Former Patients

Here are just a few brief excerpts of letters from families and former patients. You can get a better perspective by viewing our DVD.Ü All letters are real; all names are fictitious.Ü Spelling and puctuation is as written by parents and former patients.

Long Ago: Hi there! I left in 1981. What a wonderful place! Last night during dinner I remembered a time when I accidentally dropped a big watermelon and it splattered all over the place My son asked me, ?Dad, did you get into trouble?? I laughed and said ?no, of course not!? You dont get into trouble you just get help and love. I had the support and encouragement to work through my problems and everyone truly cared for me. What a fantastic change to my life. I moved to New Zealand 22 years ago. We have 5 children. Thank you to all and I sure hope to visit you all one day soon.

Long Ago:† Just wanted to say thank you to all of the staff at Meridell for helping me in my time of struggle. I was there sometime around 2006, and stayed there for about 5 months… 5 years or so later, I’m now a proud member of the United States Army, currently deployed overseas in South Korea.

Long Ago: I am a former patient, I was in Bunk House. I was placed there twice once when I was 15 and then again when i was 16. I learned a lot when i was there and still have very fond memories of the staff and some of the girls. One nurse in particular changed my life. Mr. Stu. He made me laugh a great deal when there was not a lot of humor in my life. I am now 22 and am happily married with 2 children. I still remember the jokes Mr. Stu used to tell me =). Meridell changed who I was when i was there. It gave me a safe place to live when I did not feel safe at home. Thank you very much…Love S††††††††††††

(Meridell note: Mr. Stu passed away in 2011.† Many Bunk House patients have said “Mr. Stu changed my life.”)

La Casa Parent: Dearest Mr. David: ?Will? has conflicted a bit with his new therapist, who has a very different approach than yours, but I also believe that is resolving. My sincerest hope for ?Will? in this situation is to remember that his therapy happens within HIMSELF, and circumstances will change for the rest of his life, so he will need to remember the things he has learned and continue to apply them. I consider your work with ?Will? to be a turning point for him. It was under your care that he learned that there can be ?good? therapy and that guidance and structure can change people. He had his first positive experience in the past 5 years with you, and he recognized that he could get better, and he could simply feel better. I saw some of my beloved son return, and his dad began the journey of connecting with ?Will? and of building a positive relationship with him.

La Casa Parent: : ?Ted? has matured a great deal and looks at his experience there as a life-saving event. He is doing well in school, will most likely graduate early. He is working at the Subway mostly weekends. He stays pretty close to home, and we keep very close tabs on him. He has not reconnected with the old friends. Every now and then he has a bad day, but is good about communication and the whole family has benefited from the skills and thinking errors he learned. He continues with therapy and spends lots of time playing basketball.

La Casa Parent: This letter is long overdue. You were the first adult, except for family members, that ?Sam? came to trust and respect. The three months that you treated him yielded a greater benefit than the previous ten years of psychologist visits and hospitalizations. And he treats Dr. ?S? with an entirely new attitude and actually confides in him. ?Sam? still struggles with many of his more serious problems, but the change that we witnessed at Meridell is largely intact. His last report card consisted of six As and one B (geography). His teachers are amazed at the change in his attitude. He participates in class, asks questions, largely without complaint. We are deeply grateful for the effort you invested in ?Sam?, for giving him the opportunity to see negative aspects of his behavior, and for giving him the tools to cope with them. Again, thank you so much for your unique ability to instill in ?Sam? the belief that he is a good person, and that he should like himself and treat himself in a way that maintains that positive feeling.

Bunk House Parent: Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Everyone at Meridell has played a significant role in helping ?Meagan? achieve her goals. The straight forward, no nonsense approach has been very effective. On our first visit, we asked you if you were going to change her medication. You responded that you did not know. You stated that your team was first going to test ?Meagan,? then diagnose her, then treat her. After she has accepted and received the treatment, you stated that she would practice what you have taught her. Your staff followed this format to perfection. ?Meagan? is a different person than the one we dropped off a couple of months ago. We know that she worked hard, your staff worked hard, and she eventually embraced the process. She has learned a lot during her stay. We realize that our work has just begun and we are somewhat frightened. But we also know that you have equipped both ?Meagan? and us with the tools to be successful. ?Meagan? has the coping skills to be safe. She has had a major attitude adjustment with her sense of entitlement. I believe that one of the most beneficial aspects of her treatment was the level at which you allowed us to participate. We were kept well informed of her progress as well as any changes in her meds or treatment. You are changing lives one girl at a time. May God bless you.

Bunk House Parent : Without this program I dont think I would have my daughter in my life. The program has given her and our family a new perspective on life. ?Ellie? is doing 85% better than before and I could not ask for a better team of professionals to care for her.

