What Parents Need to Know When Considering Teen Mental Health Options

Season 1: Episode: 3
Host: Kevin Zundl
Guest: Eric Loesch, Director of Admissions at Turning Winds


Kevin Zundl  1:18  
Yeah, so, I and so, I mean, obviously, you've talked to so many families over five years. What do you think? You know, some of the common sort of threads are between those kind of conversations. I think one of the things is, when people make that first call, it's obviously, you know, they're in a time of crisis. There's a lot going on. They're not sure exactly what to do. But I think you know, you can provide some comfort here by saying like you're not the only one. There's, you know, hundreds, 1000s of families that you've, you know, talked to. Tell me a little bit about how those conversations go, what their concerns are and how you work with them. Yeah, so I mean

Eric Loesch  2:06  
Yeah, so I mean obviously it's a, it's a difficult decision, you know that families are making in terms of the placement they're trying to provide for their child, combined with, you know, the difficulty and the emotion that they're dealing with, right? So, at the end of the day, let's call it what it is. It's not a call that that family really wants to be making, right, and so, excuse me, in most cases, these are families that you know have explored lesser avenues or lower levels of care. I would term it right, outpatient therapy, one on one therapy, maybe even an IOP or a PHP program, something of that nature, more than likely has been explored. And if they're making a call to us, right, and I'm on the other end and speaking with them, that has not been successful, right? And so now they're taking more drastic measures. They're seeking that higher level of care in terms of residential treatment. So, you know, one, they're trying to find the program that's going to best meet their child's needs. And then two, again, they're battling with the difficulty of what that decision entails with, you know, their child being away from home in a residential setting, and trusting their loved one to the care of you know, to others really, what? 

What essentially starts as strangers, you know, and so part of my goal, really my I'd say my ultimate goal, is to make sure that that parent, that loved one, you know, even that professional you know, to some extent, but traditionally, it's going to be more parents or loved ones, family members, leaves that call, you know, more educated about that decision, because that's another area where many don't know, right there. Hey, we've tried this, this outpatient therapist or stuff of that nature, and and we need something more, but we're just not sure what that is, right? And so it's helping them to become more educated on what their options are, particularly residential care, what that looks like, what the resources that are available to them are, and I want them leaving better educated with that, whether that be Turning Winds, if Turning Winds is that fit? Great. That's fantastic. 

If it's not well, then great. Let's get you in the direction of something that's better suited, right? Maybe that's a short-term residential, which is just better in that case, or maybe turning wins just isn't a fit clinically. Maybe there's a better acute setting that's going to meet that child's needs, and so getting them in that direction. So I want to make sure they're feeling educated on those options, you know, and then within that, you know, my mission, obviously, is to help educate them specifically on Turning Winds right program here, you know how we can help meet that use needs and help that family, because it really is meeting the needs of both right the child's in our care, but we're working with that. Family for extended periods of time or 6 to 12 month program. So it's a relationship that's being built there. And my goal is it to sell them on anything. It's just to help them understand who we are, what we're about, lend a compassionate ear. You know, the truth is, I've been in their shoes. Well, I've been in the shoes of their child. I should say My family's been in their shoes. You know, many years ago I haven't gone through couple different levels of care, and ultimately, a residential, long term residential setting back in 2008 myself. 

So I know what that's like. I know the emotion of what comes with that. I've had many discussions with my own family about that since, obviously, you know about that decision they had to make, one of which I was not in support of, you know, and involved in my family was doing what was in my best interest. I didn't see it that way at the time. I now come to recognize the great gift that that was. But, you know, it's just letting the capacity be here, trying to educate, familiarizing them with who we are, what we're about, so they can make, you know, the best decision for their loved one and for their family.

