When children display major behavioral problems at home, school, or during social time, parents turn to us for assistance. If a child is violent, oppositional, abusing drugs or alcohol, or exhibiting symptoms of psychiatric illness, we can advise and foster placement in the appropriate therapeutic program. Therapeutic programs can deal with the range of psychological diagnoses and disorders as well as learning disabilities and attention problems. The range of treatment options for such children includes residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, therapeutic wilderness programs, psychiatric hospitals, and special programs for Autism Spectrum Disorders. All therapeutic programs offer nurturing support and intensive group and individual psychotherapy.

Therapeutic Placement, Over 40 Years Experience

Our firm has managed therapeutic placements for over 40 years. Our well-developed network of relationships with the best programs assures that your family will get the best treatment possible. We consistently check programs for solvency, reputation, and long-term stability of staff. Our placement process, gathering in-depth histories of family and child, completing thorough review of psycho-educational assessment, and engagement of staff at prospective programs, ensures that the programs presented to you have the exact resources for your child’s specific needs. Once enrolled, your family and child will receive ongoing support. We are involved from enrollment to matriculation to make sure the program is tailored to the child’s needs and that parent concerns are resolved immediately. Our stellar reputation with therapeutic programs means that no change in therapy or clinical intervention, academic difficulty, or adjustment of time-lines occurs without our consultation and consent.

Usually parents give their child the benefit of doubt when there is troublesome behavior at home, at school, and during social time. The behavioral changes that lead parents to decide on a therapeutic placement most often unfolds slowly. The progression moves something like this. The child exhibits unacceptable behavior at home, in school, or during his or her social time. Family conversations begin rationally but soon turn quarrelsome. The child starts to exhibit rudeness and shortly thereafter defiance appears. House rules cease to be followed, aggressive behavior may begin, sometimes threats (“You cannot make me do it!) and cursing occur. Some form of violence is not far behind:  getting in a parents face, throwing objects, kicking walls and doors, and locking his or her bedroom door.

What You Do And When, Can Really Make A Difference

Parents do not want to aggravate the situation. However, passivity is not an option. Parents may try psychotherapy or psychotropic drugs if the child is willing. Grounding and taking away cherished objects is attempted, yet does not work. Now the child has the parents’ hands tied. Then it dawns on the parents that they are not able to stop this spiraling negative behavior. Usually, but not always, the child is using drugs and alcohol. Reluctantly, parents may then turn to a residential therapeutic placement.  Other parents may continue to wait before making such a change.

Next, consistent drug and alcohol use bring mom and dad immediately to attention. Such behavior is illegal and dangerous so parents must make an immediate intervention. Liquor, beer, and marijuana are usually involved. Drugs that can cause brain dysfunction may also be involved or are the next step in the child’s life. The child must be pulled out of the environment that led to and consistently reinforced such behavior and habits.

In other instances, serious psychological problems are involved. These include depression, anxiety, BiPolar, Borderline Personality, Schizophrenia, distorted thinking, and other personality disorders. Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders may also have similar disturbances and require very specialized programs.

The Shumsky Advantage

• Our firm has managed Therapeutic Placements for over forty years.
• We have well-developed, long-term relationships with the best programs. We consistently check on the solvency, reputation, and the long term stability of staff.
• We have achieved successful outcomes with hundreds of children by engaging only stellar programs.
• We are skilled in taking detailed and helpful social histories from families.
• We understand how to have in-depth conversations with the most aggressive children.
• If we must act immediately, our wealth of knowledge in understanding psychological testing and keen observation of the child allows us to make the correct placement even when rushed.
• Our reputation with therapeutic programs is unparalleled. This is why no program makes a change in therapist, a clinical intervention, or adjusts the upcoming steps in a program without first consulting with us.
• Use of quality programs is not enough. We are involved from the first to the last day of the child’s stay to make certain the program is tailored to the child’s needs. We also are part of the team to plan the next steps for the child after graduation.
• We are in touch with the family throughout the process.
• We are the most clinically sophisticated firm in the practice of therapeutic placement.

Descriptions of Therapeutic Program Types

Therapeutic Wilderness Programs –  This is the first step if the child is out of control. These programs run from four to eight weeks, depending on the child’s needs. Programs involve learning independence through hiking, pitching tents, dealing with variable weather, and learning how to start and put out a fire and to cook. Small groups of a single gender stay together throughout and learn how to cooperate through the necessary division of labor. At the camp site each night, group therapy takes place. Each child is assigned a therapist who meets twice a week on that day’s camp site. There is no school; however, students keep a journal of feelings, thoughts, and events.

Therapeutic Boarding Schools – These are accredited schools where students take similar subjects to their home school. Every student attends class during the day, participates in extra-curricular activities after school, and has a one and one-half hour enforced study hall. All students have chores to do each day, and the only electronics permitted are use of computers in the school’s computer center. Use is for research only. Group and individual therapy is provided and medication is monitored by a consulting Psychiatrist.

Residential Treatment Programs – Children who have serious psychiatric problems attend these programs. They receive intensive psychotherapy individually and in group. A Psychiatrist is employed and on-campus. Like a Therapeutic Boarding School, they are accredited and students take similar courses to their home school. Also, the same rules apply.

Psychiatric Hospitals – A child who is a danger to self or others enrolls in a hospital from one to four months, or longer, if more therapy is needed. These are lock-down facilities, and some schooling takes place through coordination with the local public school system.

Programs For Children on the Autistic Spectrum Disorder Scale – These students enroll in special therapeutic programs with staff trained to work on both the spectrum and psychiatric disorders. Such students are never sent to a Therapeutic Wilderness Program.

We Can Help, Especially During Difficult Times

In difficult times, your child and family need the assistance of experts with knowledge and integrity. When children are violent and disruptive, using drugs and alcohol to excess, are suffering from psychiatric illness, or require special programs for Autism Spectrum Disorders, you can turn to The Shumsky Center for Academic And Career Performance. For more than 40 years, we have made successful interventions and turned around children’s lives with placements at top therapeutic programs. Our close relationships with top programs and staff, clinical sophistication, and ability to act immediately give your family access to the best help available for your child.