Family Program
PDFChildren’s limiting emotional beliefs and destructive behavioral habits exist within the context of the family and often indicate a breakdown in cohesion and trust among members. In order for treatment to be most effective and sustained, we believe that healing and change within the entire family is crucial. Applying a systems perspective, we involve families in our program utilizing a variety of activities and approaches.
Our unique two-day parent workshops, created by a doctoral level therapist, are offered mid-program and are designed to stimulate parental awareness towards making changes in how they understand and relate to their child. These engaging workshops provide a safe environment for parents to learn new communication and parenting skills, share their personal struggles and successes, and connect to their child’s experiences at SUWS of the Carolinas. Genograms, experiential activities, intentional communication techniques, and a parenting styles assessment are among the approaches used at the workshops.
Integral aspects of parental involvement at SUWS of the Carolinas are weekly phone calls with their child’s therapist and the exchange of letters with their child. In the weekly calls therapists provide updates on a child’s progress, direct treatment planning, address relevant family dynamics, and give recommendations and support for continuing care once a child completes the program. Weekly letters are also discussed on these calls and they are used to promote open and effective communication between parent and child.
Parents have 24/7 access to our Parent Check-In website to keep them informed about their child’s progress through weekly pictures and updates. Also offered on Parent Check-In is a message board that allows parents to discuss the program process, ask questions, post recommended books and resources, and learn about relevant topics guided by a therapist moderator. To further support and involve parents, an extensive Parent Handbook and Parenting CD’s are also provided. The Handbook, available on Parent Check-In, guides parents through the process and gives them an in-depth look at our wilderness program: our philosophy and clinical approach, stages of the program, and a typical day for students, while the CD’s offer practical lessons on a variety of parenting issues..
Trail’s End is the culminating experience for families at SUWS of the Carolinas. Upon graduation, parents attend a one-day seminar designed to prepare them for a successful reunion with their child and transition into their continuing care plan. Then families spend two days together in the field reconnecting, practicing new ways of interacting, and celebrating the child’s accomplishments during their journey at SUWS of the Carolinas.
Brooke Judkins, Ph.D
Family Program Manager
Brooke manages the clinical family services at SUWS of the Carolinas. She moderates the online parent message boards, leads the Trail’s End parent meeting, and facilitates parent workshops. Brooke is excited to be part of the expansion of family services at SUWS of the Carolinas. Trained using a “systems” perspective, Brooke believes that the most long-lasting and successful treatment outcomes occur when both parents and children make effective changes in how they relate to each other. Brooke completed her doctorate in Child & Family Studies in 2004 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she also obtained a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling. She was introduced to wilderness in 2007 as a field supervisor working with adolescent girls at SUWS of the Carolinas. Prior to wilderness Brooke was a professor of Child & Family Studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she taught courses on child & adolescent development and family relations. Her experience has also involved therapy with individuals, couples, and families in psychiatric and private practice settings. In her free time, Brooke enjoys contradancing, gardening, and making tile mosaics.