Adolescent Residential Treatment One Year Anniversary and Family Reunion

Utah Valley

Happy Anniversary Family! Not only to my son that is in residential treatment, but also to our family for persevering through this process and being under the microscope as parents. This anniversary is special on a few different levels:

1. One year ago, my son moved from one treatment center to another. After weeks of going back and forth with the administrators at the first facility hoping they would let him stay we finally realized it was not going to work. That was a real blow, realizing a treatment center can’t help you during a time of crisis, then who can? What message were we sending to our son?
2. Then the rescue and moving him to a new facility and starting the process all over again. Hoping that he learned something form Wilderness and past mistakes, only to experience the same tricks and once again awol’ing and trying to get kicked out of the second facility.
3. The constant agonizing and questioning whether we are doing the right thing, institutionalizing our son? What have we done and how do we get out of it?

While today we are celebrating an anniversary we are also leaving for Provo, Utah for the parent conference, it has been 6 months since I last saw my son. The longest I have ever gone without seeing one of my children. Also for the first time he seems to be engaging in the program moving through the levels, when we talk on the phone I can hear the excitement and pride in his voice as he realizing accomplishments. One year ago I did not think ANY program could help my son. Not only has he been stubborn throughout the entire process, he has done everything in his power not to comply. Now I can feel a real difference in attitude and I pray it is honest. He appears to finally have some interest in his life, what is next and planning for his future. In less than two years he will be 18 and will be able to make his own decisions as parents we lose control. 

Family Reunion

Now for the big celebration, we are going to Utah for the semi-annual parent conference, and along with the conference for the first time in over 1.5 years our family will all be together. His oldest brother (our oldest son) is in Provo, driving across country on his way back to California, and his youngest brother is flying out with us tomorrow. We couldn’t have planned it if we wanted too. Tomorrow we will all be in Provo, then the oldest and the youngest boys will drive back to California while my husband and I attend the conference. I don’t want to jinx it, but this will be our last parent conference in Provo, Utah, because now we are looking at transitioning him to California the end of this year. I know it will happen.

A year ago, I would not have believed it if someone told me a in a year your son will make positive changes. For those of you at the beginning of the process know there is hope.  Get help, it does not happen over night, and be patient.

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Tagged as: Family Reunion, Levels, parent conference, Progress, provo utah