Defining Teens in Crisis

Horizon Family Solutions works with pre-teens, teens, and young adults having addiction, behavioral, clinical, depression, emotional, and/or learning problems.

Often, these young people are labeled as troubled teens. Our definition of a troubled teen is a young man or young woman who is experiencing one or more of the following:

• Absence from or failure in school
• Angry outbursts at home and/or at school
• Defiant or displaying an oppositional attitude
• Depressed
• Experimenting with alcohol and/or drugs (including prescription drugs)
• Finding drugs / drug paraphernalia in their backpack, car or their room
• Gaining or losing weight for no apparent reason
• Gambling
• Impulsive and/or irresponsible attitude and behavior on a continual basis
• Internet obsession
• In with the wrong crowd / peer group
• Lying / lost of trust with family and/or friends
• Promiscuous
• Self-harming behaviors (burning, cutting, etc.)
• Sleeping during the day / up all night
• Sneaking out, not coming home, not telling you who they are with
• Talking and /or making threats about running away
• Talking and/or making threats about suicide
• Trouble with the Resource Office at School / with the law
• Unexplained attitude and behavioral problems
• Withdrawn from family and/or friends

At times these behavioral problems may be associated with other factors that enhance the difficulties the child is displaying and experiencing, such as:

• ADD / ADHD
• Adoption / attachment issues
• Aspergers
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Bipolar
• Divorce / other family trauma
• Learning disorders (dyslexia, non-verbal, etc.)
• Mental health problems

Horizon Family Solutions also works with pre-teen, teens and young adults with learning differences.

Their families may be looking for more of a residential boarding school opportunity — schools that offer academic support for pre-teens and teens with attentional or learning issues — dyslexia, processing issues, non-verbal learning disorders and other more traditional LD diagnoses.

Sometimes, there is a clinical diagnosis for a pre-teens, teen’s or young adult's problems.

Sometimes problems are hereditary. Sometimes,there was an event or a trauma that may have triggered certain attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. Other times there seems to be no known factors for what the family is experiencing with their child and it may take time to find out.  Quite often, parents of troubled teens are looking for help during a family crisis and do not have the luxury of the time it takes to search out programs and schools, visit several and then determine the best course of action for their child and their family. Just going to the Internet and seeing the wide range of programs and schools can be an overwhelming undertaking!

Dore Frances knows how difficult this can be from her own family experience.