This Teen Challenge Girls Academy is a non-profit Christian boarding school located near Columbus, Georgia, providing an affordable safe haven for teen girls in Saint Augustine, Florida and from around the country; girls who have sought to fill a void in their hearts through anger, self-harm or negative peer influences.

After exhausting every option in their quest to help their daughter, parents in Saint Augustine, Florida turn to the Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy. They have usually tried counseling, medication, relocation, mental health approaches, and social service interventions, and getting nowhere. Some have been told by counselors that it would be a good idea for their girl to get away from home for awhile and from negative influences and peers. So, they make the call for the help of a Christian boarding school for troubled teens, like the Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy.

The typical prospective resident from Saint Augustine, Florida was once moving toward a bright future; however, because of poor choices or an uncaring attitude, her future has been compromised. Where there was once excelling grades, there is academic failure. Where there were once athletic, artistic or musical abilities, there is a loss of interest. The young girl who once sought her parents’ direction, love, approval and acceptance, now looks to her peers to fulfill those needs; she is willing to follow them down a destructive path in life.

While changes usually happen in the attitudes of teenage girls going through early adolescence, some precipitating factors can leave a void in a young woman’s life and cause extremely self-destructive and angry behaviors. These factors include:

• Loss of a parent or loved one
• Childhood abuse (known or hidden)
• Blended family
• An absent or abusive parent
• Bullying from others/Loss of friends
• Change in economic status or a move to a new home or school
• Chronic illness of a loved one
• Physical invasion or mental intimidation
• Gang membership
• Excessive interest in pornography
• Negative peer group

As a result of such factors, teenage girls from Saint Augustine, Florida who enter our our the Teen Challenge program generally demonstrate issues and behaviors including:

• Loss of a positive self-image
• Rebellion/Anger/Defiance
• Self Injurious Behaviors or Thoughts
• Deceitfulness/Cheating/Theft
• Manipulation of family and parents
• Promiscuity
• Dangerous Behavior
• Self-Hatred

Many times, prior to selecting CGA, parents in Saint Augustine, Florida have gotten help from psychiatry and the use of medication. While psychotropic medications can help reduce the symptoms of deeper issues, we have achieved great success in helping girls get off of them once and for all. All but the most severe mental issues are generally triggered by deeper emotional issues, which must be dealt with having a clear mind. Psychotropic drugs are eliminated over time with the supervision of our physician and the prescribing psychiatrist.

Some students who come to CGA in Columbus, Georgia, from Saint Augustine, Florida have been previously diagnosed with behavioral disorders such as:

• Attention Difficulties
• ADD
• Being oppositional and defiant
• Mood disturbances
• Issues from adoption
• Sadness or Over Exuberance

Progression of a typical Teen Challenge student from Saint Augustine, Florida:

When a student enrolls in Columbus Girls Academy it is typical for her to exhibit blame-shifting, avoidance of responsibility, and sometimes complete denial of wrongdoing. Soon after enrollment, the girl begins to feel some sorrow for the consequences of her prior actions. Essentially, she is “sorry” for being caught in her actions, but she has yet to experience a turning away from that behavior. This may be very similar to the roller coaster that the family has experienced at home — promises to be different, periods of peace, that then again turn to repeat and crisis. Sorrow does not change behavior, repentance does.

Many times, adolescents have been spared or delayed the heartache of the entire consequences for their inappropriate decisions; sometimes by well-intending parents. So, as a result, teens are not always convinced of the need for a different way of living. However, the parent is convinced of the need for intervention, because their girl is obviously headed for disaster if such actions persist. The Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy is an intervention program, hopefully helping make a change in troubled adolescents’ lives before they become an adult habitually demonstrating a dangerous lifestyle.

We can be reached at (334)855-3695 or contact us using the online inquiry form to learn girls from Saint Augustine, Florida year-round.

Therapeutic boarding school near Columbus, Georgia, a Teen Challenge academy for adolescent girls in Saint Augustine, Florida and around the nation who are troubled by life-controlling issues. Visit the remainder of this website to learn more about Teen Challenge.

The Columbus Girls Academy Teen Challenge program isn’t in Saint Augustine, Florida, but it accepts girls from Saint Augustine, Florida.