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!
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.
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.
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.
For parents of older teens struggling with behavioral or emotional problems, that teen’s 18th birthday may come to represent some terrifying realities. Many parents fear a loss of parental control; or the symbolic and actual loss of their “little girl,†or “little boy;†or loss of legal guardianship and the modicum of protection that comes along with it.
Unlike a visit to the dentist—“open, rinse, say ahhh, spitâ€â€”the rules for a psychotherapy session are not so simple or clear. Most therapists are unlikely to give you step by step instructions for engaging the session—“talk about your mother, cry, tell me a story from your childhood.†That’s partly because it’s the nature of psychotherapy for the patient or client to “show up†and initiate topics, set the initial direction, and open up. But that can be very difficult, especially if therapy is new to you or if trust is one of the issues you’re going to therapy to address. The question of how to “do†therapy is further complicated by the fact that there are many different therapeutic techniques, modalities, and styles out there, each one requiring a different type and level of patient involvement.
If you’ve recently arrived in a treatment facility you’re probably angry, confused, scared, and angry. Did I mention angry? Most adolescents are sent to a treatment facility by others without their consent. Sometimes this involves being awakened at a ridiculous hour by burly strangers who load you into a car, drive you to the airport, get you on an airplane, and drop you off at the treatment facility.
It’s never easy to send your child away, especially when you’ve spent the previous months or years in a state of alarm and crisis.
There are numerous professionals who make up the treatment team in a typical adolescent treatment center. Knowing the categories and their respective responsibilities can help a parent better navigate the treatment process. This is just a partial overview of several types of mental health professionals typically found in a private adolescent-treatment setting.
A brief overview of the nature and function of quality wilderness therapy programs for parents considering that option for their teen.
