Christian Therapeutic Boarding School for Girls from Houston, TX

We are a Christian Therapeutic Boarding School for girls from Houston and all over the southeast. Evangelhouse Christian Academy serves girls from Houston and across the US. The Evangelhouse therapeutic boarding school, located in the southeastern US, was established in 1995 to serve Christian families with a quality residential treatment option for troubled teen girls.  Since then, it has evolved to become the premier non-denominational Christian option in the marketplace of high-quality teen residential treatment centers.

At Evangelhouse, we get so many girls from Houston, TX we created this page for Houston families looking for a Christian all-girls boarding school. Girls in large cities like Houston face unique mental health challenges.

Christian Academy for Girls from Houston

Since 1995 Evangelhouse Christian Academy has graduated over 200 students attending from over 30 states and 5 foreign countries. Our Christian Academy employs licensed teachers with advanced degrees who administer a nationally accredited curriculum. Our unique and thorough therapeutic evaluation process guides education planning for each student.

Low student-to-teacher ratios accommodate learning difficulties presented by complex mood and behavior disorders. An integrative classroom day incorporates biblical teaching, group counseling, and academic work. We offer three educational tracts within our boarding school academic program. The individual attention we provide can support students who are advanced academically alongside those who may struggle.

Therapeutic Christian Academy Milieu

The strength of the Evangelhouse program is based on our ability to establish a supportive community environment for your daughter. Essentially, we have developed communities within communities that have layers of support deriving from residential, clinical, and academic staff. Each staff member is responsible for leading comparable-aged girls on similar topics that are formed based on the unique emotional needs your daughter presents. These communities aim to be more like a family, with more warmth and acceptance.

The therapeutic boarding school program at Evangelhouse emphasizes and promotes community service. There are many benefits that our students receive by participating in this aspect of the program. One benefit is learning by doing to develop strong working relationships. While students are giving back to their communities, they are learning how to become responsible and respectful. They grow to understand that teamwork is established on the basis of trust in that each individual promises to deliver on their responsibilities to the program. The Evangelhouse community service program fosters a friendly social environment that engages our teenage girls to work with staff and colleagues.  This aspect of the program in turn nurtures their confidence and trust in each other outside of the academic setting. 

Your daughter will benefit by living in a structured community like Evangelhouse. Part of the experience of this community is becoming a member of positive peer culture. Receiving helpful feedback from her peers will be helpful to your daughter as she learns to work with her peer group to overcome challenges.  When your daughter experiences positive connections with her peers, it will foster her positive self-esteem and image. The therapist’s role during individual sessions includes facilitation and observation while in the milieu. The therapist also provides feedback and direction. To sum it up, the peer-group connection at Evangelhouse is a vital experience because it will foster your daughter’s positive growth.

During milieu therapy, every member of the peer group has a responsibility for their own welfare as well as for the welfare of the group. Milieu therapy provides a safe setting where your daughter is encouraged to share emotional issues. Prior to the therapy session, the group will establish norms and expectations and then come to an agreement on how to enforce them. Therapists commonly initiate a talking point on the basis of how a decision or behavior affected the larger group. One goal of milieu therapy is for the community member to develop relationship skills. Another goal is to develop adaptive coping methods. The overall process fosters positive growth and connectivity to the community of peers.

Therapeutic Boarding Schools Vs. Traditional Boarding Schools 

Therapeutic boarding schools like Evangelhouse share many similarities with typical boarding schools. However, as an added benefit, girls at Evangelhouse receive:

1.  Regular counseling with a qualified therapist for group and individual therapy sessions.
2. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) sessions
3. Equine Therapy
4. Strong bonds: Girls living together at Evangelhouse form lifetime friendships. This is crucial for social development in girls. Our focus on building a positive peer culture is key to ensuring all girls at Evangelhouse create strong peer bonds based on positivity and mutual respect. 
5. A home-like setting with fewer students and more staff than a standard dorm
6.  Lower student-teacher ratio than in a traditional boarding school
7. A wide range of sports activities and community service opportunities for character building.

While some traditional boarding schools do offer therapeutic services with enrollment, the focus is always on the academic portion and therapy is more than likely an afterthought. Additionally, in traditional boarding schools, teachers do not meet with therapists and the school typically would not host regular treatment team meetings. 

At Evangelhouse Christian Academy, every staff member is aware of the issues each student is going through. Teachers, coaches, counselors, and program staff alike all know how to respond to each student based on their therapeutic goals. We focus on addressing the behavioral and emotional needs of adolescent teen girls foremost, and a significant focus is also put on the academic portion of the program. Unfortunately, a standard educational environment like a typical boarding school cannot handle the issues typically presented in a student that requires a therapeutic boarding school. 

Another difference between traditional boarding schools and a therapeutic boarding school like Evangelhouse Christian Academy is the attention we give to the cognitive learning issues our students may have. Students come into the program that is typically undergoing stress or family conflict. Even if a child is doing well in school, in most cases that child’s academic performance will take off to even higher levels once their stressors are properly addressed. This is why having academics as part of a mental health program can be valuable. 

In a traditional learning environment, teachers would not be prepared to accelerate a child’s academic work so quickly as their mental health issues improve. At Evangelhouse Christian Academy, your daughter will benefit from having a host of professionals on her side as she makes progress. Our teachers and licensed therapists will ensure that your daughter is on track academically. We will ensure she develops healthy long-lasting relationships. 

Therapeutic Academy Campus

Troubled Teen girls from all over the world come to the Evangelhouse Christian Academy to recuperate. Every aspect of the campus was chosen to promote recovery.

We have many on-campus activities from sports to horseback riding. Evangelhouse Christian Academy strikes the ideal balance between seclusion and accessibility. Our girls and their families have access to a variety of rehabilitative and recreational activities on a private and secure campus. The girls will have the opportunity to gain stability before participating in off-campus activities.

With supervision, students experience the social atmosphere, group therapeutic process, and spiritual tone of campus life. We nurture a positive peer culture that emphasizes social responsibility, accountability, and leadership. The staff leads weekly interactive small-group meetings to teach students character development within their current social interactions. Here students learn relevant ways to apply biblical teachings to their actions. As students progress, they learn to look beyond themselves to provide encouragement and support for others.

Students participate in a variety of positive peer culture development activities including:

• Biblical character development
• Discipleship small group meetings
• Leadership training
• Student council
• Weekly zone group staff feedback

If you have any questions about our approach to therapy for girls, please call us at 1-800-924-4012 or visit our contact page to receive more information.

Houston, TX Mental Health Resources