The summer break is finally here and for many high school students around the country that means moving on to the next grade or going to college in the fall.
For clients graduating from Turning Winds, the transition can be quite daunting—even if it begins with a celebration. “The program graduations are really special and they’re pretty amazing,” says chief operations officer Carl Baisden. “They provide an opportunity for the kids and the families to really have some solid closure from their treatment process.”
The challenges begin with the return home. They are no longer in the safe environment of Turning Winds—but they are not on their own.
“The important component that we focus on is kids will continue to make choices, struggle, and continue to go through challenges,” says program director Enoch Stump. “The important thing is that they have healthy relationships and a solid support system is key. They may not have the greatest support system at home but they created one at Turning Winds.”
Alumni going home can rely on the relationships formed with members of the treatment team and their fellow students at Turning Winds. Our model of care, renowned for its effective therapeutic support, mirrors a functional family system. Many alumni, having transformed their lives through our residential treatment center, are so positively affected and had such a life-transforming experience that they stay in touch for years to come.
EVERYTHING WE DO IS RELATIONAL
“They have a cellphone number for their support person at Turning Winds but we also encourage them to call their peers,” says Stump. “Sometimes it takes a month or two to build a new support system, so, as they’re building that, we want them to be able to rely on the one they already have. Everything at Turning Winds is always relational. So when you think about a good transition system it goes back to the fundamentals which are healthy, productive relationships.”
A lot of preparation goes into the period before the graduation. “Everything we do in the last few months is a plan designed uniquely for them based on their particular set of deficiencies and skills,” explains Baisden. “Their relationships at the end have to be intact and super strong. The evidence for that is that we’re able to plan that with the kids and allow them to fully buy into what they need.”
The relationships with Turning Winds staff remains intact for many months after the discharge. “My phone rings all week long from former clients calling,” says Baisden. Often, they reach out to the person who worked on their transition plan with them.
“We have a couple of kids who left two, three years ago who now called us and offered to lead a sober group on campus,” says Stump. “This helps us as well. This helps us focus on our goals and be the kind of people we want to be. Or ex-students are really good at mentoring, really good at understanding the tools, and they are still eager to share that. Really, the transition process goes on and on through the support system that it creates.”
At Turning Winds, the goal is to make sure that each and every student gets the education and support they need for success. We work closely with the counseling departments in every student’s previous school to fill in any gaps in their current educational path.
Over the course of more than twenty years, we’ve built a team of some of the world’s finest academic and therapeutic professionals, all of whom share the same goal: to help teens re-engage meaningfully with their lives, families, and their futures.
Contact us online for more information, or call us at 800-845-1380. If your call isn’t answered personally, one of us will get back to you as soon as possible.
