The Blog of P.U.R.E. and Sue Scheff

Summer programs and camps can be an excellent time to give your teenager a boost of self-esteem as well as helping them with  grade recovery  if they have been underachieving during the school year. If your teen has been making bad choices for a while, chances are good it will take longer than 6-9 weeks to undo this negative behavior. However since making the decision to leap into a  residential treatment center or therapeutic boarding school  is not only an emotional one, it’s also very expensive — starting with a good  summer program  can sometimes be a way to determine if your teen is a fit for the longer-term program. After attending a summer program, you can determine the following: 1. They come home and go back to school in the fall. 2. They continue with the residential therapy educational program. 3. They come home, go back to school and if things don’t go so well, you know that he/she can go back to that program and finish it. ...

What is the real purpose of Wilderness? For the many people that know me, they know I don't believe in Wilderness programs , nor do I advocate for short term programs .  This doesn't mean there aren't reputable Wilderness programs in our country.  There are, however chances are very good, after your teen attends one - within the first 30 days, the program will tell you it is likely you will need to go on to a residential therapy program.  Which means.... More money Another trip Another therapist Another schedule Etc.... Back to the first one - the costs are exuberant for Wilderness , and to combine it with another at least $50K for a boarding school is simply out of the equation for many families. I am writing this information today for two reasons.  One, I have received several calls this week alone by parents that fell for the Wilderness road.  Now they are out of money and need  a program, but the funding is no where to be found....