Parents often wonder, “Am I overreacting or moving too quickly in considering a residential treatment program for troubled teens?”

It’s important for parents to trust their natural instincts. If you’ve come looking for help, more help than can be provided through services at home, that suggests you recognize that your child is heading or has already headed down a bad path. The consequences of the current behaviour may be life-limiting at a minimum or jeopardizing their very safety at the worst. You recognize your child needs more help or a different kind of help. It’s not a matter of, “am I overreacting.” You’ve recognized that it’s not necessary or even prudent to wait to get the right kind of help for your child.

When Others Minimize the Situation

Am I overreacting about my child?Time and time again we speak to parents who wished they had taken action sooner. It’s not the parents fault that they haven’t inquired about or accessed our troubled teen treatment program sooner, because much of society and many professionals minimize the seriousness of what is occurring, sometimes leading parents to believe that it’s really not that bad or the behaviour is “normal” even though parental instincts tell them something different.

Often parents have known about the Venture Academy troubled teens program in Canada for months prior to inquiring but it’s a big step to send an email or make the call – we get that. Sometimes it’s the compilation of a series of serious occurrences such as school suspension drug use, hospitalization or another straw that broke the camel’s back that finally triggers an inquiry about our services. That’s OK – we welcome inquiries at any time along the continuum of severity.

“Am I Overreacting?” Not When…

  • First you want a thorough assessment to get to the root of the problem
  • You want your child’s self-limiting and self-destructive behaviors to stop
  • Also, you want to keep your child safe and away from drugs, alcohol, and negative peers, etc.
  • You as a parent want to take charge of the situation, stop engaging in processes that are not helping you and want to engage in something that’s going to be effective
  • Your gut instinct tells you that your child needs more help than they are getting now

It’s not overreacting when you want your teen to do better than he/she is doing now!

It is certainly not overreacting to get a full and proper assessment about the behavior so you know how to best address it. Often we do not know how to help our children because we don’t know what is at the root of the problem. How often do you ask yourself “where is this behaviour coming from?” or “why is my child acting this way?”. Venture Academy’s Intervention & Assessment program equips parents with the information they need to make informed and thoughtful decisions about the help their child needs.

We hear very often from parents that community-based counselling or therapy is not working. It may be that the child refuses to attend. The child also refuses to participate, or tells the therapist what they want to hear. This is a good indication that the child will benefit from residential treatment. The lack of success in therapy occurs because teens are not ready or willing to change. Residential treatment at Venture Academy can help youth engage therapy in a more positive and productive way where they are accepting of help, recognize and accept their own personal responsibility for their actions and are ready to do the “work” necessary in therapy.

Reach Out to Venture Academy

Along with the joys and hard work of parenting comes the responsibility to make difficult, sometimes unpopular decisions – the decisions you know are in the best interest for your child and family. Specifically, the decision about what kind of help to get is one of those important and difficult decisions. At Venture Academy, we understand and are here to help you. We will listen, empathize and help you sort things out. We will be honest in our assessment about your child’s needs and readiness for both assessment and treatment at Venture Academy.

Drawing on our extensive experience helping teens and parents, let us help you decide if you are overreacting. To help your troubled teens, contact us today at 866.762.2211. To know, “am I overreacting,” it’s important to take a step back and reach out for help.