Bunk House Patient: The road has not been easy and I still have struggles to overcome everyday. But it has been worth it in the end. A year and a half ago I never would have thought that I would be going to college or actually spending time with my family. Most of all, I did not think that I would be happy and content with myself. During my stay at Meridell, I was very closed down and for the most part was not willing to hear what anybody had to say. It did not take me too long to regret that I did not listen to the advice I was given. Thank you for being persistent and not giving up. Even now, I still think about some of the suggestions and guidance that was given to me. Perhaps you could relay this letter to the girls who are currently at Bunk House. Let them know that there is living proof that in the end (if you work at it) things will get better.

Bunk House Patient: To whomever is in this room next: Good luck and dont forget the most important thing about coming to Meridell Work your treatment!! Listen to life skills. They will mean something later on, trust me. If you are asked why you are here, tell the truth! You obviously got here for more than one thing. I know I did. Bring up your issues. Youre probably thinking that you have no problems; think again. The sooner you get involved with your treatment, the quicker you can leave. Ms. Amy is an amazing therapist. In her group be honest because she certainly will be with you. Shes real and you better be real with her because I guarantee she wont like it if you fake. Make sure your room is clean, get your towels into the barrel, do your chores before breakfast. Otherwise youll eat on the unit. Do your school work. One of the most important aspects of your treatment is your school. If youre focused in school then that means youre more likely to be focused in your treatment. You can talk to Dr. Riedel about anything and everything, how youre feeling, what youre thinking. Hell be a good person to have insightful conversations with. He and whichever therapist you get are your biggest allies ú well actually most staff is. Dont fight your treatment, work your treatment. Good luck. Get going. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE! Meridell can work miracles as long as youre willing to accept them and accept yourself.

Ranch House Parent

Hi Carolyn! (Meridell Therapist)

XXXXXXX (Ranch House girl) is getting along as well as can be expected.† We’ve come across a couple of bumps in the road, but what I am grateful for is how we
managed to get through and end up better for it.

XXXXXXXXX goes to school every morning from 0800-1200 (GED Classes);
classes are over Mar 4th.† She will test sometime in April.† She goes to
work every day, and was managing her money better in the beginning.† She
managed to save over $1,000, so maybe she thinks it’s ok to spend and
enjoy vs. saving so much.† We’re allowing her to make those decisions.

Unfortunately, no matter where she goes, she runs into kids who use
marijuana.† She admitted to using prior to one of her PTests; however,
came up clean the next PTest. (We are so proud of her when the next
PTest was negative).† We’re pending the result of another PTest—-she
believes it will be clean.†† Not sure if she is completely honest about
number of times she has used; but we talk about what caused her to “give
in” the times that she did give in.† She basically felt peer pressure
and felt if she didn’t she wouldn’t be cool.† We asked her to focus on
the times she says “NO” and to remember to tap into that strength
everytime.†† Her strategy is to avoid those certain individuals as much
as possible.† We applaud her for her efforts….Dr. XXXXXX reminds her the
slop is slippery and steep and not to make excuses, because if she is
not careful the slip could take her from top to bottom quickly.

She seems to be maturing….but she reminds us she isn’t quite there
every now and then.† We try not to over-react as we did in the past,
there is less drama that way.† WE don’t dwell on mistakes, but instead
praise the progress.† It is an everyday awareness for us as her parents.
When she comes home at the end of the day, she’s too tired to go out.
Maybe once the weather changes, it remains to be seen.

She has been out a couple of times, but she gets in enough socializing
at work.† She does speak with and text XXXXXXX.† They ran into each other
once and exchanged phone numbers in Dec.† So far she claims she does not
want the same relationship, but she does communicate with him.† He is on
the WEST side of town during the day and she is with us on the EAST
side.† By the time she gets home after 6 pm she doesn’t leave home.† She
works half days on SAT and SUN on the Eastside….so as far as we know
they’ve only seen each other the one time they ran into each other in
Dec.† We don’t fight with her about communicating on the phone with him.
She claims the relationship is different—-we don’t like that she
speaks with him, but not worth putting up a fight.† Dr. XXXXXX lectures
her about the risks of reestablishing that relationship.

I give KUDOS to MAC for teaching XXXXX better communications skills, it
helps us keep calmer during our discussions.† In the past we would reach
points of high frustration and no return.† She still gets angry, but
seems to deal with it and calms herself down more often than not.

She is still on trileptol; lexapro; vyvanse….it seems to be a stable
mix.† Dr. XXXXXX is looking at stepping down the trileptol over the next
few months.† She wants to continue on vyvanse, she seems to notice the
difference in the classroom when she is on the vyvanse.

I told her you sent me a note.† She seemed happy to know ya’ll care
enough to follow-up.† I asked her to think about what feedback she could
provide MAC both on what to sustain/improve from her perspective. She
will think about it and I we’ll send you a note next week.† We have a 3
day weekend so sometime after Tues you will hear from us again.

