NOTICE: WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING NEW STUDENTS AT THIS TIME

Anti-Social Personality Disorder

Finding a Safe Harbor for Your Son with Anti-Social Personality Disorder

Does your boy struggle with Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD), which is defined (by the American Psychiatric Association) as “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others?” Symptoms include failure to conform, deceptiveness, rash conduct, bad temper, reckless disregard for his (and others) safety, and a pattern of foolish behavior and lack of remorse.

An unceasing mental condition in which your teen might exhibit dysfunctional thinking and relating to others, he have absolute indifference to other peoples’ feelings, be controlling and insincere, possibly violating the law, and admitting to no feelings of shame.

These can all be signs of Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Safe Harbor can provide a safe haven for your child as he struggles to overcome his serious problem.

ASPD traits are quite complicated to distinguish. While not a commonly agreed upon treatment for this disorder, there might be success in ones that show the high cost of illegal and unsuitable behavior. There are studies that reveal contingency management or reward systems to be fairly helpful in steering behavior to a more acceptable norm (not to be confused with normal, parental attempts at punishment and incentive).

Safe Harbor…Throwing a Lifeline for Your Son with AntiSocial Personality Disorder

While exceedingly complex to treat, your boy will require long-term treatment for ASPD, as well as for any associated conditions, such as anxiety, depression or substance abuse. It is essential to have ASPD correctly diagnosed and treated, so that your teen doesn’t suffer potentially grave consequences, such as alcohol or substance abuse, unsafe and reckless behaviors, even repetitious law-breaking leading to imprisonment.

You don’t want ASPD to control his life!

Safe Harbor… Helping Troubled Boys Become Men of Character and Integrity

This distinctive, aquatic, Christ-centered residential boarding school is a lifeline for misbehaving boys. Our program is similar to a therapeutic boarding school, but uses maritime training as the therapeutic model for helping turn around at-risk teenagers. Safe Harbor provides a safe, stable alternative to a harsher juvenile program for boys in minor trouble with the law or exhibiting bad behavior. Safe Harbor enables them to learn responsibility and experience behavior modification thru seamanship, mentoring, counseling and spiritual focus, while also attending our in-house school.

Most boys entering the program have had outpatient counseling but without positive results; at Safe Harbor, counseling is offered individually and in groups (led by licensed mental health professionals), and pastoral counseling.

As a water-based program, each boy lives aboard his very own boat and is fully responsible for all the upkeep, with many vocational education opportunities (including carpentry, welding, boat maintenance and repair) that lead to seamanship skills, as well as lifestyle competence (such as skills for job seeking, banking, basic nutrition, grocery shopping and housekeeping). Our structure shows the boys that their negative behavior is leading them into less and less freedom, and teaches a work ethic and positive character traits, such as dependability, good character, self-confidence and maturity.

We believe that education is a life long process and occurs in every facet of life; our curriculum is combined with a unique and creative learning approach that supports students who previously have not experienced success in the academic setting.

Essential principles are taught: problem solving, teamwork, knowledge (of the ocean, and, when they become less self-centered, applicable to the world at large), self-reliance (on their skills, equipment, and the fact the no one will be there to bail you out, either at sea, or in your life decisions), and perseverance, to overcome the challenges that they – as we all – will face in life.