center staff if things don't seem to be going well. Adolescent treatment centers sometimes seem to blame the parentsyou may feel that you are seen as
the problem.
Be ready to be open to your own failings
and
to stick up for yourself. You have the right to see the records, to have your concerns entered on the chart, to be consulted. Even though our children are
almost
adults, we are still the ones who are legally and ethically responsible for their well-being. It is frightening to turn them over to an institution.
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Express Positive and Negative Feelings
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The treatment center gave Rachel a break from her regular life. She loved occupational therapy. She met other kids who could identify with her depression. They helped each other with their self-esteem exercises. They traded information about ways to kill themselves and concluded that all methods were pretty gross, painful, ineffective, and difficult. There is no guaranteed way to die a painless death. There is no way to try to kill yourself with any certainty that you won't be physically disabled for life. Adolescents adopt a raw honesty when talking directly about suicide that can seem quite cold, but this coldness helped me get a grip on talking further about the subject. A year ago, I would never have been able to say, ''I don't want to hear
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