The Forge School

The Forge School brings healing and joy to teenage boys and young men, 14-17, through extraordinary adventure, exceptional education and mindfulness. Teen boys are challenged to connect and heal on the vast 55-acre school property in Benton, Tennessee, where they return to their families as young men, healthier and better prepared for their life than ever.

As a unique residential treatment center for teenage boys, The Forge School seeks to understand how to co-regulate, fascinate and motivate the male brain to assist with healing. Using the research-backed and proven CASA Model, the team at The Forge delivers healing with the joy that comes from experiencing acceptance, security and attunement in a committed home (CASA). This holistic educational experience with engaging life skills will help facilitate a deeper understanding of each student’s core sense of self and initiate positive behavioral change.

Students come to The Forge School with a range of mental health concerns impacted by adoption, developmental trauma, divorce or other family conflicts. The Forge works with these boys and their families to utilize an immersive adventure therapy program to focus and engage their boundless energy, rigorous academics to challenge their minds and sophisticated clinical work focused on facilitating the journey towards healthy manhood.

These young men and their family system can then discover the sources of dysregulation, develop healthy relationships, and create experiences of personal growth. This leads to improved family functioning, an improved sense of self, expanded use of positive coping skills and increased emotional and physical safety.

The Forge School offers two tracks of treatment:

1. The Intrepid path, a 30-60-day insurance funded short term residential treatment program, which focuses on stabilization and assessment to give families a clear understanding of the road ahead.
2. The Maverick path, a 12-month private pay residential treatment program that engages young men in High Adventure, Mastery and Rites of Passage to set them on a long-lasting road towards health that will forever change them and their family.