It is an incredible sacrifice to send you daughter to a residential treatment center and it is understandable to sometimes wonder if this sacrifice will be worth it. To help calm these fears, the therapists at Sunrise have shared 15 secrets to help you be an effective parent while your daughter is in Residential Therapy. The steps discussed in this blog are:

  1. Treatment is a process, not an event
  2. We can’t force change
  3. Your daughter will look better on the outside than on the inside

 

1. Treatment is a process, not an event

Many Parents think that when their daughter gets into Residential Treatment that it’s all going to be ok. There are going to be times that you think that your daughter is healed. You’ll say to yourself, “She’s actually talking to me. This is the best our relationship has ever been” and there will be this flight to health. There will be great moments like these flights to health, but there will also be moments of real struggle and hardship. It’s important not to be discouraged by these moments of struggle and to always remember the process that your daughter is going through and the highs and lows attached to that process.

2. We can’t force change

Residential Treatment is a huge investment financially, emotionally, time-wise, and mentally. Quite often parent’s make large sacrifices in order for their children to be involved in these treatments. But as a parent, you can’t expect because of this investment that your daughter will change out of duty to you. During therapy she is being asked to deal with incredibly difficult and uncomfortable things that she does not want to go through emotionally, but the only way that she can ever find change is by going through discomfort. That’s why it’s so important to remember that you can’t  force the change, you can only provide the environment in which change can happen. We can help her change by supporting her through the discomfort, and validating and encouraging her through the treatment process.

3. She’ll look better on the outside than on the inside

When a lot of families first come in, their daughter will begin to do really well. Many families see this think that their daughter is healing and but don’t recognize that their daughter still has many  issues that she needs to work through. So one thing to remember is is that you don’t take the cake out of the oven before it’s ready. Set limits that your family will stick with the program till graduation as to allow your daughter and your family the proper time to heal.