Counselors and therapists as well as medical and mental health professionals are not necessarily more qualified to evaluate and deal with a risk of suicide than a reasonable person.

Physicians are trained to diagnose and treat medical conditions, medicate if necessary, and admit patients to holding or psychiatric facilities. Evaluation, intervention and treatment of a suicide risk are specialized skills that require training and supervised experience.

Program personnel should consider themselves responsible for the outcome, when that program and their staff assume the authority to intervene or dismiss the risk of suicide.

The evaluation of a suicide risk is in fact an intervention and that intervention should not end once the child’s risk is no longer considered immediate. Consultation with parents and obtaining second opinions from qualified professionals are reasonable standards of practice.

A minimally qualified professional to deal with a suicide risk would have:

~  a masters degree in a mental health field,
~  licensure in a mental health field,
~ 16 hours of continuing education training in crisis intervention (with emphasis on suicide and violence risk), and
~ 6 months of supervised experience and training working with suicidal adults and children on regular basis.

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A wilderness program is more likely to detect bulimia than a therapeutic boarding school, psychiatric hospital, residential treatment or wilderness program. In a wilderness program, a student may not demonstrate all of their symptoms until the third or fourth week.

Students with Bulimia and Anorexia have four primary problem areas. These include:

~ Control
~ Argument and Debate
~ Secretive Behaviors
~ Guilt and Shame
~ Obsession over weight

Behavior That Will Be Encountered In The Field:

>> Hiding food.

>> Arguing over certain foods they can or cannot eat.

>> Comments that they are fat, unattractive and need to loose weight despite evidence to the contrary.

>> A pattern of drifting to the perimeter of the group or asking to leave the group to void their bladder soon after eating an adequate or large meal and then purging their meal without staff awareness.

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In most cases it takes time for a crisis to become critical, life threatening or intolerable. A pattern of crises have usually taken place before yet another crisis  quickly becomes dangerous.

At some point, one can trace the cause to one or more factors. Identifying these factors can help characterize the evolution of the crisis, the appropriate response and the duration of intervention that may be necessary.

> Drugs
> Alcohol
> Peer and social pressure
> Traumatic experience
> “Brittle” or fragile emotional temperament
> Parental divorce or separation
> Untreated parental alcoholism, drug abuse or mental disorder
> Failure to provide rules, discipline and a bonded relationship with a child
> Family conflict and discord

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The early signs of a crisis can be subtle. In order to intervene parents and family members must recognize there may be a problem and they must know how to communicate this not only among themselves, but with others who can or should help. The following is a list of signs that are ranked approximately in terms of warning signs and critical signs.

Warning Signs

> Change in routine and healthy sleep habits.
> Joining new group of friends who are unacceptable to parents.
> Recent and dramatic drop in school work, attendance or grades.
> Abrupt failure or refusal to contribute to the family in terms of work.
> Deception, lying and keeping their activities a secrete.

Critical Signs

> Dramatic disregard for self-care and hygiene.
> Drugs or drug paraphernalia
> Abrupt change in personality, attitude and emotional stability
> Possession of weapons
> Reckless, destructive and threatening behavior
> Violent, self-harming or suicidal statements or behavior.

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You might wonder if wilderness camp would be effective for your kid. There is only one way to find out – make him or her take an evaluation exam at the camp. Or, you can consult a therapist before checking the camp. There are several assessment programs that will define the behavioral, emotional and learning condition of your teenager. For instance, there are specific tests that would measure IQ, behavior and emotion. Such methods also determine what kind of treatment they need, and then how long should they stay in the camp.

However, you have to know if such evaluation method have exclusionary criteria like medications and suicidal behavior.

Wilderness therapy programs come with a certain price. Of course, you do want your kid to overcome his or her ill behavior. The best quality treatment programs cost around $4000 and $9000 a month. Hence, your teenager is required to stay for at least a month. Depending on the case, your child might stay longer than you think.

However, you don’t have to worry because wilderness therapy is one of the most effective treatments in a short period of time. This is actually a good news especially if you cannot afford to spend for a longer therapy, such as sending your kid to a specialty boarding school.

Sending your kid to a wilderness camp is one thing, having them back is another. However, it is advisable that the family will also get a counseling program while their troubled teenager is away. This will definitely help in dealing with him or her on coming home. Don’t think that maybe there is something wrong with you as parents. It is just that sometimes you have coping techniques, which could be negative to your newly-reformed child.

The therapy will provide a clear understanding of your teenager’s condition. In turn, you could work and communicate with your kid effectively. You have to consider that bad behavior may return, if you do anything that could trigger the situation.

Some of the wilderness camps use hippotherapy with the kids. Hippotherapy is a type of treatment that involves the horse and its movements. This strategy is executed with the help of a physical, occupational or a speech therapist. Hippotherapy is used to address the physical, psychological and cognitive issues of teenagers and even adults.

During a session, each kid is accompanied with three people (the leader, the side walker and the therapist) and, of course, the horse. After this treatment, the teenager will have a better attitude towards himself or herself, others and even situations. His or her behavior will also be improved, especially if should there be any unacceptable behavioral pattern.

Some of the wilderness camps are reformatting their programs and services by extending to the adult population. Emotional, behavioral and even learning problems don’t stop after being teenagers. These camps often offer different kind of approaches. For example is the so-called dual-diagnosis approach, a kind of treatment that include clinical and 12-step methodology.

Most of these camps provide mental health treatment like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, relationship difficulties, self-harm, anger management, family issues and other undesirable behavioral pattern.

Such facilities also offer substance abuse treatment, like understanding the nature of addiction, relapse prevention, learning to cope up with sober lifestyle, and dealing with school or employment difficulties.

Teenagers between 13 to 17 years old, who suffer from behavioral and emotional issues, can enrolled in a wilderness camp. Their issues should include oppositional defiant disorder, teen depression, learning disabilities and other negative conditions. In turn, they affect socialization, self-esteem and school performance. Most these kids are struggling and eventually self-medicating. Some of them usually resort to substance abuse, isolation and expect instant gratification.

Generally, teenage issues often result from parent-child conflicts, particularly regarding rules and limitations. Adolescents usually desire for their own freedom, because they believe that they are already adults. They somehow are entitled to independence.