Learning to Cope

The trouble with toubled teens and others who struggle with out-of-control emotions is their lack of adequate and appropriate coping skills.  No matter what stresses them out -- disappointment, embarrassment, fear -- they find it almost impossible to look honestly at themselves and the real issue, and either deal with it or, if it's out of their control, to just let it go.

For many of our students, developing workable coping skills begins their introduction to the 12 Steps and the Serenity Prayer.  The prayer, repeated millions of times a day by those in recovery, contains the real secret to coping:  Change what you can change, and accept what you can't.  In other words, learning what in life you are responsible for, and what you cannot and must not assume responsibility for, is the task at hand.  There may be no better place for a troubled teen to put this to the test than the supportive environment of a therapeutic boarding school.