A certain amount of lying can be expected from teens as they test boundaries and try to evade parental restrictions. This type of lying can be dealt with through discussions, consequences, and some family therapy. But for some troubled teens, the lies are constant, and nothing the parents do can stop their teen from lying.
At that point, parents may want to consider stronger intervention in the form of a residential treatment center for teens, as they can help teens overcome their urges to lie.
Residential Treatment Helps Determine The Source Of The Lies
While even the teens who are lying may not initially understand why they are lying, part of how residential treatment centers help is by identifying the source of the lies. Some of the reason why teens engage in lying are:
Teen may feel no one is listening to them anyway. Some teens fall into the belief that anything they ask for, such as going out with friends or participating in an activity, will be met with an automatic no from their parents. Since they feel as no consideration was given to their request, these teens feel that they may as well lie and take what they want.
The teen may be too embarrassed to tell the truth. Many teens suffer from a terrible sense of self-consciousness, which leads them to avoid wanting to talk to authority figures and default to lying.
They have fallen into risky or dangerous things and don’t want to be caught. If the teen has become involved in substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, and other things they know their parents don’t approve of, the teens may opt to lie rather than face the consequences.
The teen may be struggling with compulsive lying. A handful of teens may struggle with compulsive lying and find they lie about inconsequential things, like what they ate for lunch.
As the troubled teens learn through targeted therapy during residential treatment, they can be taught how to overcome the urge to lie.
How Sundance Canyon Academy Assists Teens To Stop Lying
At Sundance Canyon Academy, many of our students have struggled with lying along with other troubled behaviors. We help them overcome the impulse to lie by:
Providing in-depth therapy, where our student receives help finding their triggers to lie and are given strategies on how to overcome the instinct to lie rather than tell the truth.
Helping students investigate their internal reasons. With the help of our program counselors, direct care staff, and other program staff, we provide our students with the ability to engage in effective personal reflection. By doing so, teens can learn what internally motivates them to lie, which will help them overcome the habit.
Offer multiple opportunities to be truthful. Learning to tell the truth is a process, and students often stumble when they begin to work on their truth-telling skills. We provide our students with opportunities to tell the truth and avoid the natural consequences of lying.
To discover if your teenage son is a good fit for our program, contact us. You will be able to talk to one of our program advisors and learn more about our residential treatment center and exactly how we can help your troubled son become the person he was meant to be.