PHILOSOPHY

Parents and family members are often confused, angry, embarrassed or frustrated and feel helpless in their attempts to find solutions to these kinds of situations. Feelings of guilt and anger often surface and the family finds itself "stuck". This problem, a FAMILY CRISIS, must be handled with sensitivity, knowledge, and professional intervention--on the family level.

We are advocates for the safety and development of the family unit and therefore our approach is best suited for those families committed to working as a family system. Parents are asked to maintain an open mind to our family system approach and to demonstrate a willingness to try something different rather than reapply techniques and perspectives that may not work and are not successful.

Combinations of treatment services of the Institute facilitate the re-emergence of the parent(s) as "family executives" and provide the adolescent a creative alternative in the new problem-solving family unit. Therefore, two tracts of intervention are provided: (a) intensive 24-hour care and an aftercare therapeutic environment including partial care and intensive outpatient care for the adolescent, and (b) continuous parental involvement throughout the entire treatment process.

Our treatment program addresses family themes and issues, which are often enmeshed with the problems of the developing adolescent. The "family system" focus of intervention is often the critical element in helping the adolescent reach and maintain a happy productive role in our society.

As defined by the Institute, the family may consist of a parent or a parental unit, siblings, extended family members, a stepfamily unit, a legal guardian or significant other(s) serving the function of the family system for the adolescent. Therefore, we must reserve the right, in all cases, to refuse admission to a young person whose immediate family system will not enter therapy, or to discharge a person whose custodial family system will not participate in treatment.

In those cases where a parent refuses to cooperate by: not completing and submitting an Intake Questionnaire document, or not attending a pre-interview Parents Survival and Education Group, or does not complete a feedback form or indicates no interest in learning the material presented, or fails to attend the Initial Family System Interview, or demonstrates blaming, defensiveness, hostility, denial, resistance, etc., they may be excluded from the treatment provided on behalf of the adolescent. This will require the active and responsive participation by the other parent/guardian. All such matters and decisions regarding the level of participation will be determined on a case by case basis by the administrative team.

While this may seem harsh, we believe it is sometimes detrimental to work with an individual in this setting when families will not be involved. Treatment requires a commitment from the family system members to participate in the adolescent's family therapy sessions throughout the course of care.

Individuals who have positive attitudes about their ability to control their health and who develop more effective coping and problem solving skills, tend to reach a higher level of success than those who do not have good attitudes or problem solving skills. Our approach is to study how a spectrum of physical, social, cultural and emotional variables interact to influence the speed and degree of individual progress within a larger unit - the family system.

Our experiences show that individuals either feel in control of their destiny or they do not. That includes those who think that they cannot influence their own progress. They believe in the power of fate or they entrust their health solely to "powerful others", such as doctors, hospitals, and therapists.

Other individuals, however, feel the opposite and believe that they play an active role in their own progress and recovery. This group generally tends to be more open and responsive in the treatment process, recovers more quickly, and tend to be more satisfied.

We, as a interdisciplinary clinical team, realize that the human mind and body are incredibly complex in both health and illness, and that no clinician can possibly have flawless diagnostic or healing capabilities. Though it may come as a surprise to some, we at the Institute may be one of the least important persons in maintaining your health and stability. It is only when your health and stability or that of your child begins to fail that we as clinicians come into the picture.

A healthy diet, a clean body, reasonable exercise and respect for others are the foundations to good health. This is so simple that every school child knows it. Yet, there are many who neglect or ignore these basic factors. In many ways, we can not do much about these factors without the cooperation and a willing attitude of all those family members involved.

When you or a loved one get "stuck" or sick, we become somewhat important. We would like to emphasize that we are good at what we do, but are not "wonder-therapists". We mention this because some people look for someone who can "fix" their child or who can magically restore the family without work by the parent(s). If that is what you are looking for, you have come to the wrong treatment program. You should definitely find someone else! We work hard and fast, but without any magic cures. We will work with you and take care of your adolescent as best we can. We hope for your part that you will work with us, as treatment is not easy for anyone.