What Do We Mean By Therapeutic

The topic of therapy and therapeutic boarding schools was discussed today on Lon Woodbury's Internet Talk Radio Show: Parent Choices for Struggling Teens on LATalkRadio with his guests Dr. Philip Spiva, Ph D, Director and founder of Valley View School and the Associate Director, Rick Bulger, MSW. Dr. Spiva shared that "parents are confronted with a child who is oppositional, un- cooperative or doing poorly at home or in school and they are told that he/or she needs to go to a therapeutic program, yet there is no magic to it." Rick quickly pointed out that "therapy is based on trust and building relationships, and the person working with the child must have the ability to 'relate' to a child." And as Dr. Spiva interjected "the trust can be built with a soccer coach, a teacher, a cook or a maintenance man, and the level of trust is the need the child has to feel secure and positive, and this can happen in a number of arenas." "A good match can happen by chance" Rick agreed.

"Students learn to take risks or engage in the different areas of our school, whether it is sports, drama or in one of the several clubs we have here and this is where the success starts. These boys learn tools to take with them and the staff and therapists who are mentoring in these areas are the conduit for their success. A therapeutic boarding school differs from an ordinary boarding school based on the milieu, or 'stew' (as Dr. Spiva calls it) in addition to the program and experiences that are provided, that push the perimeters of the student's comfort zone to gain self confidence. Also, the structure and organized rules are put into place to create safety for these experiences. Therapies, both individual and group, coupled with the experiential experiences allow the students to identify their issues and gain the tools to deal with these as they occur. Rick also shared "that a therapeutic boarding school heals and manages the students. The mentors and staff know how to work with these young boys. They know how to mentor and they know how to communicate with them, yet they need to also be willing to learn from the students and listen to their feedback, because these boys are really very bright."

To listen to the full interview go to: What Do We Mean By Therapeutic? on LATalkRadio

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Lon Woodbury is the owner/founder of Woodbury Reports Inc. and www.strugglingteens.com. He has worked with families and struggling teens since 1984 and is the host of Parent choices for Struggling Teens on LATalkRadio Mondays at 12:00 Noon, Pacific Time, Channel One.

Dr. Philip Spiva, Ph D is the founder and Director of Valley View School and the Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Rick Bulger, MSW, has been with Valley View School since 1992 and is the Associate Director.

This segment of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens was sponsored by Grand River Academy, www.grandriver.org, a transition boarding school for boys in NE Ohio.