Parent Choices For Struggling Teens

Doug Nelson, 801-380-5677, dougnelson1950@gmail.com, an early pioneer in developing what became Wilderness Therapy programs, described his experiences in the 1970's and later in developing some of the early influential wilderness programs for adolescents. He founded Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) and Wilderness Academy which evolved into Aspen Health Services, while working as a professor at Bringham Young University.

Detective Rich Wistocki, 630-461-0044, richwistocki@besureconsulting.com, besureconsulting.com, talks about the communication between teens that can facilitate drug use or other harmful activities. He emphasizes the need for parents properly monitoring their teens on social networks and digital devices, and specific programs parents can use to allow them to know exactly what their children are doing on their digital devices. He emphasized the dangers, such as the new threat of sexting having evolved to sextortion.

Kristen Tillona, ktillona@berkshirehills.org, Director of Admissions and Karen Carreira, kcarreira@berkshirehills.org, Director of Music and Vocational programs, Berkshire Hills Music Academy-MA, 413-540-9720 x 202, berkshirehills.org, explain the powerful impact music has on people, and how music can be used as the glue for a therapeutic program helping young people with problems learn to have good social relationships, self-confidence, and leadership.

Julia Steiny, 401-421-6238, JuliaSteiny@youthretorationproject.org, YouthRestorationProject.org, residing in Rhode Island, writer and education consultant takes a concept that has evolved out of ancient techniques of council circles and currently called Youth Restoration. She is the director of the Youth Restoration Project in Rhode Island which teaches schools and parents to substitute the common practice of punishment with teaching kids how to engage in the life of the community and away from external control to internal self control.

Ben Robinson, brobinson@rosehillcenter.org, and Cheryl Wallace, cwallace@rosehillcenter.org, President and Vice-President of Rose Hill Center-MI, 248-634-5530, a mental health treatment center, describe what a parent can do when their young adult child shows signs of a serious mental health disorder, the different types of professional interventions parents might choose, and how successful the interventions can be.

Dan Kirschenbaum PhD, 404-343-0799, dkirschenbaum@wellspringweightloss.com, wellspringweightloss.com, explained why child and adolescent obesity is now being called a disease and epidemic, what the medical consequences can be and what are the responsible ways of preventing or intervening that are based on science rather than fads.

Ken Huey, 877-879-2256, ken@caloteens.com, caloteens.com, explains how and why golden Retriever dogs are effective in residential treatment for children with attachment problems, and especially those who are adopted.

Fred Goodall, fjgoodall@mochadad.com, mochadad.com, parenting expert living in Houston, TX, talked about the traits that real men have, as opposed to some of the negative stereotypes that are all too common of bungling, clueless adult men who need a women to save them from themselves. The summary of all the traits he talks about is a real man is a real dad.

Jayne Selby-Longnecker, 800-474-4848, jselby@benchmarkyas.com, www.benchmarktransitions.com, Founder, Ex. Dir. and CEO of Benchmark Transitions in California explained how the problems of young adults (18-25) are increasiing, why that seems to be happening, and what parents can do to prevent or intervene to help their young adult children.

Tricia Powe 951-313-1984, TPowe@stepfamilysystems.org, stepfamilysystems.org, Ex. Dir. of Stepfamily Systems Co-parenting Center, describes the various types of step and blended families, the myths about them and how step-families often don't measure up to the often unrealistic ideals of the 1970s TV series "The Brady Bunch" and what is needed to have a successful blended family.

Randy Russell, 509-671-1598, randy@innerpathworks.com, innerpathworks.com, empoweringyoungadults.com, Co-founder of Soulful Passages and Innerpathworks talks about different times in life where the question of Who Am I? becomes important in helping the person successfully grow to the next stage in life. One of the results of our society doing a poor job of facilitating those passages are adults who see no meaning in life and with no purpose in life and still in the adolescent stage.

