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A healthy family system is crucial to a troubled teen’s long-term success. After treatment, teens are more likely to relapse into unhealthy patterns and behaviors if they return to the same family dynamic that they left. Outback’s Parental Parallel Process enables the family to grow and learn while the troubled teen is engaged in therapy. Once the session is over, the student will return to a cohesive and trusting family system.
Below are a few of the Parental Parallel Programs that we offer.
These webinars cover skills such as communication and de-escalation techniques. They also cover important educational topics such as family dynamics and parenting styles. Outback’s parent coach helps apply these concepts to your everyday family life. This ‘rubber meets the road’ training will empower you to mentor your child and promote a healthy family lifestyle.
Your child’s primary therapist will talk with you each week. The purpose of these talks is to update you on your child’s progress and to help you better understand what to do to maintain a healthy and functioning lifestyle after Outback.
Parents are asked to participate in the treatment of their child by learning alongside them. We understand that life at home doesn’t slow down just because your child is in treatment, so the assignments and readings you’ll be given are designed to fit into your schedule. They will help you build a common language with your child so you can better identify and communicate what went wrong and what needs to be done to fix it.
During graduation visits, students often remain superficial and agreeable because of their impending departure. Because of this, Outback intentionally schedules a parent visit in the middle of treatment. This provides a better assessment of the child’s progress. This visit also helps direct the boundaries and treatment that will take place after Outback. Prior to this visit, parents learn and practice tools that will help them reintegrate back into their child’s world. During the parent visit, their therapist will direct a family session in which dynamics are addressed, progress is discussed and the future is planned.
For those families that want more tools, more therapy and more involvement, we offer a 3-day family expedition for an additional fee. During this expedition, the parents and siblings of the teenager in treatment come out and live together as a family in the wilderness. This adventure is only one family at a time, and it’s facilitated by a therapist throughout the three days, so it provides powerful therapeutic assessment, tools and progress. Because family dynamics are assessed then addressed in such a powerful environment, parents that have experienced it have said it was “like 6 months of therapy in 3 days”.
