In spending time today with a young adolescent man and a young woman at Oakley School over lunch it became apparent that who they came into contact during treatment in wilderness and boarding school made all the difference in their minds as to the quality of care. The pieces of the treatment plan may not be immediately recalled, but the staff that made “the difference” did, and in a monumental way. That is what the internet cannot communicate to the family is the quality of the staff member in the program that “makes the difference”.

Likewise in meeting with a client at Odyssey House, it made sense why he made so much progress within a 6 month period of time, despite the amount of trauma he experienced before coming to treatment. Clearly, he made “a connection” with a particular staff member who “made sense” of his world for him and “changed” his mind, substituting the thought stoppers for rationale thoughts. Albert Ellis immediately came to my mind, and one of his quotes: ““The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” It’s time to take control of your life, and not blame others, isn’t it? www.drburdick.com