10 Common Mistakes Parents Make

(in making residential placement)
By Lon Woodbury
www.parent-empowerment-blog.com

The past twenty years has seen a major change in residential programs for self-destructive and struggling teens. In the past, virtually every residential intervention available was funded and controlled by governmental agencies, including decisions as to who would be enrolled. What has changed is that we now have a rapidly growing network of private residential schools and programs focused on allowing parents more choices. Usually this involves parents paying the tuition, or at least making arrangements for payment through their insurance policy or other resources.

Listed below are ten of the most common mistakes I have seen parents make during my sixteen years working with parents of struggling teens. I present this with the hope that parents who are beginning to search for residential schools and programs will rethink their initial assumptions to avoid self-defeating choices.

Teen Depression: 101

Motherlode Blog, by Lisa Belkin
NY Times, 3/31/2010

Motherlode: Adventures in Parenting is a blog by Lisa Belkin, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine. She recently received a letter from one of her readers, a mother of a depressed teenager, asking for advice.

My 14-year-old has gone from a sunny, optimistic, free soul to a sullen (typical teen you might say) and admittedly depressed lost soul. He has actually asked for help, so I’m looking for a good counselor, but I wanted to be able to tap into the support network of your mothers to understand their experiences.

So how do you tell the difference between ordinary teenage angst and a problem? Do depression and anxiety run in families? What should a parent do when they are worried their child is troubled?

We've Got Issues

Warner's new book says the problem is all in our heads

3/4/2101

We all know the truth. Doctors prescribe too many drugs for our children. Big Pharma is pushing antidepressants on our kids. Our schools are fulled of overmedicated zombies.

Maybe not. In her new book, "We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication," Judith Warner makes the argument that our kids don't get medicated often enough. And it's making waves.

Happiness is Heart Healthy

Positive People Have Less Heart Disease

By Salyann Boyles for WebMD.com, 2/17/2010

This is good news for all you cockeyed optimists. Here is an article about how your happiness affects your heart. It turns out being cheery leads to less heart disease.

"After accounting for known heart disease risk factors, the researchers found that the happiest people were 22% less likely to develop heart disease over the 10 years of follow-up than people who fell in the middle of the negative-positive emotion scale.

People with the most negative emotions had the highest risk for heart disease and people who scored highest for happiness had the lowest risk.

This observed protection persisted even when naturally happy people were experiencing transient depressive symptoms."

What do they recommend for all the sour-pusses among us?

How to Fight Your Insurance Co.

Perseverance Pays

From the New York Times, 2/5/2010

In this New York Times column, Walecia Konrad explains that tenacity and persistence pay off, when appealing a rejected claim from a health insurer.

A variety of things can prompt a claims denial. It might be a simple clerical error, like an incorrect address, or a doctor’s use of the wrong diagnostic or treatment code for your treatment. Then there are the more serious causes — as when a treatment is specifically excluded from your policy…. Other frequently denied claims involve emergency room visits, especially those at out-of-network hospitals and clinics.

Read the full story, “Fighting Denied Claims Requires Perseverance."

New Mental Health Rules Announced

Easier to Obtain Treatment

from New York Times, January 29, 2010

Great news for parents who need health insurance to cover their child's treatment costs.

In a nutshell, the rules "significantly expand the rights of people with mental illness, much of which goes untreated because of insurance restrictions."

Here is an article in the New York Times about the new mental health parity regulations.

For a more in-depth discussion of the new rules, check out this great video from CNN, with Dr. David Shern, president and CEO of Mental Health America. More...

 

A Parent's Nightmare

Even Non-Treatment Moms Face Challenges 

by JOHNSON, Member

Early Sunday at about 4:30 AM, I settled down with a nice cup of coffee and a warm comfy sofa. I like to wake up early, before my husband and three sons, so I can have a little quiet time for myself.

I happened to notice my 19-year-old son’s cell phone. Being the curious mother that I am, I read his text messages.

To my horror, I realized that my son was dealing drugs.

More...

Marshalling Your Anger

Seeking residential care is depressing but that sadness can be turned into a powerful force that is useful in finding funds to pay program costs.

Buried under the disappointment of having a child in treatment lurks some real anger at your kid for making you take this drastic step. You're angry for lots of reasons -- the sense of parental failure, the embarrassment of facing friends and family, and not least, the child's behavior that precipitated the need for residential care. One can be defeated by the sadness or galvanized by the anger.

Welcome to our Website!

Take A Look Around

We are pleased to finally have our new website online. Our hope is that this will become a helpful community to anyone interested in kids and families in residential treatment.

Please Join Us

To do so, simply create an account, login and let us know what you think.

Go to the Community Forum and introduce yourself. It's a place for frank discussions with other parents of children in treatment.

Teen Depression Rises 500%

Youth now have more mental health issues

By Hope Renews

As if teen depression isn't depressing enough, today's teen depression is worse than depression in the Great Depression. (Is your head spinning yet?)

The Associated Press reports on a new study that found that "five times as many high school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues as youth of the same age who were studied in the late 1930's." More...

 
 
 
 

Hope Renews • 11611 San Vicente Blvd. • Los Angeles • CA • 90049 • info@hoperenews.org

Privacy Policy • Disclaimer

Home | About Us | What We Do | How You Can Help | Join Us/Sign In | What Treatment Costs | Paying for Treatment | News/Blogs | Community Forum

All content © 2005-2010, Hope Renews