When our daughter returned home from a therapeutic camp we were very nervous. We were concerned that there would be a return to the old behavioral patterns in a very short time. We decided to have Homeward Bound help us with the transition. It was one of the best decisions we have made. We had some reservations about having a Homeward Bound representative visit our home, but he put us all at ease immediately. In fact, our daughter initially resisted participating, but our coach handled it so well that she was soon sitting on the couch and engaged in the discussion. When he left after that first night, our daughter even acknowledged that she liked him.
It was important for us and our daughter to meet him face to face so that our future telephone calls with him seemed more personal. It also helped immensely for him to see us in our home environment so that he could understand our lives and tailor his recommendations to us and our personalities.
We were impressed with the incredibly positive view our coach took with every situation. The advice and positive feedback he provided was exactly what we needed to hear. His ability to see what was needed in a short time was amazing. And the principles we learned are excellent in all situations. The solution talk approach can even be utilized in a work setting (or anywhere else) during difficult discussions.
Interestingly, our daughter did pull away from our coach half way through the process. When we hired Homeward Bound, that was one of our concerns – would our daughter stay engaged? But when she pulled away, none of us were too worried about it. Why? Because we realized that it was our relationship with her that was making the difference. And with his support, we felt increasingly empowered to parent better and better.
And things did improve! Our daughter is now taking more responsibility for her choices. Power struggles are rare. And when she does slip up, she recovers much faster from those negative moments and even apologizes for her actions. She is attending school, doing her work, playing volleyball and in general moving forward.
We now are convinced that if we had utilized Homeward Bound’s services when the problems started to get really bad in our home, we probably wouldn’t have had to send our daughter to a wilderness program in the first place.
Sincerely,
Stan & Carol Tieman
Alabama
