Has anyone had experience with residential treatment facilities for their child?

Jane - posted on 10/13/2011

My son, also adopted, probably would not be alive if it weren't for residential treatment. He went for the first time at age 7 because he tried to kill himself and he was hallucinating. He went again at age 9 also for attempted suicide, and then several more times for hallucinating, violent behavior, and self-injury. His meds had to be adjusted a number of times when he was small, and his diagnoses were fine-tuned.

The private RTCs were very helpful. The state-run one (we only went to it once) was simply a warehouse that kept him safe and gave us a break but did not make any advances.

The longest stay was for 5 months at a place called Meridell here in Texas, where they have a neuropsych unit. They were able to run tests that pinpointed the areas of his brain that were not normal, which helped everyone learn better how to avoid his triggers, including himself. It also gave us reports that we could use to get the school system to help him instead of fighting us.

Overall, I think his time in residential treatment has been vital. He would have killed himself long ago without it. Even now that he is 17 and being a major pain in the butt we can see him using some of the skills he learned to keep himself from going too far off track.

Please note that he is far from perfect. There are days when he is a very angry and unpleasant person, and days when he refuses to take his medicines. But he is alive and he is physically healthy. His diagnoses include ADHD, ODD, and Early Onset Bipolar Disorder, and he also has problems with attachment, especially towards me. His IQ is fine and he has no official learning disabilities, but he really only does well in situations that don't involve book learning, so he is currently learning to weld through an arrangement between his high school and a local vo. tech. school.

Recently we also have gotten back in touch with his birth father's family and that has helped him feel more comfortable with who he is, although it has also given him what he thinks is "ammunition" that he can use to hurt me.

After his stints in treatment, my son now realizes that there can be a time when he needs something that family cannot supply. He doesn't like the idea of going back to treatment but won't reject it completely out of hand. He shows signs of how great a kid he really is and we have hope for his future.

I am a great believer in the right residential treatment program, but I know that one stint will not be enough. It is an ongoing process.