In a treatment setting, school is often the laboratory for practicing skills learned in therapy. One such skill—self advocacy—has both emotional and academic implications. In this blog InnerChange academic director, Kathrine Whittekiend, M.Ed., discusses the importance of self advocacy skills for student success in and out of the classroom.
The best way to structure academics in a treatment setting is to make the faculty active members of the treatment team. We have to do this in order to be effective—both as teachers and as participants in the treatment process. This means having access to and input into treatment team objectives, case management discussions, and treatment strategies. This way, when the therapist is working on an issue in treatment, we can support that work in the classroom.
Through the process of treatment we came to understand at a very deep level that we’d made the right choice. We were saving our daughter’s life, our family’s health…and maybe even our marriage. But in retrospect, we wish we’d had other parents to talk to prior to enrolling Rachel. Parents who were a few clicks further down the road who could help normalize the process and give us some assurance that we were doing the right thing.
Much to the frustration of those engaged in treatment, families are designed to resist change. Families are what scientists—and family systems therapists—call “self-regulating systems.” Since self-regulating systems prefer stability (homeostasis), the self-regulation response automatically resists change. This can be tricky during family therapy the point of which, of course, is to facilitate change!
Emergent adults are taking less of a straight line to adulthood than past generations did. They are more likely to take a semester abroad, a gap year, or to change schools once or more. Many are withdrawing from college for emotional reasons or due to adjustment difficulties.
For most families, however, the more members who participate in the therapeutic process the better. In family systems theory, which we practice at Sunrise, the whole is always viewed as greater than the sum of its parts. This means that we can gain a much better understanding of the client’s behaviors and opportunities for healing if we have access to the whole family system to which she belongs.
Currently, statistics for college failure hover at close to 50% nationally. Adjustment difficulties are further compounded when a college entrant has a history of emotional struggles such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders, or substance abuse.
So regardless of where you are in your journey, please tell us briefly about a relationship that has made, or is making, a difference in your life. What is it about this person and this relationship that is has been particularly powerful ? How has it changed your perspective?
Regardless of whether you tap your own family members or engage the support of neighbors and friends, a consistent community of trusted adults can be a critical part of your child’s healing after treatment.
It can be a bit confusing to navigate all the professionals involved in your child’s treatment. This list describes a few of these professionals and their specific role working with you and your child.
With parental understanding and support, says Prior, our daughters can turn a situation of pain and shame into one of healing and empowerment. Parents can have tremendous therapeutic influence in these difficult situations.
“We teach families about how the brain works at the very beginning of treatment,” says trauma specialist, Brad Rentfro, LPC. “Knowing that they can actually change and heal at the neurobiological level really gives them a sense of tangible hope and helps accelerate progress.”
Working through the parents’ PTSD symptoms can, in turn, help them cope with their daughter’s trauma. Once they understand that their daughter will be okay, the denial often breaks and real progress in family system can occur.
Families that spend quality time together tend to have at least one thing in common—a good place to hang out. If you’ve ever tried to have a relaxed conversation in an uncomfortable physical setting, you know that it’s almost impossible. Setting up an inviting common space in your home that encourages a combination of quiet activity and conversation can help foster communication and connection.
In today’s over-programmed culture, the idea of eating together as a family may seem quaint if not absurd. But the benefits of breaking bread regularly with others—especially family—are not only intuitively obvious, they’re also being confirmed by research. Healthier eating habits, social skills, family connection and communication, and even weight control are all positive outcomes that can be influenced by family meals.
This series of blogs is designed to serve as a reminder of some basic building blocks for emotional and behavioral health. These are not treatment modalities with fancy names or reams of clinical research. These are simple lifestyle choices that can help you and your family feel and function better.
If your teen or young adult has recently transitioned home from treatment, you may be anxious about the appropriate balance of structure and freedom. According to Dr. Gayle Jensen-Savoie, an executive director for the InnerChange family of therapeutic programs, it’s important to remember that the primary developmental task of young adulthood is to individuate.
The key to effectively balancing confidentiality and sharing is to respectfully involve the student. If they’re not the ones ultimately learning to make decisions about privacy versus sharing, we’re simply not equipping them for young adulthood.
Many programs that treat emotional and behavioral disorders will not accept students with high-functioning autism-spectrum disorders like Asperger’s Syndrome, referring those students instead to programs that deal exclusively with neurobiological issues. This effectively segregates young people with autism-spectrum disorders from other populations. “I think that in many cases, this is a mistake…a missed opportunity,” says Utah-based psychotherapist, David Prior, LMFT. “My preference is to judiciously mix different populations in a treatment setting so that patients are challenged to learn new styles of interacting with different kinds of people. This is especially true with spectrum disorders.”
While gratitude has been long been celebrated as a spiritual and philosophical virtue, psychologists are discovering that an attitude of thanksgiving can also have a powerful, positive impact on psychological well being. Researchers credit the act of giving thanks with everything from stronger parent-child relationships and more satisfying friendships to better sex.
ccording to certified recreational therapist, Corey Hickman, today’s teens are experiencing a recreational crisis. “The students I see nowadays typically engage in recreation almost exclusively from a seated position,” says Hickman, who is the residential life director for Sunrise RTC, a treatment program for adolescent girls with emotional and behavioral issues. “Many of our students arrive at Sunrise addicted to video games, television, or social media,” says Hickman, “which typically means that they’re not engaged in more physical or social forms of recreation.”
NEVER TRUST AN ADOLESCENT!
Okay, I should qualify that. In general, don’t offer complete and unreserved trust to a teenager. Why not? For the same reason you shouldn’t fully trust someone to fly a plane if they’ve never flown a plane before. Teens are a bit like untested pilots. They are in the cockpit of a powerful machine–namely their rapidly morphing bodies and brains–that is new, powerful, and a bit out of their control. They’re still learning what all those levers and buttons do and how to navigate, steer, and land without crashing.
Arguing, says Hinman, is not only normal adolescent behavior–it’s developmentally necessary. Adolescence is a time of experimenting with and forging new levels of autonomy. Part of that process is learning how to express independent opinions that run contrary to those in authority. Your job is to help guide that behavior so that it evolves into normal adult independence, rather than chronic contrarianism or a disorder like ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). So as far as effective parenting goes, the question is not whether or not your adolescent will argue with you (they will), but how you should engage that behavior.
PTSD is marked by chronic, persistent, and sometimes debilitating emotional distress related to a traumatic event. Once almost exclusively associated with soldiers returning from battle, PTSD is a diagnosis assigned to people in all walks of life, including children and teens.
If your child is away in treatment, you may still be suffering from the sleep distress that was a part of being vigilant and worried. If so, now’s the time to reclaim your right to a good night’s sleep! Your child is safe and, for the time being, it’s someone else’s job to be vigilant around the clock. A huge part of every parents’ job when their child is in treatment is to prepare for their return home. You’re a better parent (and employee, and friend, and everything) when you’re taking good care of yourself. Sleep is at the core of self care; so now’s a great time to practice good sleep habits. I joke that learning to fall asleep and stay asleep has saved me thousands of dollars in carpentry, refrigerator repair, fly traps…oh and plastic surgery. So if you’re a light sleeper, an insomniac, or curfew cop on sabbatical, here are some things I’ve learned that will help you sleep like a baby.
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