Kevin Zundl 00:03 - 00:50 Welcome to the Turning Winds podcast. My name is Kevin Zundl. Turning Winds is a full continuum of care for teens who really need some more support clinically and academically. I'm speaking with a number of roles at the program and today's a really special 1. It's with Eric who heads up the admissions side of things. And I think we're looking at a critical time right now as school is about to start or it has just started and really thinking is now the time. What is so different about now than everything else? So I hope this conversation is useful to you. Kevin Zundl 00:51 - 01:23 When is the best time for treatment? Because so many parents right now have maybe spent a lot of time with their child during the summer. Things may have been a little hectic, but then in the conversations that parents have with each other, it's, well, let's wait till the school year starts and see how it goes. Maybe once they have some structure, things will get a little better. What do you sort of see in your conversations with parents around that? Eric Loesch 01:23 - 02:00 Yeah, sure. Well, I think what I see, Kevin, is there's, understandably, parents, it's a difficult decision. I think we spoke about this, you know, previously. And so, you know, it's not something that's made overnight. There's a lot of conscious thought that goes into that. I mean, not sporadically making that. And so, you know, for parents, a lot of times, it's almost like a last resort, right? It's the last thing they want to do and they're battling with that decision emotionally, but also knowing, hey, we think maybe this is in our child's best interest, particularly as things get progressively worse. Eric Loesch 02:02 - 02:44 And ironically, with kind of the back to school theme, what I see happens a lot is this cycle where, you know, at the end of the school year, a lot of times you're speaking to families, there's this thought of, well, we're gonna hold and we're gonna see how summer goes, right? Let's see what happens there because, you know, summertime affords, you're out of school, the child's out of school. Parents not always, but often might have more opportunities for time off work, PTO, things of that nature, a family vacation, you know, you have your kind of, you know, 4th of July, your summertime, you know, barbecues, these different things, more time together as a family, I think it's kind of the general thought. Eric Loesch 02:45 - 03:19 And the hope of those parents is that's going to be what's needed, right? That's going to recenter our family, that's going to recenter our son, our daughter. And hopefully that means we won't need to take this step of residential treatment, you know, and exploring turning winds and such. And, you know, while that sometimes works, I'm not here to say that it doesn't, more often than not, what I'd find is, things will get progressively worse, right? And so this ideal, this vision they have, doesn't pan out that way, right? And the vacation doesn't go as planned. Eric Loesch 03:19 - 03:57 Perhaps it even gets ruined because of the kid's behavior. It's not as pleasant. You know, maybe there's some legal troubles. Maybe they're sneaking out, running away, you know, any 1 of a number of things. And so, you know, as the summer progresses, parents are not kind of faced with these challenges. The school year approach is of, well, what do we do now, right? Things aren't getting better, they're getting worse. We have a decision to make. Do we pursue treatment or do we see how the school year goes? And unfortunately, what I tend to see is a lot of times the thought goes to, well, now that the school year is starting, let's see what happens, right? Eric Loesch 03:57 - 04:34 Now school affords us structure, right? There's less free time, right? There's extracurriculars, there's athletics, you know, back with peer group, you know, there's all this happening. And so parents kind of divert thinking to kind of the opposite of what some are afforded. Well, now maybe that'll work. You know, And I'm not trying to speak in any way ill to those families. I understand the logic. My family's been there myself or ourselves, in my experience, 15 plus years ago. But that doesn't work either, more often than not. The child goes back to school, same behavior, because they're taking themselves with themselves wherever they go. Eric Loesch 04:34 - 05:12 And again, potential for further consequences. And so what we actually see is an influx of inquiries, admissions, and such right around October and November, right, where that that kind of crash and burn happens. End of summer, summer didn't work out, school year starts, see how that goes. September doesn't go so well into October, and then families are ready to take that step. And so, what I find and I try to tell families is there's really not a perfect time, right? There's always going to be something there. And I get that it's difficult to make that