Jennifer came to the THE SCHOOL COUNSELING GROUP, INC. for an extensive interview with one of our counselors, who found Jennifer to be a very sweet and intelligent young woman who had been making some very negative decisions. We referred Jenifer to a short-term wilderness therapeutic program, which would take her completely outside her daily environment for a while and help her discover the reasons for her bad choices. The program also included family counseling to help promote communication between daughter and parents. During her stay at the program, Jennifer found herself ready to let go of the past angry, sad year and getting ready to grow. She came to understand that much of her parents' frustration came from their need to protect her. The Napoliellos, meanwhile, learned to really listen to what Jenifer was saying and to give her some say in what happened in her life.

While Jennifer was at the wilderness program, THE SCHOOL COUNSELING GROUP, INC. worked to secure her a placement at a small college-preparatory boarding school where she could finish high school. At first Jennifer was reluctant to go to a boarding school, because it meant leaving her familiar world and her boyfriend. Yet after much discussion, and given all that she had learned about herself at the short-term program, Jennifer conceded that boarding school might be the best thing for her, and that it would help her focus on her academic work. The structure and close-knit environment would help to give Jennifer direction and the opportunity to make independent choices, but would also help her to avoid the self-destructive patterns she had been caught in in the past.

We spoke to Jennifer's parents after she had completed her first semester at the boarding school. She had had a hard time adjusting to being there, and initially she had wanted to leave. But with the help of her advisor at the school, she stuck it out and began to change. Her grades improved and she became very involved in the community service club. Her parents also told us that things had been much happier at home.