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Featured Programs

EXCEL ACADEMYEXCEL ACADEMY is an alternative to military schools in Texas. EXCEL ACADEMY boasts a compelling history of success with students who have had previous school or therapeutic failures. EXCEL ACADEMY offers an intensely effective milieu without the look and feel of traditional programs and places a heavy emphasis on ensuring that all students feel safe and part of "the family" regardless of past environment, behavior, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or history of abuse or trauma.

SunHawk Academy is a licensed adolescent residential treatment center and boarding school. A combination of an intense clinical intervention with an accredited academic program, SunHawk treats struggling teens 13-17 with behavioral and substance abuse problems. Personal growth of students is encouraged through extensive therapeutic activities and the "Life Skills Training" component of the program gives each child extensive exposure to real life experiences.

ADD Drugs Do Not Increase Likelihood of Substance Abuse

A new study reveals that young adults who took drugs to treat Attention Deficit Disorder as children are no more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol than other young people.

"Some previous studies showed an increased risk of substance abuse associated with stimulant treatment, and other studies showed both no association and a protective effect from treatments, but those studies had some methodological limitations," reported Michael Monuteaux, author and assistant director of research at the pediatric psychopharmacology program at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The researchers interviewed 112 males ages 16 to 27 about their drug and alcohol habits 10 years after they had been diagnosed with ADD. More than 70 percent had taken stimulants and 22 percent were currently taking them. However, the researchers found no link between taking stimulants and increased substance abuse.

This study appears in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

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