Our Behavioral Health program base treatment on changing behavior through practice and reinforcement of positive behaviors. The model for treatment is the Boys Town Psycho-Educational Treatment Model (PEM), a biological-social approach. PEM creates an atmosphere where medical, psychological and social treatment of children/adolescents can be coordinated and interactions between your child and each treatment professional are enhanced.

Your child spends each day with highly trained and supervised staff. By enhancing interactions between youth and treatment professionals, PEM helps kids reach their treatment goals. All staff members actively teach appropriate behavior to replace individual problem behavior identified when a youth enters the program. Individuals also are taught various self-control options to be used in times of stress or in situations where youth have historically engaged in inappropriate coping behavior.

The hallmark of PEM is to “Catch kids being good” and reinforce this behavior at a higher rate than bad behavior. It is neither a punishment model nor a standard counseling model. Our goal is not to frustrate youth, but rather to help them learn to get their needs met in pro-social ways. This requires a low tolerance for inappropriate behaviors coupled with high warmth and praise for appropriate behaviors. Ours is a self-help model. It is not a control model. It is a youth empowerment model. And it works!