Dear Jeff:
I am writing this testimonial letter of our experience at the Family School, where we enrolled our daughter for the last two years of her high school in 2001.
Our story is very similar to many other families where a teenage child goes out of control and engages in dangerous situations. Our daughter was failing school, engaged in a very disrespectful behavior at home that ended in a domestic violence situation and juvenile hall. She became a methamphetamine user, got fired from her job and was failing school. We had tried many other avenues, including outpatient programs, two emergency inpatient intervention, psychologists, etc. Nothing seemed to help. The details of our life at that period can be easily imagined by anyone who has been in similar situation.
As the last resource, we engaged a qualified educational consultant who recommended a wilderness camp for two months, and the Family School as a long-term alternative. Our daughter was in Family 7 from 2001 until her graduation in 2003. She graduated with high scores, which helped her to obtain a scholarship at a private school in California where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in 2007 with honors. After working as a research assistant for two years, she’s now enrolled in a Master’s in Public Health program.
Nothing of this would have been a reality today without the intervention of the Family School and the initial work done at Second Nature in Utah. How did this happen? It all came to place when my daughter was taught, not easily but lasting, that every action has a consequence, that she was not the center of the world and was not entitled to impose her unacceptable behavior on her family and society. She was taught to be honest with herself, to analyze her actions and its consequences, to control her impulses, to ask for help, and was held to the high standards by which she leads her life today. It was not an easy process, and it was not without tears and struggle, but it was under the guidance of the family leader, Susan Runge, and with the spiritual help of Father Steven that our family was able to put the pieces together and move on to be in a better place today. We will forever be grateful.
On the other hand, my daughter was not the only one who learned a lot in the process. When my daughter was away from us, we were able–under the guidance of the school, the 12-step program and the support of the staff and other families–to change the family dynamics and our individual behaviors and to rebuild a stronger family.
As I said before, it was not an easy process and we did not always agree with the school; but we were willing to be open to discuss the reasons for the decisions taken at the school and to accept that she needed more discipline that we were able to give. We had been back at the school for visits 3-4 times after graduation, July last year was our last visit.
Let me express my eternal gratitude for the work done by The Family School, her family leader and the staff in Family 7, and Father Steven.
Fondly,
H. G.
Safe and cared for...