Troubled teens are challenging enough on their own.
And when you have an adopted child in need of therapy, sometimes the standard residential treatment facility isn’t going to be enough. While many centers are well-equipped with multiple methods of treatment for struggling teens, adopted adolescents carry with them additional trust and identity issues that can feed out-of-control behavior – issues that aren’t always addressed as they should. Adopted troubled teens who have lost control require a more specialized approach in order for them to fully heal.
Adopted Adolescents and Behavioral Difficulties
All teenagers experience changes as they grow into young adults. Whether it’s the hormonal fluctuations or the development of their emerging bodies and minds, all teens are seeking to “find themselves” as they move through puberty. Teenagers naturally challenge authority, and are forever flip-flopping between pushing the boundaries of their independence and retreating into the safety and security that a family provides. But not all make it through this process seamlessly, and those who don’t sometimes end up out of control and in need of residential treatment – and it’s worse for those who are adopted.
According to the U.S. Center for Child Welfare, during the period of adolescence, a teen’s social and emotional development “occurs in three critical areas—identity formation, independence, and intimacy—all of which are affected by adoption.” In fact they have an entire fourteen-page pamphlet dedicated specifically to parenting adopted teens, and noting that adoption has a significant impact on a teen’s development.
In addition to the difficulties troubled adopted teens can impart on those around them, it is important to remember that it is just as difficult for the teens themselves – particularly if they have been subjected to trauma or neglect. Understanding your teen and what they are going through isn’t easy, and this is why getting them into a residential care center is so critical for healing.
How Can I Help My Adopted Teen?
When your teenager has reached a point where that are out of control, it’s time to seek out professional help – help that is geared toward adopted teens and their families, and of the caliber provided at Three Points Center. As a residential treatment center founded specifically for the treatment of adopted troubled teens and the complicated issues they face, Three Points has put heart, soul, and science behind the healing of adopted adolescents and their families. Simply put: their methods of treatment include a kind of specialized care that other facilities don’t provide. There are always more variables to consider with an adopted troubled teen. Three Points Center not only understands this, but their whole philosophy of treatment revolves around it.