Illinois Therapeutic Boarding School for Girls

We are a therapeutic boarding school for girls in Illinois. Located in the southeast, we serve girls with depression, anxiety, problematic behavior, social issues, family discord, and more from Illinois and across the US. The Evangelhouse therapeutic boarding school was established in 1995. 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 many girls from Illinois so we created this page for Illinois families looking for a Christian all-girls boarding school. Girls in large cities like Chicago, Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Rockford, Springfield, Elgin, and Peoria face unique mental health challenges.

Our staff support student leaders in creating a positive peer culture.

Therapeutic Boarding Schools Defined

Therapeutic boarding schools such as Evangelhouse are designed to deal with specific behavioral health issues. We exclusively serve girls in grades 6 through 12 that have mood disorders, ADHD, depression, family discord, defiance, anger, and more.  Girls come to Evangelhouse Christian Academy for approximately a school year or longer. 

Evangelhouse therapeutic boarding school for girls in Illinois is unique in that we don’t take teens with higher-level needs that require more intensive treatment. Parents are often glad to hear this and that their daughter will not be exposed to higher-level issues that they might experience at a residential treatment center or other locked facility. 

In therapeutic boarding schools like Evangelhouse therapeutic boarding school for girls, academics are administered through qualified teachers and the Louisana Department of Education. We must adhere to strict standards for quality education in order to maintain our accreditation.

Therapeutic boarding schools are not intensive in inpatient psychiatric hospitals. They are more akin to group homes or home-based residential programs. Because students are not physically locked-in like in residential treatment centers, we can enjoy a host of activities like horseback riding, bike riding, soccer, volleyball, community service project, and outings.

As opposed to residential treatment centers com treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools have a stronger academic focus as the student is generally college-bound. Because of this, we put special focus on ensuring our girls are ready to face the challenges of independence in addition to preparing them for a successful transition home. 

Christian boarding schools for teen girls, such as Evangelhouse, provide a number of advantages. Our girls receive the individual attention they require to avoid falling behind academically from teachers that are academically qualified and also understand the mental health issues the students are enrolled for. Girls acquire resilience and self-reliance at Evangelhouse. Girls who attend have a better chance of developing skills to ensure they are successful in college and beyond. 

Therapeutic Concerns for Teens in Illinois

In Illinois, almost a quarter of people with serious psychological distress have an unmet need of mental health treatment. In the general adult population of Illinois, 4.4% of people have an unmet need of mental health treatment. Issues include:

•   Concerns are mounting over the results of a study involving Chicago’s children.  The study conducted by the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Lurie Children’s Hospital found that 20% of kids today are dealing with serious mental health issues.
•   8.9% of teens in Illinois report using drugs or alcohol.
•   In Illinois, one out of five girls ages twelve to seventeen had experienced major depression within the last year.

You can find resources on mental health resources in Illinois here: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/

Evangelhouse Christian Academy Classroom

At Evangelhouse Christian Academy we believe that academics and community involvement are the cornerstones of student progress. Students can expect comparable-age smaller, traditional classroom settings for instruction that aim to provide good academic support within a close niche community. Additionally, college prep classes further promote student achievement.

When a troubled teen experiences a serious academic setback, it is important to redirect their behavior. At Evangelhouse, our program enables students to re-establish academic goals, and engage in a plan of action that accelerates learning to make up missed credits and graduation requirements. Most importantly, each student will receive individualized instruction that is tailor-made for their academic needs. The notable difference at Evangelhouse when compared to traditional school settings is that students with learning problems such as dyslexia or ADHD/ADD among others will receive individualized instruction that addresses their needs.  In this setting, it is possible to adjust the pace of instruction and instructors build strong working relationships with their students.

Additional mental health issues that weigh into your daughter’s academic performance may include and not be limited to the following: energy levels, attentiveness, reliability, mental capacity, and optimism. There exists substantial research to support the fact that depression contributes to declining grade point averages and anxiety. Studies have also connected an increase in depression among the teenage population to an increase in dropout rates among high school students. 

In conclusion, when your daughter attends Evangelhouse, symptoms of depression are alleviated. As symptoms of depression decrease, your daughter’s academic performance will improve. Our program at Evangelhouse is supported by studies that have shown a direct correlation between emotional issues and academic performance. With highly specialized staff, your daughter will receive the help she needs to resolve emotional issues.  

Evangelhouse therapeutic boarding school for girls in Illinois is a short flight away yet far enough to create distance from negative peer influences. Girls in large cities like Chicago, Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Rockford, Springfield, Elgin, and Peoria face unique mental health challenges. Please feel welcome to call (800) 924-4012 and leave a message or email us after hours or on weekends at admissions@evangelhouse.com and we will contact you expeditiously.

Our Therapeutic Academy Campus

Troubled Teen girls from all over the world come to the Evangelhouse therapeutic boarding school for girls in Illinois to heal. 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.

Therapeutic Boarding School for Modern Teen Girls

Keeping Teen Girls Healthy in the Modern Era

Teenagers in the modern era face difficulties that their grandparents could have never imagined. Electronic media had compounded many of the “typical teen” conflicts that parents and teens normally encounter. Other issues, like issues with authority and control, are as old as time.

At Evangelhouse Christian Academy, we approach treatment knowing that teens’ interactions with their classmates and romantic interests have changed. Many of the issues we see from anxiety to acting out are rooted in screens or as a result of the widespread use of digital communication. 

During treatment, we seek to address a student’s potential lack of crucial interpersonal communication skills such as the ability to recognize social cues. Social skill is a common topic in our therapeutic environment. A lot of the anxiety and stress our students face over socialization can be traced back to excessive use of technology. 

At Evangelhouse Christian Academy, girls learn how to interact without the use of screens. We teach our girls how to manage their social media and texting habits. In insight-oriented therapy, they learn how they consume media, and how media can influence how they communicate, date, learn, sleep, and more.

Our girls focus on the present because they don’t have constant access to the internet. With an absence of digital distractions, girls at Evangelhouse Christian Academy face the issues that led them to our therapeutic community. 

To help combat these stressors, our therapists use:

— Group therapy sessions to develop insight into what is causing stress and to teach techniques to reduce stress. Group therapy sessions are led by a qualified treatment professional. 

— CBT- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. CBT sessions are led by a licensed therapist.

— DBT- Dialectical Behavior Therapy. DBT sessions are led by a licensed therapist.

— Homework assignments to support therapy outside of sessions

— Family therapy to prepare the student for a successful transition back to the home environment.