Kevin Zundl  6:10  
Yeah, because we're really, we are talking about children in the final years, you know, before they transition to an adult. And, you know, really kind of investing the time to make sure that they understand how to look at themselves, how to look at problems they're going to be facing, and then be better prepared to make good decisions when they're when they're challenged. But you know, I think one of the things that you know I always like when I'm on campus, there is, it doesn't feel institutional. It really is an inviting place where you see children living in healthy ways. I mean, they're certainly spending lots of time in clinical, lots of time on their education, but they're also getting out there doing fun activities as well. So tell me a little bit about some of the fun activities that they wouldn't expect. Yeah,

Eric Loesch  7:07  
Yeah, No, I think that's, I think that's crucial. What you're mentioning there, Kevin, is, that fact that, you know it's, it's a true residential treatment setting. It's not an acute hospital sterile setting, which is no knock on those. I mean, those are appropriate settings and levels of care for an appropriate type of place. But you know, this is something where we want that clinical piece, we want that academic piece for our youth. That's imperative. That's why these kids are coming here. That's why families seeking care. But you know, it's what I would describe some families, kind of thinking of it almost like a summer camp that's longer, that's extended out with much more care provided within it, right? But it's important these kids are having a good time. It's important that they're having fun, that they're forging relationships, that they're putting these connections together because that's what's going to provide for that lasting success and positive outcomes for them. You know, if it's just therapy, or if it's just therapy and academics, and you don't have that connection being created, then I would say what unfortunately happens is most are going to leave and they're not going to be successful, because they're not going to put this into their day to day, right, implementing their day to day living. So they need to build that foundation that's going to enable them to be successful, but they need to kind of correlate and put that together in their own minds, you know, for themselves. And so that's where integrating those activities is crucial to to have a good time, but also just the importance therapeutically of success for them. So depends obviously, on seasonal or time of season what we're doing, but I'd say throughout spring, summer and fall, we're doing a lot of outdoor activities. You know, from day to day, things on weekends or even weekdays, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, mountain biking down at the Hiawa Bike Trail in Coeur d'Alene. You know we're going hiking locally in our area, we have Kootenai falls. 
You know that we're getting to we go fishing. So it's a lot of lot of wilderness based activities that our kiddos are doing, again, that can be a simple couple hours on a Saturday, Sunday or even weekday, and then we do even larger activities where we're gone three, four nights on venture trips that are often incorporating a number of those activities Between our kids in team. 

And that could be locally here in Montana, that could be in we go to Idaho, we go to Northern California, we've gone to Oregon coast. We go to Banff in different parts of Montana, not just our own backyard. So we really try to get around with those. And again, those are three, four nights integrating a variety of different activities. We might be camping. We might be staying at a cool, fun Airbnb and doing different activities. So there's a lot of variety to that. And then in the winter months, you know, we're, I'd say our big ticket item really, is skiing and snowboarding. 

We're at Schweitzer mountain in Sand Point Idaho, you know, weekly, which is, it's a, really, just, just an awesome activity that our kids get to do, I think, really look forward to, you know, teach their own in terms of what their preference might be. Maybe they prefer the camping, but it provides a nice variation for our kids. They're not confined in winter months, you know, which are obviously colder. Maybe you're not camping because of that cold, but you're still able to get outdoors. You're able to get active. And we have kids that you know have been skiing or snowboarding for years, and we have kids that have never put on a skis or or gone snowboarding, and that's just fine. We love that too, you know, they're able to do that and try that for the first time, and get a little more experience with that and have some fun with their peer group.

Kevin Zundl  11:07  
Cool. Thank you for the time. I mean, I think to all the parents who are listening out there, you know, the recovery mantra kind of comes to mind that usually applies to the people using it for their for themselves and the perspective. But the mantra is, nothing changes if nothing changes. And I think, you know you can't kick the can on this one. You know you really, you are at a pivotal moment in this child's life. And you know, I mean, now that you've heard Eric's voice, you know he's he knows a lot, he's talked to a lot of parents, and it'll be able to kind of help you in what you're going through. So again, thank you, Eric and we'll talk again soon. Thanks. Yeah, thank you.

So if you are a parent and you'd like to have a conversation, I strongly encourage you to give Turning Winds a call at 800-845-1380, but there's also many, many resources available on the website at TurningWinds.com