PREPARING FOR THE RETURN

After months of hard work, ups and downs, sacrifice, and dedication, the moment of truth has arrived—your teen is coming home. The reunion affects the entire family, and their commitment to the process isn’t over. Your family’s response in the immediate days, weeks, and months following the return is an integral part of the therapeutic process. It’s a time of transition, when all growth and learning is put to the test in the environment that matters most—the home.

Back home, the gains made in treatment must find their natural fit among family, peers, and other social systems. Research shows that these “natural systems” of influence more directly impact the teen’s behavioral outcome, in the long-run, than the actual gains made in treatment. Until now, there were few, if any, intensive aftercare programs that dealt directly with the known causes of behavioral relapse. Past aftercare efforts typically focused on additional, but less intense, treatment for the teen. They have not focused on remolding these systems to be more conducive to positive behavior. Subsequently, the parents and the teen were left to improve and manage these systems, themselves, with inadequate support and resources in a very short and highly critical period of time. As well, most parents discovered that they had insufficient experience in assisting a teen transition behavioral progress into everyday environments.

FINISHING WHAT WAS STARTED

At Homeward Bound, we have developed a unique, comprehensive model of aftercare services that provides the therapeutic elements necessary for long-term success after discharge from wilderness therapy or residential treatment. Our approach deals specifically with the problem of behavioral relapse at home—in the home—helping teens and families complete their journey in the real world.

We invite you to bring positive closure to your family’s therapeutic journey with our integrate system of accountability, training, support, and coordination. Increase your teen’s chances of bringing progress home—for good—by establishing healthy environments with Homeward Bound’s intensive aftercare programs.