decision emotionally in the summer or say we want to be together as a family. Eric Loesch 05:12 - 05:45 We have this vacation planned or Fourth of July or, you know, different activities with the neighbors and all this, the nice weather. You know, in the school year, it's well, you know, we want, you know, our son or daughter to be there with their peer group. We don't want them to fall back and separate from them. They're playing, you know, lacrosse or gymnastics, or they're in band and we don't wanna pull them from that. And so there's always something that they're gonna have to step away from, but at the end of the day, if it means them getting that help, really that's what's most important. Eric Loesch 05:45 - 06:12 And I try to explain to parents, if you don't intervene, it reaches a point where they're just gonna self-sabotage and all those opportunities are gonna be destroyed anyway. So take the action now. So really the best time, the perfect time to act is now, when they have that instinct of, hey, we think things are getting pretty bad. If you're having those thoughts about pursuing treatment, that's the time to pursue treatment, you know, as opposed to waiting for some perfect scenario to happen. It's just not going to. Kevin Zundl 06:13 - 06:53 Right. And so for To the parent that's listening right now, you're probably the 1 who's actively researching and the other parent is likely the 1 who's helping to kick that can down the road where they're making that excuse. Making that excuse. And so to the, again, to the parent listening, if this sounds familiar, it's because it's common and it's likely been going on for a number of years if you're listening to this. And what you have to consider is that you're running out of years to do it. It will end, years go by quickly, and it's getting progressively worse. Kevin Zundl 06:53 - 07:27 So it's really something to consider, to make a call, to understand that you're not the only 1 going through this. But in speaking to all of the parents that I have who've had their child go through treatment, they don't know why they waited so long. They don't know why they were so resistant. And I think that's really something to consider. What is the benefit of not making it better? I don't know. Do you have any sort of final thoughts? Eric Loesch 07:27 - 07:56 Yeah, I think that's well said, Kevin, you know, and at the end of the day, I'm not here to, you know, it's, there's a number of factors into why, you know, looking back, I think ultimately what's always important, and I have personal experience with this, like I said, with my family is it's not criticizing parents for waiting on that decision. You know, but I think a lot of times it's just that fear. It's that fear of, you know, we don't know the program or what does that mean for our child or what's the outcome gonna be, or my son's gonna hate me or my daughter's gonna be upset at me. Eric Loesch 07:56 - 08:28 And, you know, I think deep down, if you ask any of those families that pursue that action, get their child in a treatment, they start that process. You speak to them at that point, a couple of weeks, a couple of months in, they'll look and say a lot of it was just their own fear. Their own fear of what that was, the unknown, and ultimately, unfortunately, it leads to denying taking that necessary action. So I plead with parents, you know, don't let that stand in the way. We understand that, certainly. There's hundreds, thousands of families we've worked with that can sympathize with that. Eric Loesch 08:28 - 08:58 They've been in your shoes. That's very commonplace, but don't let that deter you, you know, from getting your loved 1, the help that they need. It's going to be difficult for them. It's going to be difficult for you, not only to have your child placed here, but even in that process as they're going through treatment. But it does get better, that healing process for your loved 1 and for the family collectively, and we're here to, you know, help you walk through that. And you're not alone in that, but it definitely is going to require some work. Eric Loesch 08:58 - 09:26 But through that work, you know, is a very rewarding process that I can tell you, you know, 100% is worth it. You know, your son, your daughter, your loved 1 is gonna do some work, make some sacrifices as are you, but it is 100% worth it. I can say that from, you know, my time working in the field and having gone through a treatment process myself 15 years ago. So I'd encourage you to be open-minded to that and keep that in mind. Kevin Zundl 09:26 - 09:30 Perfect. Well, it was great talking with you again and Thank you for sharing. Eric Loesch 09:31 - 09:32 Yeah, likewise. Thank you, Kevin. Kevin Zundl 09:34 - 09:54 So if this conversation resonates with you as a parent, I highly encourage you to call the program at 800-845-1380, or look at the wealth of resources that are available online at Turning Winds.com.