For many years I have observed the lasting damaging psychological effects of boarding schools on those who attended them.  In my private practice I have frequently encountered those who were traumatised by the experience. 
In an article published in the British Journal of Psychotherapy in May 2011 I introduced the term Boarding School Syndrome to identify a set of lasting psychological problems that are observable in adults who, as children , were sent away from their home at an early age to boarding schools.  This term has drawn a great deal of media interest being quoted in the national and international press.

Click here to read - Boarding is as damaging as being taken into care, says therapist - The Independent
23/4/2011

Click here to read - Boarding schools can cause emotional scars, warns psychotherapist - The Times
25/4/2011

Listen to Joy discussing this issue in an interview with Jenni Murray from Radio 4's Women's Hour.

Abstract
BOARDING SCHOOL SYNDROME: BROKEN ATTACHMENTS A HIDDEN TRAUMA
Joy Schaverien

The aim of this paper is to identify a cluster of symptoms and behaviours,
which I am proposing be classified as ‘Boarding School Syndrome’. These patterns are
observable in many of the adult patients, with a history of early boarding, who come to
psychotherapy. Children sent away to school at an early age suffer the sudden and often
irrevocable loss of their primary attachments; for many this constitutes a significant
trauma. Bullying and sexual abuse, by staff or other children, may follow and so new
attachment figures may become unsafe. In order to adapt to the system, a defensive and
protective encapsulation of the self may be acquired; the true identity of the person then
remains hidden.This pattern distorts intimate relationships and may continue into adult
life. The significance of this may go unnoticed in psychotherapy. It is proposed that one
reason for this may be that the transference and, especially the breaks in psychotherapy,
replay, for the patient, the childhood experience between school and home. Observations
from clinical practice are substantiated by published testimonies, including those from
established psychoanalysts who were themselves early boarders.

The full text of this paper is available from the British Journal of Psychotherapy May 2011, Vol. 27, No 2.     
British Journal of Psychotherapy - Wiley Online Library

Book and articles on the psychological impact of Boarding School by Joy Schaverien

In my book The Dying Patient in Psychotherapy   published in 2002 I wrote about one such person.   

My article ‘Boarding School: The Trauma of the ‘Privileged’ child’, in which I further explored the topic, was published in 2004 in the Journal of Analytical Psychology  Vol.  49, No.5, pp. 683-705

In an article first published in Therapy Today April 2011 called  ‘Lost for Words’  Boarding school syndrome was further discussed.