Help for Parents of Struggling Teens

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Fat Camp
Learn about why fat camps don’t work and why the new healthy weight loss camps are so much more effective. more >>

Featured Programs

Youth CareYouth Care
The idea of sending your child away from home can be daunting. Youth Care is a home away from home. Our intensive, therapeutic program is licensed to treat children and adolescents with such issues as depression, substance use, thought disorders, social withdrawal, and learning disabilities. If you want your child to receive intensive therapeutic and academic support in a place that feels like home, Youth Care is the right choice.

Youth Care offers a home-like setting is much more nurturing than a hospital-type setting and a high ratio of teachers to students in top-notch academic program. School success is a primary goal of treatment for adolescents while at Youth Care.

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SUWSSUWS of the Carolinas
SUWS of the Carolinas is a therapeutic camping program with a focus on clinical intervention and assessment. The program uses the outdoors as an alternative to conventional treatment environments, while engaging students using traditional therapeutic methods. They also have the Seasons program, which addresses unique needs of younger children, ages 10-13.

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The Perfect Gift for A Graduate? Nip and Tuck Cosmetic Surgery

Dr. Roxanne Guy, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), said that more teens are asking for cosmetic surgeries as graduation presents this spring. They want procedures they see on television shows like “Extreme Makeover,” such as breast implants, liposuction, skin resurfacing, teeth whitening, and so forth.

About a quarter of a million American teenagers ages 10 to 19 years old had cosmetic surgery last year. That figure includes 47,000 nose jobs and 9,000 breast augmentations, according to the ASPS.

Some psychologists worry that this trend is not a good thing.

Dr. David Sarwer, psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said that about five to 15% of cosmetic surgery candidates suffer from “body dysmorphic disorder,” characterized by a false belief that they are unusually ugly. He said that teens with this disorder should have psychiatric treatment, not surgery. Others have expressed concern that teens are too young to make a decision with lifelong consequences.

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