Committed to help

Local  mixing opportunities with european professionals don’t come every day.  Networking in Europe is different than in the US in being more confidential, and often ‘closed’ to non-locals.

Caron Ocean Drive in it’s wisdom recognized the importance of having myself, a licensed and chartered psychologist make those relations with the business and professional community here in Amsterdam.

Best Delft barbecue!

Today was the perfect day for a summer garden party and providing the perfect opportunity to share with invitees the Florida model treatment as developed by Sid Goodman, and develop relationships of trust between Ocean Drive and the Dutch.

Mental health and sobriety are known to the Dutch. And yet the feel of the recovery community here is unique. Ocean Drive has quite a similar unique ability to tailor the treatment plan to match the individual — from wherever they come. I’ve experienced this fact for myself as a referent and consultant.

Oysters-go-mobile.

You may be interested in organizing this type of event in Europe. Summer is in full swing, and now is your chance by letting us know how we can help.

Treatment is gaining traction here in the EU, thanks to the Caron Ocean Drive and Renaissance folk sponsoring my efforts.

Oh, and the oysters are outstanding!

Wilderness leaves it’s print.

US Wilderness treatment is arguably an emerging therapeutic approach designed to help young people overcome challenges of relational, parenting, emotional behavior, and substance disorders with limited positive research implications.

Wilderness does leave a successful print in young people’s lives. Never have I had a young person not thank me for the experience of helping to change their life.

The US alone serves as the international center for wilderness treatment located in such States as Utah and Oregon, North Carolina. At RedCliff Ascent in Utah, a case study was conducted by myself, a US & UK Chartered Psychologist, and Steven DeMille, a doctoral candidate focused on a British youth struggling with emotional and identify formation who was sent by his parents to participate in wilderness therapy for a number of weeks.

The conclusion? The UK youth and family emerged with improved overall functioning (e.g, new hope, tools, and strategies) promoting a successful future with continuing family work with UK therapist. The full article appears in NATSAP’s 2015 Spring journal, entitled, “A Theoretically Anchored and Multi-Modal Treatment Approach in an Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Program.” http://tinyurl.com/njeolbe.

I’m humbled and honored in speaking to the United Kingdom & European Symposium on Addictive Disorders (UKESAD) here in London May 4th. In considering my decades in the field of experiential treatment, I honed in on ‘wilderness therapy’ as the focus of my talk, to reveal a type of treatment for addiction not as customary or known to those professionals, liaisons, and non-professionals working within the addiction field.

That said many, many young people in particular become sober and clean in a somewhat ‘dirty’ setting of the wilderness. My colleagues at Four Circles, Sierra Tucson, Wingate Wilderness have sponsored this presentation with their contributions. Special thanks to Shayne Gallagher who assisted me by taking on a piece of the presentation by himself, and did ‘fabulous’. Four Circles’ new clinical director, Kelly Wedell provided me with the 12 step snapshot of their program.

This work in addiction and recovery is collaborative, and that carries over from the urban to the rural to the wilderness setting. Why wilderness? No distractions, no interference with the recovery process. I hope you enjoyed my talk here in London.

In 1969, Dr. Haim Ginott came up with the concept of the helicopter parent who ‘hovers’ over their child in moving through their academic life. Today, it’s mushroomed into the crazy notion of parents who monitor their offspring in every imaginable faction of life: Friends, family, school and university life, occupational choice, no place is too far off distance. The helicopter parent manages the life of their children in many positive ways. However well managed, there is a down side. What gets lost is the chance for a young person to falter, to even fail, and learning from her or his own mistakes.

Psychology tells us that the individual will not develop and transition into adulthood without taking responsibility for themselves, without self reliance. For a child to individuate, that is to become a healthy individual, she or he needs to see themselves as a ethical and smart person– using their own judgment to make decisions, and if a parent is making all of those day-to-day decisions for them, then they can’t individuate and become a healthy adult.

I have found that many times the parent’s role is misconstrued to mean a partner rather than an instructor. It isn’t a joint life the parent & child are living, it’s a singular one for each to enjoy together from time to time. Unfortunately, helicopter parenting leads to failure to launch to adulthood, addiction, and other stunting of development. It can create so much anxiety for kids that they become unsure and afraid to do anything, and don’t trust their own instincts.

Dr Burdick helps families to learn how to individuate by recommending programs. Summer programs, camps and such are fantastic opportunities for kids to find themselves, leaving parents behind to enjoy their own summer. They bond with other kids and adults to learn from each other how to grow up successfully. Boarding schools also are unique in this way. If parents follow the basic rule of thumb of stepping back and letting the children do it on their own, even if they fail, they can learn important life lessons.