The first 72 hours will be the most difficult to navigate. This is when you can expect to receive the most requests to leave and heightened emotional state from your teen. Please know that this is normal and expected the first few days. It can leave you feeling drained, guilty, angry, confused, and questioning your decision. Again, this is all normal. Your family therapist, clinical mentor, program manager and executive director are all available to support you through this phase.
Your teen is allowed to make phone calls in their first 24 hours and daily after that. You are welcome to let us know if you need some time before speaking to your teen and we can support them until you are ready for your first call. There will be a team member next to your teen during their calls to monitor and provide assistance if the call becomes intensified. If the call does get to a certain level of escalation, we might step in and ask the call is ended. In this incidence, a team member will immediately follow up with you to check in and provide support.
The first 72 hours of your teen’s time at Mission Prep will include an acclimation phase where they have team members guiding them through their daily schedule and available to answer any questions they have. They will be asked to attend academics, groups, meals and activities during this time and will be given any additional support as they build comfort in their environment.
Your teen will be engaging in a number of assessments with their therapist, psychiatric team, clinical psychologist and medical team. We recognize this may feel invasive and are accommodating to their individual needs during this information-gathering process.
We hope that your teen will be settling into their routine by the end of the first week and starting to find enjoyment and experiencing progress.
Many times your teen will make multiple attempts to get you to take them out of residential care. Following are a list of possible statements and verbiage you can use to validate them and redirect the conversation.
“I know you don’t want to be there. I am open to hearing about how angry/upset you are with me right now AND I am not changing my mind.”
“You can be angry with me/us but you may not call me/us names. If this continues I am going to hang up and we can try to call again later in the day or tomorrow.”
“It sounds like there are alot of things you don’t like about Mission Prep. Why don’t you make a list and we can spend a few minutes in our next session going through them. You can even mail them to me so I have time to review them before we meet.”
“Are you planning on using the entire time to express your frustrations/objections to the program? If so, I’ll plan on being a listener in this conversation.”
**Please note, it is not helpful to remind them all of the behaviors or incidents that lead them to being in a residential environment. This will most likely increase the escalation.
You may end the call at any point and reschedule for another time.
You will be contacted via email within the first few hours of admission from either the program manager or lead community coordinator. In the case of an after hours admission, you will be emailed the next morning. We will let you know general information about how your teen is settling in, any activities they have engaged in and other notable observations.
The first 48 hours:
You will be contacted by the medical and psychiatric teams to introduce themselves and answer any questions.
You will be contacted by the nursing team via email or phone call to introduce themselves and provide time for any questions you may have.
You will be contacted by your family therapist via email to introduce themselves and to set up the first family session.
Week one:
You will be contacted by your teen’s clinical mentor via phone or email to provide you with updates and answer any questions. They will continue to contact you on a weekly basis.
Weekly:
You will be receiving weekly updates by your teens clinical team via email.
Your teen will have an approved contact list of people they will be able to contact daily or weekly.
Your teen will be allowed to call you daily for an average of 5-10 minutes. You can request specific times they call each day or a range of times that are convenient for you. If you miss the call, please contact the house cell phone and request another call. Calls are placed earlier in the day in order to provide MP teens with adequate time to process any emotions that may arise during these calls.
Letters
Your teen is allowed to receive letters from anyone on their approved contact list. There is no limit to the number of letters they are allowed to send or receive from people on their approved list.
Packages
Your teen may also receive packages from anyone on their approved contact list. Please note they are not allowed to receive food, sharp objects, or valuables.
Your teen will have an approved contact list of people they will be able to contact daily or weekly.
Your teen will be allowed to call you daily for an average of 5-10 minutes. You can request specific times they call each day or a range of times that are convenient for you. If you miss the call, please contact the house cell phone and request another call. Calls are placed earlier in the day in order to provide MP teens with adequate time to process any emotions that may arise during these calls.
Letters
Your teen is allowed to receive letters from anyone on their approved contact list. There is no limit to the number of letters they are allowed to send or receive from people on their approved list.
Packages
Your teen may also receive packages from anyone on their approved contact list. Please note they are not allowed to receive food, sharp objects, or valuables.
Each day your teen will wake up and begin engaging in activities and groups by 8am. They will participate in 3 hours of schooling a day and a minimum of 4 hours of therapeutic groups. In addition to schooling and group activities, they will have individual and family therapy sessions. Your teen will also have daily movement including personal training, yoga, hiking, nature walks and boxing. They will be provided opportunities each day for free time and relaxation. The communities eat lunch and dinner together, which is made fresh by the chef each weekday. On the weekends they will either eat out or practice making meals they prepared during a cooking lesson with the chef earlier in the week.
Weekends at Mission Prep have a different cadence and pace, while still providing a number of therapeutic and group experiences. Your teen will continue to have a minimum of four hours of clinical groups each day. They will also have an offsite outing and an in-house movie night each weekend.
Families are encouraged to visit every Sunday from 3-5pm either onsite or remotely. You will be supported by the Mission Prep team during visitation. Your teen will remain on the premises during their first week at Mission Prep. After that, they may request a family outing during the visitation time slot. Please note, if anyone exhibits violent behaviors, appears intoxicated, becomes escalated and is unable to self-regulate, or is disrespectful to the Mission Prep team or other residents, they will be asked to leave the facility immediately.
You will be encouraged to participate in family sessions with your teen and family therapists on a weekly basis. This will be scheduled with your family therapist on days and times that are convenient for you.
We recognize how busy your lives are and how much time and energy has already been used leading up to coming to Mission Prep. We also believe in the importance of growth for the entire family system. Therefore, we have partnered with The Parallel Process developed by Krissy Pozatck, LCSW to provide a 30 day E-course for each family. This course will provide you with new information, help to develop insights, build on communication skills and create resources that can be used well beyond your time with Mission Prep. The information from this course will also be used in the bi-weekly family program offered onsite at the houses every other week. We will have time to discuss the content you explored and focus on the key concepts you hope to strengthen in your time with us.
On-site and remote family programming will be offered every other Saturday. We will provide you with an updated list of dates you are invited to attend.
