Columbus Girls Academy is an affordable Christian boarding school located near Columbus, Georgia, offering a safe haven for adolescent girls in Selma, Alabama and around the nation; teens who have sought to fill a void in their lives through negative peer influences, self-destructive habits, or risky activities.

After exhausting every option in their search to help their daughter, parents in Selma, Alabama 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 best for their girl to get away from the negative influences in her life and away from home for awhile. That is when they seek the help of a therapeutic boarding school, like the Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy.

The usual prospective resident from Selma, Alabama 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 are failing grades. Where there were once athletic, artistic or musical abilities, there is disdain for what she held dear. The young woman who once looked to her parents for direction, love, approval and acceptance, now has sifted to her peers to fulfill those needs; she is willing to follow them down a negative path in life.

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

• Loss of a parent or loved one
• Childhood abuse (known or hidden)
• Divorce of parents
• A difficult or especially critical parent
• Bullying from others/Loss of friends
• Loss of economic status or a change 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, young women from Selma, Alabama who enter our our boarding school generally demonstrate attitudes and actions including:

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

Usually, prior to selecting CGA, parents in Selma, Alabama have sought help from psychiatry and the use of medication. While psychotropic medications can help reduce the symptoms of deeper issues, we have found high success in weening girls off of them once and for all. All but the most severe mental issues are generally precipitated by underlying emotional issues, which must be dealt with having a clear mind. Psychotropic drugs are reduced over time with the supervision of our physician and the family’s psychiatrist.

Most girls who come to CGA in Columbus, Georgia, from Selma, Alabama have been previously diagnosed with behavioral disorders such as:

• Attention Difficulties
• Difficulty with Distractions in a Classroom Setting
• Being oppositional and defiant
• Mood disturbances
• Issues from adoption
• Sadness or Over Exuberance

Progression of a usual Teen Challenge student from Selma, AL:

When a girl enrolls in Columbus Girls Academy it is usual 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 previous 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 parents have been living with at home — pledges to be different, moments of peace, that cycle back to repeat and crisis. Sorrow does not change individuals, repentance does.

Usually, teens have been spared or delayed the trouble of the full-blown consequences for their poor decisions; sometimes by well-intending authorities in their life. So, as a result, teenagers are not always confident of the need for a different way of living. However, the parent is convinced of the need for intervention, because their teenager is obviously headed for lifelong trouble if such actions persist. The Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy is an intervention program, hopefully intervening in troubled teenagers’ lives before they go on with life habitually demonstrating a dysfunctional lifestyle.

Please call at (334)855-3695 or contact us using the online inquiry form to learn young women from Selma, Alabama year-round.

Therapeutic boarding school near Columbus, Georgia, a Teen Challenge school for adolescent girls in Selma, Alabama and around the nation who are struggling with 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 Selma, Alabama, but it accepts young women from Selma, Alabama.