Thank you so much for your reply @Schooner It is so meaningful for parents to hear from other parents who have been there.
I love your focus on old fashioned parenting. It's amazing how, in the midst of crisis, we can so easily forget the really basic stuff. When I used to work in Drug and Alcohol treatment centres we would talk about 'having the HALTS'. (Hungry, Lonely, Tired, Serious). The idea being if you get too much of any of these, life is really hard to manage. Thankfully, the solutions are pretty simple. Too hungry, eat, too tired, sleep, too lonely, pick up the phone, too serious, do something that makes you laugh. and the best way to avoid it happening is to build it into your routine.
Of course, super easy to say...
You sound like you guys did it really tough. How awesome that your son is feeling better.
I see your insight on what happened with the school counsellor as very helpful for a lot of parents who may be struggling with their school and school counsellor. Some are amazing. And some have a 'school first' approach which is not what a young person needs. Yes, safety is paramount but I have found that approach to see 'risk to self' as something they'd rather not have to manage so, exactly as you experienced, they want to manoeuvre the young person into the hospital which is far from ideal for your son.
I'm so glad you guys found him someone he connects with.
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