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 Winter Haven, Florida and around the nation; girls who have sought to fill a void in their lives through misbehavior, self-harm or negative peer influences.

After trying every option in their quest to help their daughter, parents in Winter Haven, Florida are happy to find the Teen Challenge Girls Academy near Columbus, Georgia. They have usually tried counseling, medication, relocation, mental health approaches, and social service interventions, and getting nowhere. Some have been told by psychologists that it would be a good idea for their girl to get away from the negative influences in her life and away from home for awhile. So, they make the call for the help of a therapeutic boarding school, like the Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy.

The typical prospective resident from Winter Haven, Florida at the Teen Challenge Girls Academy was that she was once bright and talented; however, as a result of self-destructive choices, 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 a loss of interest. The teenage girl who once looked to her parents for direction, love, approval and acceptance, now looks to her peers to fulfill those needs; she is willing to allow them to lead her down a dark path in life.

While changes usually happen in the moods 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
• Early abuse (known or hidden)
• Blended family
• A difficult or especially critical parent
• Bullying from others/Loss of friends
• Loss of economic status or a move to a new home or school
• Chronic illness of a loved one
• Rape or intimidation
• Gang membership
• Excessive interest in pornography
• Negative peer group

As a result of such factors, teenage girls from Winter Haven, Florida who enroll in our boarding school generally demonstrate attitudes and actions such as:

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

Often, prior to choosing CGA, parents in Winter Haven, Florida have gotten help from psychiatry and the prescription of medication. While psychotropic medications can help reduce the symptoms of problems, we have achieved high success in helping girls get off of them once and for all. All but the most severe mental issues are generally precipitated by underlying emotional issues, which must be addressed and solved with a clear mind. Psychotropic drugs are reduced over time with the supervision of our physician and the prescribing psychiatrist.

Some students who come to CGA in Columbus, Georgia, from Winter Haven, Florida have been previously diagnosed with behavioral disorders like:

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

Progression of a typical Teen Challenge student from Winter Haven, Florida:

When a young woman comes to 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 student begins to experience some sorrow for the consequences of her previous behavior. Essentially, she is “sorry” for being caught in her behavior, but she has yet to begin a turning away from that behavior. This may be very similar to the roller coaster that parents have experienced at home — pledges to change, periods of peace, that then again turn to repeat and crisis. Regret does not change individuals, repentance does.

Often, adolescents have been spared or delayed the heartache of the entire consequences for their inappropriate decisions; sometimes by well-intending parents. For these reasons, teenagers are not always confident of the need for change in their lives. However, the parent is convinced of the need for intervention, because their teenager is obviously headed for disaster if such actions persist. The Teen Challenge Columbus Girls Academy is an intervention program, hopefully intervening in troubled adolescents’ lives before they go on with life habitually living in a self-destructive lifestyle.

Please call at (334)855-3695 or contact us using the online inquiry form to learn girls from Winter Haven, Florida year-round.

Therapeutic boarding school near Columbus, Georgia, a Teen Challenge school for teenage girls in Winter Haven, Florida and from around the country 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 Winter Haven, Florida, but it accepts girls from Winter Haven, Florida.