Therapeutic Boarding Schools for Teens from Mount Vernon, NY

The Anything But a Typical day-to-day life of a Troubled Teen in the Wilderness

A Typical Week for teens emersed in the WinGate wilderness experience is exciting, refreshing, and, in a word, an all-around awe-inspiring and transformative experience. First and foremost, it's important to understand that while they are living in the wilderness, the way in which our campers spend their time is very structured and consistent.

For instance, every day begins the same: with our campers delegating the first part of their day to create and practice what we refer to as, their morning routine of contemplation, meditation, or prayer - this of course depending on each student's own personal and familial belief structure). Divvying themselves up into what we call 'personal circles.' teenage campers are instructed to work on personalized therapeutic, reading, and other working assignments. We call this phase of the day, Personal Mentoring Time (PMT).

Additionally, PMT is also an opportunity for staff to check in with students on a more personal one-on-one level. It is their patient and all around non-authoritarian way in which they speak and act towards teens which allow the child to become more perceptive to actually listening and hearing their advice and guidance than they would say, a therapeutic boarding school staff member who, in all likelihood, considers it his duty to forcefully make the teens understand that under his supervision, they all must obey - See the difference? Or, most importantly, do you see the fundamental issues with how traditional therapeutic facilities are self-defeating in their approach in providing behavioral and therapeutic restoration? ( take my word for it, as the author of this page, I am also former alumni and staff member of such a facility) 

To be frank, these type of facilities (generally speaking) are from - and continue to operate as if - they are from a bygone era that most people were naively unaware ever past us by, to begin with. In short, psychiatric treatment has changed a lot, even within the last ten years; the approximate length of time it has been since I graduated from a therapeutic boarding school, myself. 

At WinGate, Teens are The Masters of Their Domain, The Leaders of Their Tight Knit Tribe

Upon first setting foot on the campsite, all campers must keep track of what their goals are for that particular day. We call this daily devotion to goal setting, "Day Tracks." 

Rather than enforce or display authoritarian rule over the student, our staff is highly trained in teaching teens how to essentially run the program themselves. With this kind of nurturing role of leading and depending on one another, students will be able to trust their staff while simultaneously building self-confidence, most likely unbeknownst to themselves.

In fact, when the program is running smoothly as it is designed to operate, the troubled teen campers play a major leadership role in their own therapeutic development.  Whether it be choosing what they listen to, participate in, or conducting what we refer to as, 'WindSpeaks' (Group Discussions) on topics that will help themselves and their peer group become more mentally and emotionally self-aware. At the end of the day, it is the teenage campers who are in charge and thus, trusted to take full responsibility for not only themselves but also their peers, who by this point in their journey, will have almost certainly built strong bonds with one another - it's the way of the wilderness. 

Through their journey, our students will get the chance to make primitive wilderness living things like spoons, fire, moccasins, leather goods, and maybe even a bow and arrow or two. Interspersed in all of this will be recovery work and recovery meetings that focus their attention on what they came to the wilderness to work on.

Mondays and Tuesdays are typical 'layover days.' On these days, the group doesn't hike. These are also the therapy days- your therapist will come out to do individual sessions and therapy groups. This is also the time in which current staff rotates out as a fresh one rotates in. Layover days are a good opportunity to make goals that will proactively prepare them for the next week's journey. This list of preparations may include anything from crafting items, finishing letters to parents, to working on therapeutic assignments that are tailored specifically to meet their specific treatment's needs.

The rest of the days of the week are typical "hiking days." On these days, the group packs up camp and hikes to a new camp. There are chores to attend to in cleaning up camp and in setting up the new site. Hikes vary in length according to the capabilities of the group members, the weather, as well as whatever the season happens to be at the time. 

By simply applying basic common sense, it's easy to understand why world-class wilderness therapy programs like WinGate are effective where other, more traditional treatment facilities fail.

If You are the Parent of a Troubled Teen From Mount Vernon, NY WinGate is Here to Help!