After Friday’s drama, I swore that Son#1 would not be going back to that place if I had anything to say over the matter. I was seriously pissed at them!
Anyway, I took him to see his psychiatrist (Shrink Man) on Monday morning and explained what had happened and put forward my plan to contain and keep Son#1 safe until we could agree on the best way forward. Shrink Man was somewhat shocked at my story but agreed with what I had proposed. He also said that he wanted to call the clinic to get their side of things and get back to me.
So he phoned me back a few hours later after he’d spoken to them and said that although he wasn’t at all happy with the way Son#1 was handled, he thought it would be a good idea for my boy to go back there yesterday for few hours to “wrap things up” with them.
Mmk. No harm in that I guess, if Son#1 was willing … actually, I thought it was rather a good plan ‘cos Son#1 was feeling very lost and I didn’t want him to give up on himself just because somebody else had behaved like a complete pratt. I agreed with Shrink Man that it would be beneficial for Son#1 to get some kind of closure from the clinic. But I left the decision up to my boy, I was NOT going to push him around and make him feel like an emotional pinball, thought he’d had enough of being bullied for a while.
But he decided to go!
And that’s where he was yesterday – at the clinic, sorting stuff out with them. I am SO proud of him. That took some serious balls!! He put his hurt and stubborn pride aside and took a GIGANTIC step forward … for himself, by himself.
So now, the plan is that he’ll be there until the weekend as a day patient and then he’ll attend their After Care on Wednesday afternoons. (It means I have to carry the extra cost, but the X has promised to pay me back for everything I’ve paid thus far in December.) There are also rumblings about another Family Session, probably for next week. Urgh … not too sure what to think about that.
Son#1 will carry on seeing Shrink Man twice a week, stay in touch with his sponsor and go to at least 2 NA meetings a week too. I’m also going to make sure he gets to the gym regularly from next week so he can build his fitness up again.
School-wise, he’s not ready to go back yet, not for at least a week, but in the meantime we are organizing for tutors to come in to help him catch up on all the work he’s missed and make sure he has a solid grounding for Term 4 at school.
So that’s it! Not all bad I reckon?
This is true, yes … I’m not going to give them all the credit though. In my opinion, Son#1’s exposure to and interaction with others facing similar life situations – particularly young people who have already overcome great difficulties and are therefore a source of enormous inspiration – has done more for him than any “formal” counseling has.
“Wow, he’s come a long way!”
So they must have been doing something right at the Clinic?? even if we have not understood or agreed with many things they did and did not do.
Yeah, he’s really handling things well at the moment. Wow, he’s come a long way!
wow, you’re right. that took serious ballz so well done to him! Well done 🙂 🙂 🙂
@Dad – Thank you! And I am so impressed with him, he really showed me just how much damn character he’s got 🙂
To both of you all I can say is “Well Done”. It must have taken a huge amount of courage on Son#1’s part to go back there after all the bull he had endured from them
I am really so proud of you guys and, as stated before, support you all the way.
Thanks Saul 🙂
Aaah yes, my fellow Jeff Buckley fan!! I reckon anyone who loves him would *probably* land up having quite similar tastes in music hey?
Nice work guys! Go Son #1
As an aside, your Last.FM playlist looks almost exactly like my iTunes playlist 😛
@SheBee and @Glugster … yes, FINALLY!! It really *does* feel like the shift is real and that our hard work is starting to pay off.
We just need to keep our heads, stay focused, positive and strong now. Mmk, perhaps a little easier said than done when the shit hits the fan, but we’ve got support of the most awesome kind these days 🙂
Thank you EVERYBODY.
xxx
No all bad at all! I’m so glad things are finally looking up. Well done!
Oh yay! You guys have done so well through this whole saga, and I’m happy that you’re both getting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, finally 🙂