Ironwood Maine Therapeutic Boarding School for Troubled Teens

"I can’t say enough about Ironwood. Ironwood gave me my son back. My wonderful happy go lucky son was gone and in his place was a kid having a very difficult time with school, friends, family, and adolescence. Somehow we had lost him and I wasn’t really sure why or how. He began hanging with the wrong crowd. He stopped loving life and became, angry, defiant and someone we didn’t know. " - Julie

"This program has literally given us our son back, and that happened only with the kindness and caring of the Ironwood staff. When we say staff it was from the people who answer the phones to every single person employed by Ironwood. " - Lisa & Bob

Ironwood Maine: We Understand. We can Help.

Teen Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, commonly known as DBT, provides skills to help manage painful emotions and reduce conflict in relationships. DBT has been successfully used to help treat people dealing with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and other related disorders. One of the unique aspects of DBT is the balancing of acceptance and change. Many problematic behaviors develop as a coping mechanism for those that have gone through traumatic or troubling experiences. While these behaviors may provide relief from the trauma, they are not effective long-term solutions.

DBT treatment consists of both individual therapy sessions as well as skills groups. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills training can help teach your child the necessary tools to improve their life. Skills learned through DBT can help with impulsivity, managing feelings, self-awareness, and communication. Through DBT skill development, teens are able to develop a better sense of self and adapt more effectively to various situations and settings.

DBT focuses on four areas of therapeutic skills: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness focuses on being fully aware and present in a moment and being accepting of that moment. Distress tolerance helps students tolerate difficult moments instead of attempting to avoid them. Emotion regulation teaches strategies to manage and change emotions that cause problems, while interpersonal effectiveness consists of helping enhance communication while maintaining self-respect and relationships with others.

More and more teens are engaging in impulsive and risky behaviors as a means to cope or fit in. Often, teens look to others for validation, making them vulnerable to peer pressure. DBT skills teach teens how to self-validate through self-reflection and behavior analysis. At Ironwood Maine, DBT is one of a combination of therapeutic tools used to help struggling teens reach their highest potential.

Learn How Ironwood Maine Can Help

Letter From the Owners of Ironwood Maine