Ways to Help Teenage Girls With Trouble
If you want to help a young girl who exhibits troubled behavior patterns, you can find groups, schools and professionals that provide assistance. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the teen years present many physical, mental, emotional and social obstacles as young people struggle to cope with the challenges of adolescence. However, there are ways that you can help a troubled young girl return to a positive path and future.
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Counseling
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Find counseling help for the girl if she exhibits signs of extreme anger, depression or anxiety. Counselors can help a teenage girl deal with problems at home, at school or within her peer group. Adults should watch to see if the girl has problems eating, sleeping or interacting with her peers or other family members. Health care providers can refer you to a good counselor in your area, or you can ask the girl's school guidance counselor, youth advisor or teacher for suggestions of therapists in your area. Counseling professionals may include a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, social worker or mental health worker.
Boarding School
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Locate a therapeutic boarding school that specializes in working with troubled adolescent girls. Remove the girl from the environment where she experiences difficulties and send her to a school that challenges her in new directions. Schools for troubled girls, both faith-based and non-religious, can provide the behavioral, emotional and academic services that allow girls to see themselves in a new light. If a troubled girl has the opportunity to experience an environment where she no longer feels encumbered by her previous reputation, she can begin anew with studies, friendships and positive behaviors. A special school for troubled girls can break unhealthy patterns to give girls renewed confidence and allow them to make good decisions for their futures. Schools for troubled girls exist both as girls-only environments and as co-ed options.
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Family Therapy
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Move toward family therapy as a strategy to change family dynamics, if you want to help a troubled girl in your family. Family therapy generally proceeds with a clinical social worker or licensed therapist. The therapy gives the girl and her family members needed skills to interact with each other in a healthy manner and learn to resolve conflicts positively. The therapy may also help the girl heal emotionally from past hurtful interactions. Short-term family therapy may include all family members or only the girl with specific family members. The therapist will create a treatment plan based on the girl and the family's situation.
Boot Camp
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Send the girl to a boot camp that provides programs that mentally and physically test troubled adolescent girls. Boot camps, both co-ed and girl-only, challenge troubled teens with difficult tasks while offering a supportive framework that mentors, encourages and assists the young girl as she struggles to succeed. Success breeds renewed confidence as the young girl learns to prove herself through positive actions and behaviors. Boot camps offer positive reinforcement and encourage good behavior through the examples of role models.
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