🚀 Troubled Teen Trailblazers Talk Transforming Treatment
🌈 Before we dive in…
Shout out to Tony from Telos for leading and moderating our panel on the overlooked needs of alumni students at the Young Adult Transition Association (YATA) conference last week! Special shoutout to Justin, our former troubled teen counterpart who sat on the panel with us. We had the best time with you guys at the conference, and thank you to everyone who supported and attended our panel!
🌟 CONFERENCE RECAP: Two former troubled teens’ take on where programs can innovate
What happens when you put former troubled teens in a conference with a few hundred people who work in the residential and wilderness treatment industry??
Well, we run into a bunch of people who used to work at our treatment programs when we were troubled teens. Then, we talk about ourselves for the millionth time hoping we say something new and insightful, of course.
This past January, Colin and I launched Not Therapy’s website and had the audacity to just show up to the annual conference of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) with some stickers and a dream. We had just partnered up to launch Not Therapy, and each of us had experience with a few coaching clients at that point.
Just eleven months later, we were invited to speak on a panel about the overlooked needs of alumni students who attend these therapeutic schools and programs.
As of today, Not Therapy has worked with more than thirty teens and young adults, supporting them and their families as they transition the the next stage of their lives. We’ve helped our clients successfully transition out of therapeutic programs, attend outpatient, graduate high school, get sober, start their first year of college, and rebuild their relationships with their parents as young adults.
Throughout the YATA conference and during our panel, the main question people had for us was some version of, “What can existing programs do about residential treatment and wilderness programs closing? How do we avoid that?”
While we personally don’t know the details of these program closures, as young people who were once in these programs for a significant chunk of our teenage years, we see this as an exciting opportunity for the people trying to fill the void in non-traditional mental healthcare.
Anyone who has struggled with their mental health when they were younger knows that going to weekly therapy rarely makes you quickly feel better. Young people almost never want to send themselves to treatment, and most parents would rather avoid it. So, we encourage those who run programs to think about how they can help a family before they have to make the drastic choice of sending their teen or adult child away to a residential or wilderness program.
Take a quick look at r/Parenting, or honestly any other subreddit for parents. When parents post about having any trouble with their teen, you’ll see hundreds of replies suggesting they send their child to therapy. When their parenting approach hasn’t been working, parents don’t know what else to do besides: 1) send their child to therapy, to which many respond that they’ve already tried that, and it hasn’t been working, or 2) let it get so bad that they feel like they have no other option but to send them away.
The space between those two options is wide open for innovation. Many people who read this newsletter have run or worked for therapeutic programs for years; who better than you to turn the industry on its head and provide young people with support that could help them avoid reaching the point of “no return?”
We get that many of us still need or benefit from out-of-home treatment. But we encourage programs to think how many more young people you could help if you had earlier intervention alternatives that also supported your business in an ethical, mission-oriented way.
Throughout the conference, Colin and I started writing down specific ways we think programs could completely revolutionize the way young people receive mental health treatment:
When a parent (or consultant) reaches out about enrolling a child in your program, work with the teen or young adult beforehand to come up with a realistic plan that, if they can follow with your team’s support while they’re still at home, they can avoid being sent away altogether.
Offer a service to families to set them up with local and online options for support based on what their child is willing to try.
Connect young people with a mentor in their city (or online) who went to your program and can offer their real-world experience and guidance.
Provide resources, courses, and content that’s actually entertaining and useful for teens and young adults designed to help them get on a path they’re excited about at home. Provide resources for the parents alongside this.
Honestly discuss with young people the benefits and drawbacks of attending your program and offer them alternative paths.
Require parents to hire a parent coach or therapist before they send their child to your program.
We started to document numerous ideas about how programs can implement these types of initiatives. Not only do we have our own lived experience, but we’ve worked with over thirty teens and young adults who have recently left your programs.
If your alumni aren’t open to talking to your program staff or giving you feedback on how you can improve your program experience moving forward, set up a call with us! Ideally, we can help a larger group of young people than ever before 💚
And now……our vibes this week🔮
📚 What we’re reading
Where have all the relatable male role models gone?, slate
The New Must-Have for Overwhelmed Kids: An Executive Function Coach, wsj
Teens learn a new conspiracy theory every week on social media, yet most schools aren’t teaching media literacy, fast company
🎶 What we’re listening to
GNX, kendrick lamar
THANKS FOR READING!
If you found this valuable, this is your sign✌️ to send this to parents or young people who can relate to the feelings we’re having this week so we can make sure they know they’re not alone. Sharing is caring 😎
We’re in this to collaborate and support. Please feel free to reach out to us:
If you’re a parent who has a child in treatment, we’re happy to answer any of your burning questions and share our experience in treatment and with transitioning out!
If you’re passionate about changing the narrative in the therapeutic program industry.