Are you seeking a transformative solution for your teen’s challenges? Turning Winds offers a long-term residential treatment center for teens that fills the gaps left by other treatment options. Such a transformation takes time. Most clients need about a year but the results are often dramatic.
Adrian came to Turning Winds when he was thirteen. Trauma and neglect had permeated his childhood. “I grew up in a home where my parents were taking drugs,” he remembers. “I was given my first drink when I was seven. That’s when my grandma decided to pick me up to get full custody of me and my sisters. At twelve, I started smoking and other stuff. It just spiraled out of control from there.”
According to attachment theory, children need to develop a healthy relationship with at least one primary caregiver for normal social and emotional development. British psychiatrist John Bowlby first formulated the theory, describing attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings.”
If trusting relationships are absent, children and adolescents have difficulty developing meaningful attachments to those around them—with often dire consequences. “I started acting out and became more violent,” recalls Adrian. “I was never around for my sisters.”
Adrian’s grandmother put him into a charter school but Adrian didn’t want to go and consequently didn’t do well at that school. “I told my grandma that there’s no point sending me there as I would just get kicked out.” He lasted only about a month in that school. Then somebody recommended Turning Winds.
Turning Winds helps young people like Adrian learn how to engage purposefully with the world around them. Our holistic approach, relational focus, and emphasis on achieving authentic openness make Turning Winds especially effective at facilitating positive outcomes and long-term change.
TRANSFORMATIVE HEALING
As is the case with many of our teenage clients, it took a while for Adrian to “get it.” “I arrived in Montana and thought it was just a little vacation from home.” At first, Adrian didn’t realize that he was expected to stay a whole year but then he thought “I can handle being here for 12 months.”
He particularly liked the outdoor activities that are offered at Turning Winds, especially the snowboarding. And he started to thrive academically. “I always got a lot of help at school,” he says.
Most of all, he learned that change is always possible. “I learned that the past is the past,” he says now. “You can’t change the past but you can change what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t want to be like my dad who is an alcoholic. I know now that I can change that. You can choose who you want to be in your life.”
Following his graduation from Turning Winds, Adrian wants to become a structural engineer. “I’m good at building things, I’m good at math, so I was looking at careers that involve building things. I discovered structural engineering and I really liked it.”
GIVE THEM TIME
In his book Not By Chance, teen therapy expert Tim Thayne emphasized the importance of allowing enough time for change to occur. “To create deep internal change, teens need to be immersed in a carefully crafted milieu, with positive values and solid principles, long enough for these changes to sink in,” Thayne wrote.
Adrian agrees. “Be patient. Don’t push your kid to talk to you,” is his advice. “I didn’t talk to my grandma for the first few weeks at Turning Winds. So, don’t push your kid because they may still be mad at you—but it will get better.”
The communication with his grandmother was much improved after Adrian returned from Turning Winds. “What I share with parents and other kids is don’t hold on to what happened in the past. When your kid comes home, they have most likely changed. Don’t bring up the past because that will only make that kid want to go back to the past.”
The hybrid approach at Turning Winds blends the successful aspects of residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, and recreational therapy into one life-changing experience. We offer a full continuum of care for teens with mental health needs. Our clients achieve success through a combination of therapeutic, recreational, and educational approaches that together provide the best possible outcomes.
Contact us online for more information, or call us at 800-845-1380 as we are available 24 hours per day to answer your questions and guide you in the process of finding a solution for your teen.
Please note that to protect his privacy, the name of our alumnus has been changed.
