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{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Short description|Residential school offering therapy for students}}
{{Globalize|article|United States|date=April 2021}}

Therapeutic boarding school is an institution where students reside on campus and are provided with both educational and therapeutic services. These institutions first began to emerge in the late 1960s.
==Description==
A therapeutic boarding school is an institution where students reside on campus and are provided with both educational and therapeutic services. Unlike private boarding schools or public schools, they operate all year long with no [[spring break]] or [[Summer vacation|summer vaction]] or other holidays.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Golightley |first=Sarah |date=2020-03-01 |title=Troubling the 'troubled teen' industry: Adult reflections on youth experiences of therapeutic boarding schools |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2043610619900514 |journal=Global Studies of Childhood |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=53–63 |doi=10.1177/2043610619900514 |issn=2043-6106}}</ref> Enrollment is open all year around and typical enrollment in such schools lasting between one and two years. Therapeutic boarding schools are often located in rural countryside.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Teens find out 'What It Takes' at boarding school |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/06/28/teens-find-out-what-it-takes-at-boarding-school/2467321/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>

Therapeutic boarding schools are known for their strict rules and structured environments, which are designed to promote discipline and focus. Students are typically prohibited from using personal electronic devices such as cellular phones, MP3 players, or other entertainment devices. Access to privileges, such as phone calls, is often contingent upon a level-based system where students must earn the right through good behavior or meeting specific therapeutic milestones. When permitted, phone calls are typically limited to [[family therapy]] sessions and are closely monitored to ensure they align with therapeutic objectives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-19 |title='They tried everything ... to break me': Boarding school students describe harsh treatment |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/tried-everything-break-boarding-school-130202658.html |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Szalavitz |first=Maia |date=2009-04-17 |title=An Oregon School for Troubled Teens Is Under Scrutiny |url=https://time.com/archive/6933378/an-oregon-school-for-troubled-teens-is-under-scrutiny/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> These privileges can be revoked as part of the disciplinary process, reinforcing accountability and adherence to program rules.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Corsello |first1=Rachel M. |last2=Hayes |first2=Brittany E. |date=January 2024 |title="When Can I Call Home?" Coercive Control, Structural Isolation, and Functional Isolation Among Attendees of Residential Behavioral Modification Programs |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08862605231222878 |journal=Journal of Interpersonal Violence |language=en |volume=39 |issue=13–14 |pages=2933–2958 |doi=10.1177/08862605231222878 |pmid=38243746 |issn=0886-2605|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== History ==
Therapeutic boarding schools began manifesting in North American societies in the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Five Facts About the Troubled Teen Industry |url=https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/resources/newsletters/childrens-rights/five-facts-about-troubled-teen-industry/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=www.americanbar.org |language=en}}</ref> starting with early therapeutic boarding schools such [[CEDU]], [[DeSisto School]] and [[Élan School]].

== In popular culture ==

=== Books ===

* No Direction Home by Greg Cayea
* What it Takes to Pull Me Through by David L. Marcus.

=== Films and Television ===

* [[Higher Ground (TV series)|Higher Ground]]

==See also==
{{Sister project links}}
*[[Alternative school]]
*[[Behavior modification facility]]
*[[Outdoor education]]
*[[Residential education]]
*[[Residential treatment center]]
*[[Therapeutic community]]
*[[Troubled teen industry]]
*[[List of Therapeutic boarding schools]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* {{cite journal |last=Kolbe |first=Athena R. |year=2025 |title=Ethical Concerns with Referral to Privately-Owned Therapeutic Boarding Schools: The Case of Iowa's Midwest Academy |journal=Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal |doi=10.1007/s10560-024-01001-x|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Mooney |first1=Heather |last2=Leighton |first2=Paul |year=2019 |title=Troubled Affluent Youth's Experiences in a Therapeutic Boarding School: The Elite Arm of the Youth Control Complex and Its Implications for Youth Justice |journal=Critical Criminology |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=611–626 |doi=10.1007/s10612-019-09466-4}}
*{{cite journal |author1=Golightley, Sarah |year=2024 |title=Troubling the 'troubled teen industry': institutional violence, epistemic injustice, and psychiatrised youth |journal=Edinburgh Research Archive |doi=10.7488/era/4609 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/4609 |accessdate=2025-02-05}}
* {{cite book |last=Hirsch |first=Frederick M. |title=Teens in Crisis: How the Industry Serving Struggling Teens Helps and Hurts Our Kids |year=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231514507}}

{{Troubled teen industry}}
{{Developments}}

[[Category:School types]]
[[Category:Therapeutic community]]
[[Category:Boarding schools]]
[[Category:Therapeutic boarding schools]]
[[Category:Education in the United States]]

Therapeutic boarding school - Revision history

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