"I'm on the verge of losing my job because of the frequency I have to leave work to attend to some issue caused by his behavior."
[ ] Yes [ ] No

The time has passed to ask for help

In a troubled teen camp, workers know that if you consistently answered "yes" to one, and it has gone on for six months or so, you probably need some advice or help. If you answered two or more, you almost certainly need a troubled teen camp and outside counseling, and the time to get it is now!

A troubled teen camp, such as Arivaca Boys Ranch, has the expertise to show the relationship between negative actions and resulting consequences, and the staff can show that to your son. For parents, it is difficult to associate the relationship and connect that to the proper consequences.

Let's look at an example:

If your son has learned manipulating tendencies, when the gloves come off, he can quickly put you in the corner with a feeling of helplessness, especially if you do not possess manipulating tendencies yourself. He will use what you want him to do to get his own way. For example, perhaps the only thing he seems to enjoy and do well is sports, and you want him to do well and perhaps use a sports scholarship to get into college. When you discipline him or restrict his participation in things, don't be surprised if there isn't always a practice, game, or event that he has to attend. Also, don't be surprised when you are forced to drive him to and fro to meet all those obligations that just arose. It is irrelevant if your son really wants to go to college, with or without a scholarship, or not. In all likelihood, he probably couldn't care less at this point. The point is that you feel frustrated and trapped and he seems to be free to get his own way.

How do parents lose control and how do they get it back?

This is but one of many, many ways a teenager learns to control his parents and keep them at a disadvantage. It is difficult to think your way out of this when you are that stressed. Teenagers soon become masters at beating you at your own game. The solution will have to come from outside, because your solutions have not work and you have run out of them.

If ignored, the problem will get worse

Nobody said being a parent had to be easy, but how big of a problem is it if you simply bite your lip and go on going on?  The number of inmates under 18 in America's state and federal prisons has more than doubled in the last 10 years. That is not only a surprising and shocking figure, it is surprising that there are teenagers who have gone so far astray that they require confinement in a prison. Do you think any family is immune to such a thing happening—even your family?  Half the parents of those teens in prison in the last 10 years thought so.

A troubled teen camp should provide results

With the striking step of temporarily changing the structure and the nature of the family, parents have a right to expect certain changes will occur following the enrollment of their son in a troubled teen camp. We know that, because we expect the same thing.

Expectation No. 1: Parents expect a behavior change for the better.
It takes time to integrate behavioral changes into the brain and short "visits" of a few weeks or a couple of months will not produce the quality and duration you may desire. At Arivaca Boys Ranch, we take some on short term but the preferred length of time is a school year, or about 10 months. We have licensed psychologists/social workers and other trained staff to provide one-on-one and group therapy to help associate work experiences with positive behavioral changes.

Expectation No. 2: Parents expect a reintroduction of responsibility.
Hard work coupled with enjoyable rewards is the key. Arivaca Boys Ranch is a working horse ranch where the boys are expected to care for and train horses. This is part of what is known as equine therapy and the positive results have been proven over and over again. Coupled with counseling, experiences in equine therapy can be transferred to behavioral changes.

Expectation No. 3: Parents expect recovery of lost academics.
In almost all cases, schoolwork has suffered for a long time and many of his high school classes have drawn failing grades. Parents expect sons to return to them on the right track and with the right attitude to succeed. Arivaca Boys Ranch has a fully-accredited high school curriculum with plenty of one-on-one tutoring and coaching to demonstrate to the boys the good feelings associated with being successful. The overall effect is to raise self-esteem as well as repair academic standing.

Our advisors and counselors can help you

There are many other expectations that will be met, but certainly these have to be almost everyone's top three. Contact Arivaca Boys Ranch at our toll-free number, (877) 88-MY-SON (888-886-9766) for more information about how you can get your son back whole again.

But, don't just take our word for it

If you want to review an independent, third-party review of Arivaca Boys Ranch and how effective our program is using equine therapy, counseling, and academic recovery, visit this link: (REVIEW).

Arivaca Boys Ranch, and its equine therapy program, produces results.

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