All students are required to attend both individual and group counseling sessions (session frequency and format is defined by the Clinical Director who assesses each student’s needs). Our Clinical Director is responsible for making sure our counseling staff adheres to strict standards of evidence-based practice. In addition to supervising each therapist, the director invites experts to train our staff in topics that are deemed most vital to the needs of our student population. As a result, our staff are constantly being trained in the most up-to-date treatment modalities.

The Benefits of a Therapeutic School

For students to succeed in school and in life, they need to find themselves supported, encouraged, and understood in their academic environment. But for students facing challenges, a traditional school may leave them feeling pressured, anxious, frustrated, and alone. These students are trying to swim in a whirlpool. They might manage to keep their head above water for a while, but they will make no progress, and it can be all too easy to give up trying.

A therapeutic school provides support in the swirling storm of a student’s emotional and cognitive difficulties. Support is tailored to each student’s specific needs and incorporated smoothly into the daily schedule. In a therapeutic school, students do not need to be pulled out of academic classes to receive assistance. Support services complement academic programming and reinforce progress.

Therapeutic day schools in NYC with a low student-to-teacher ratio like ours offer personalized support that allows students to feel comfortable asking questions and pursuing their academic interests. The learning process can become less intimidating, and students often develop greater academic and social self-confidence.
In addition, NYC therapeutic schools provide a learning environment that is friendly to those with sensory processing challenges. The settings and curriculum are built on sensory-friendly principles that can be readily adapted to each student’s specific needs. Students who need a break can find a quiet space to decompress. Tools and accommodations encourage focus and emotional regulation. Students are kept engaged with flexible spatial arrangements and movement-oriented activities.

Overcoming Challenges: The Hero’s Journey

We are all familiar with epic stories of heroes who set out on seemingly impossible quests and discover that they are able to defeat the monster or bring down the evil empire because they learn how to use powers they never realized they had. But what many students and their families do not understand is that we are all heroes of our own stories, and we all have the power to overcome the mountains that stand between us and our goals. All we need are mentors to show us how to tap into our powers and allies who are ready to support us along the journey.

We believe the Hero’s Journey is a powerful metaphor for the transformation our students undergo at our school. They arrive crushed under a weight of defeatist narratives, but the intervention and support—including powerful mentoring–enables them to develop their abilities and achieve results they never dreamed possible.

Integrating Therapeutic Support with Academic Programs

The learning process can be disrupted in nearly endless ways. Anxiety and fears can overwhelm mental capacity. Executive functions can be impaired, preventing students from integrating and using the knowledge they acquire. Mental connections may be misdirected. Addressing these challenges individually with a piecemeal approach often leads to frustration and feelings of inadequacy.

To be most effective, therapeutic day schools in NYC need to appropriately integrate clinical support with academic programming. This includes a focus on executive functioning, which underlies so many academic skills. Academics West is accredited both therapeutically and academically to serve the full range of our students’ needs. Our Clinically Informed Academics® or CIA® approach unites evidence-based clinical practice with research-based educational interventions designed to develop students into strategic and enthusiastic learners. This multi-functional methodology provides reinforcement and encouragement that can enable students to progress faster and further than they ever expected. Help is built in every step of the way.

Support for Students and Families

Many therapeutic school programs remove students from their home environment to place them in a carefully controlled and isolated living arrangement. The artificial lifestyle of a boarding school can be a disservice to students and their families in numerous ways.

It undermines relationships. It deprives students of the support of loved ones. It eviscerates opportunities to reinforce progress.

While some mental health professionals feel that they see quick results and drastic changes when students are removed to a highly-structured placement, that perceived progress can soon dissolve when the student returns to the home environment. In fact, the disruption in emotional connection can cause a student to experience painful setbacks on their return.

When a student participates in therapeutic day schools in NYC instead of a program at a residential placement, the family remains together. Our team is committed to providing the right amounts and types of support so that students receive the care they need without disrupting the reassuring connections of home life.
We view parents and families as an important part of the student’s support team and work with them to reinforce and sustain progress. When students receive appropriate support in a day program, they often feel more confident and connected. They avoid the stigma often associated with students who are “sent away.” While we intentionally created a therapeutic day school to preserve families, we’ve seen numerous additional benefits that often result in the student’s individual development and self-esteem.

Customized Approach

Every student has unique DNA, individual thought patterns, and life experiences that are theirs alone. All students are gifted with a variety of talents, and each has needs that require special attention. In a traditional school setting, educators focus on the obvious gifts and needs, while most go unrecognized. This is detrimental to all students, but in most cases, they trudge through the system with the majority of their needs ignored and their gifts unnurtured.

When parents decide to look for a school that offers a customized approach, everything changes. NYC therapeutic schools with a low student-to-staff ratio and a commitment to developing personalized plans can assess each student’s abilities, interests, and areas of concern.

Our team constructs a learning plan that we refer to as the CIA® Profile for each student. This plan is based on assessment data and is flexible, allowing adjustment to the student’s evolving progress and requirements. Each student receives customized interventions designed to provide just the right level of support for their emotional, cognitive, social, and academic needs.

Clinical Staff Equipped to Meet a Wide Array of Students’ Needs

A quality academic program is vitally important—it’s the reason schools exist in the first place. But without adequate therapeutic support, many students are unable to learn effectively, which is why we have assembled a counseling staff with clinical experience across a variety of fields. Our team keeps up with cutting-edge research in their fields, and a full 50% of counseling staff hold doctorate-level degrees.

All of our staff are certified in crisis prevention, but our knowledge extends far deeper. We understand how to address the foundational issues at the core of each student’s persona. By strengthening each component, we help students improve their internal thought processes, leading to more beneficial behaviors. Our goal is to help students develop the self-control to avert any crisis before it comes to fruition.

Learn More About the Advantages of Academics West

By considering therapeutic day schools in NYC, you are taking an important step to secure your student’s brightest future. Programs like the multidimensional program we offer on our campus have the potential to transform the lives of students and their families in ways no traditional school can match. We invite you to tour our campus, talk to us, and learn more about the advantages we can provide.