Lisa Hester, 208-267-7522 x3022, Director of Student Life at Boulder Creek Academy, Idaho, bouldercreekacademy.com, talks about how adding restorative Justice Circles concept last year transformed their whole school to create better emotional safety and a respectful procedure to develop a cooperative culture and effectively with dignity handle incidents of real or perceived bullying and other potential conflicts.

Hellen Chen, matchmakerchen@gmail.com, matchmakerofthecentury.com, (phone through agent Yin Chen 323-842-3108) facilitator of workshops internationally on topics related to marriage and family matters and author of The Matchmaker of the Century. She talks about how parents can create a marriage balanced between work, family and relationships. In raising emotionally healthy children, she explains the importance of being sure to talk with them honestly frequently and with no real secrets, really listening to them and take their concerns seriously, and the need to work at building a healthy relationship with their spouse. She observes that children of parents with unbalanced marriages all too often grow up into unbalanced young people.

Ken Rabow, 416-633-4333, ken@reallifecoaching.ca, reallivecoaching.ca, Life Success Coach in Toronto Canada and author of The Slackers Guide to Success (Available on Amazon.com). Ken talked about some of the problems Generation Y young adults are having in learning how to find success. His book and his practice emphasizes that in order to have a successful life a person has to first believe in themselves, and then expands that to a step by step process a person can do to change their thinking to believing in themselves.

Bill Lane, President and Founder of Bill Lane and Associates Transports, 858-488-7904, bill-lane@sbcglobal.net, billlaneandassociates.com, and past President of the CEDU School in California talked about his 40 years working with young people with problems and their families. Most of the conversation was about all that goes into a safe, smooth, professional and caring transport to a program so that the child, parents and family feel good about the process.

Dr. Ryan Anderson, Asst. Clinical Director for Outback Therapeutic Expedition, Utah, 801-766-3933, randerson@outbacktreatment.com, www.outbacktreatment.com, talked about the increasing academic pressure in high school and college, resulting in numerous shortcuts such as cheating, abuse of Ritalin, adderall etc. One of the most dangerous of these is adderall abuse which gives high energy to help in studies, but also to party and over time might result in dangerous side effects of tremendous fatigue, depression, possible suicide attempts and permanent negative changes to the brain resulting in personality changes.

Betsy Hill, 312-239-2677, bhill@learningenhancement.com, mybrainware.com, President and COO of Learning Enhancement Corporation, Chicago, explained the elements necessary for a successful educational software like their Brainware Safari are something that integrates most mental activities in the play, is fun to play, and is based on solid scientific research. Although everything we learn, like walking, talking, etc. is the result of training the brain, she has a more narrow working definition of combining fun software with specific measurable brain function improvements.

Dr. Blondel Senior PhD, 423-336-5052, development@adventhome.org, adventhome.org, Founder and Executive Director of Advent Home Learning Center, Tennessee, explains what composes a Christian School for Struggling Teens as opposed to a secular therapeutic boarding school. He adds that they do values teaching which is based on a biblical basis ass an important healing component which are also generally the same values advanced by secular boarding schools and our society.

Joe Gauld, 207-443-7114, jgauld@hyde.edu, hyde.edu, Founder of Hyde School, an author, and a pioneer in alternative education, reminisces about how he founded Hyde School in 1996 in Bath Maine. He describes the tough years and the good years in founding this school with a unique focus, character education which he found to not only better prepare the students for life, but also how that improved their academic achievements. He outlines the challenges he had to overcome which are the same challenges that still have to be met for anybody wanting to establish a new school, whether a therapeutic boarding school, emotional growth school, or a mainstream academic school.

Mark Vander Ley, Blogger at parentingboysraisingmen.com, mvanderley@parentingboysraisingmen.com, Clinical Supervisor at Chaddock School in Qunicy, IL, and author of two ebooks available on amazon.com - "Stuff Dads Say" and "Parenting Peace." Starting with outlining the problems boys and men face in today's society, he explained how Christianity provides a model for growing boys into men with positive relationships and discipline while avoiding punishment.