Let's get with the times...
“Institutions become fossilized because they become more concerned with preservation than with the mission upon which they were founded.” - Former US President
The most common question I get is “what makes Newport Academy different from other treatment centers?” Allow me to answer that in a series of blogs…
Most of the treatment programs out there are stuck in the Stone Age and their treatment modalities are outdated. When I was a teenager, I was sent to a teen treatment center founded in 1949. At first thought, you may think, as did my family, “oh, these people have been around a while, they must be good at what they do.” And they may well have been back in the 50’s compared to the alternatives. Well, in the late 90’s, they were a little behind the times. You see, the traditional 12-step* treatment model suggests that you write all of your problems down on a piece of paper, then share them with another human being (sponsor), ask “god” to remove your problems, and then go about your business… Are you kidding me? No, seriously. So, if you were raped, fondled, molested, assaulted, you have issues over your parents divorce, or your dad beat you as a child, you write this down, tell someone and then it is ok. Sorry, that didn’t work for me. When I went to this very well respected (why? I have no idea) teen treatment center, we sat in co-ed groups all day long and read the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (informative, but not too interesting for a teenager). Seriously, all the groups we had were centered on the Big Book. I met with my counselor (no, not licensed psychotherapist) once each week for about 50 minutes. Other than that, if we made our beds and cleaned our bathrooms, we got to go to the YMCA once a week (yay!). Let me also mention that the facility was represented as “residential” but I will tell you that the accommodations were not much more than that of a hospital (food included, you know, the super high sodium stuff that is so good for you). The facility was co-ed, so yes, there were boys and girls living close enough to each other. Most of the down time was spent wondering how I could get Sally into the closet for one-on-one therapy (can you blame a teenage boy that has been taken out of his comfort zone for wanting a little loving from someone that “understood” where he was coming from?). While I was at this treatment center, my parents were invited to come once for 3.5 days and spent their time with 20 other families watching videos and listening to lectures. I met with my family for a total of an hour (yes, 1 hour of family therapy). How much did this program cost? Around $28,000 for 30 days. Yes, their program was and still is just a 30 day program. As we see in countless studies, 30 days doesn’t really do much in terms of long term effects, as was my case.
So, being a fairly high functioning, athletic, high IQ kid, my first glimpse of sobriety was not a shining one.
More to come…..
*I should clarify by saying that I am a big fan and member of a 12-step program that I attend on a somewhat regular basis. Thanks.
