The Forge Program

The vast property at The Forge School is surrounded by the East Tennessee Mountains on 55 acres with direct access to the Hiwassee River. With the world-class Ocoee only a short distance away there are many opportunities for water and outdoor sporting activities for your son, all under the direct supervision of our coaches.

At the Forge, we summarize our relationally based treatment model as CASA, which stands for Commitment, Acceptance, Security, Attunement. The goal of the model is Joy, experienced through co-regulation. Joy comes from experiencing acceptance, security, and attunement in a committed home (CASA).

As a Cognia accredited school, the Academic team at the Forge School will meet your son where he is academically and help him to grow. Whether the goal is credit recovery or preparing your son for the college experience, we want to help him push the limits of what he believes he can accomplish. Using the CASA model and structures that attune to the male brain, we aim to engage your son in learning for a lifetime.

Milieu-based therapy removes negative stimuli from the equation and structures nights and days. Residential care helps facilitate healing in a safe and controlled environment. Modeling healthy relationships and providing a CASA experience for your boy, our Residential team plays a vital role in providing experiences of co-regulation.

Your son's nutritional health is important to us here at the Forge School. “Food creates functioning” and nutritious vitamin dense whole foods produce optimal health for your son’s developing body, mind, and ability to regulate his mood. Increasing numbers of scientific studies show a direct link between the foods we consume and our mental and physical health (i.e. Naidoo, 2020).

At the Forge, we are not only preparing our students for the road ahead cognitively, physically, and emotionally, we are also taking into consideration their overall sense of being. Relaxation skills for decompression are essential for teens to self-regulate.