Boot Camps For Troubled Teens

Sometimes families look for boot camps for troubled teens because they believe their child needs to “toughen up” or “get some reality” as if this will “snap them back” into a better place. A boot camp for troubled teens is a discipline-based program that has been proven to be ineffective. Multiple studies have shown that teens who attend boot camps for troubled youth do not see lasting positive changes after receiving treatment.
While we understand the frustration many parents are feeling, experience and research shows– A Boot Camp For Troubled Teens Does Not Work!

Trails Carolina Is Not A Boot Camp For Troubled Teens. It's An Evidence-Based, Trauma-Informed, Therapeutic Wilderness Program.

Trails Carolina is not a boot camp for troubled teens. Rather, Trails Carolina is an evidence-based, wilderness therapy program. We identify the underlying causes of behavioral and emotional issues so that the changes can be understood and maintained over time.
If your teen exhibits deliberate disregard for authority, commonly displays rebellious behavior, gets into regular and growing disturbances with the law, and shows no motivation in school then Trails Carolina can help.
The truth is that a boot camp for troubled teens is a band-aid. While a boot camp for teens or a military camp for teens may intervene in behavior temporarily, the foundation of self-discovery necessary for sustained change over time is not created through fear or consequence-based experiences.

Changing Locus Of Control
Locus of control is defined as an individual’s expectations regarding the behaviors that determine rewards and punishments. Children with an internal locus of control view events as resulting from their own actions. Children with an external locus of control view events as being under the control of external factors such as Mom, Dad, teachers etc. For example, a child with an internal locus of control might interpret a failure in school as a result of a lack of effort or focus, whereas as a child with external locus of control might blame their teacher’s poor instruction.
Many of the kids we work with at Trails Carolina have a misplaced sense of control. They believe they have no control over what happens to them and how they react to those events. This creates a sense that they cannot be held accountable in anyway because it’s always someone else’s fault. This type of thinking demotivates kids to take positive action because they don’t feel they have any control over their future.
In a boot camp for troubled kids and teens, the focus is often on external factors thereby reinforcing a misplaced locus of control. Unlike a boot camp for troubled teens, at Trails our goal is to help students recognize their role in their outcomes and help them establish healthier habits and coping skills.
Perceived self-efficacy helps to account for such diverse changes in coping behavior produced by different influences such as:

• School refusal
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Family conflict
• Low self-esteem
• Social isolation
• Self-harm
• Adoption
• Defiant behavior
• Gaming and technology obsession
• Substance abuse
• Attachment issues
• Manipulative behavior
• Poor academic achievement
• Learning differences
• ADHD
• Trauma

At Trails Carolina Wilderness Therapy Program we are passionate and committed to creating the best, most valuable wilderness therapy program possible for students and family alike and we know that lasting change takes far more intention than the militant approach of a boot camp for troubled teens.