Sincerely, (Mother)

Ranch House†Patient (Daughter of mother, above):

Hey, Carolyn! (Meridell Therapist)

KEEP UP:

The care, concern, compassion and listening.† The staff is AWESOME!† I
truly believed they cared about me and it made it easier for me to open
up.† They made me feel like I was unique, even though there are many† of
us with the same type issues.

I learned a lot about how to have empathy, that’s important in
understanding the point of view of parents.

IMPROVE:

For the older girls (17 yrs), give advice about the real world, ie;
managing money. It’s not easy to find jobs if you don’t finish high
school. It can be overwhelming. They need to realize, life isn’t
over….don’t hold on to regrets.† Let go of regrets.† Learn to forgive
yourself even though you feel ashamed and guilty for the things you did
that landed you in MAC.

For the younger girls (14yrs)….emphasize how much harder it is trying
to finish school with a GED than if they just stick with it and finish
high school.

Help them understand the intense treatment of medicine….and help them
learn to trust that MAC knows what they are doing.

Hi to the staff!† Thanks for all you did to help me!† I’m still working
on myself, but I learned a lot from MAC.

Jewels Patient: Thank you Ms. Jayne for helping me work my treatment and being an awesome therapist. I love my new home and am managing my anger and using my coping skills. I am also happy that I have freedom for once and I have more privileges.

Jewels Patient: Thanks for everything youve done for me. Ive learned a lot. And Im going to use everything Ive learned. After I went to juvenile detention and to Meridell I thought it was stupid that I couldnt just go home and after about 2 weeks I realized that I had a lot of issues so I thank you all for helping and supporting me. You guys are all amazing people. Ill never forget you.

Jewels Parent: I see ?Amber? making wiser choices with friendships and relationships much more today than even six months ago. The key difference in her since discharge has been that shes able to process. She can process when shes in trouble with a relationship, her emotions, her grades, and learn new ways to cope. It may still take her many more attempts to get it right, but she gets it! Its a blessing every day to watch. Shes even able to say when things will be overwhelming for her and set limits and boundaries. I think that is a miracle. We are so glad to have our ?Amber? acting like a teen. Our friends think we are crazy. If they only knew! Its something I always prayed for ú regular developmental milestones!

Eagles Parent: We cant thank the entire staff enough for everything they have done for my son. My husband and I were very nervous about sending our son so far from home. We felt that he was definitely in a safe place and surrounded by professionals who really cared. We will be forever grateful.

Eagles Parent: I dont even know where to begin. I was an extremely skeptical mom when I dropped my son off, and my only motivation for keeping him here was because we were out of options. You quickly made me see that there was hope for our family and encouraged us to have faith. You have given ?Andy? the skills to empower himself for a lifetime. The progress we have seen and heard in our conversations with ?Andy? is something we could never have dreamed. We sent him to Meridell specifically to stabilize him on medication, and boy were we na??ve to think it was that simple. You took a child that was broken and lost and you made him whole again and gave him direction.

†

Eagles Parent: I was really worried we were at a point where ?Carl? was giving up on himself and his future. There is nothing more difficult for a parent than to see your child struggling, and to realize that you cant just ?love them? enough to fix them. My original impression was that I was sending him to the ?looney bin;? no insult intended. Your warm mannerisms confirmed that he would be safe and only his best interests were the main goal. I still have a hard time realizing that his life is so complicated; I still have a difficult time verbalizing his true diagnosis to people who ask. I still realize the road ahead is long and curvy and only time will tell. I do, however, feel confident that we FINALLY know what the main problems are and how to address them; more importantly, how to teach him how to deal with them. I hope that ?Carl? will continue to move forward rather than block his open path. I do realize there will be times when he will slip, but I want him to be able to get up, brush himself off and move on. There was a time that I thought this day would never come. A million heartfelt thanks! I am happy to have MY ?Carl? coming home again.

Falcons Parent: I just wanted to let you know that ?Charlie? is doing remarkably well. ?Charlie? is able to control his anger and know when the triggers are coming on. We have not had any escalating problems at home and thats a big step for him and us. Since coming home he has been able to think about things and make good decisions. It feels great to have our son back. I just wanted to say ?Thank You? to Dr. Hageman and Mr. Tallman and the Falcons staff for not giving up on our son. I know it was challenging at times but it was worth it and I truly thank you.

Falcons Parent: ?Tim? is doing very well. I have been in ?Tims? life for almost 4 years and the ?Tim? who came home in July is someone I had never met.

Falcons Parent: It is one year today since ?Rick? was discharged from Meridell. He is attending school regularly and is very willing to take his medication. ?Rick? has made a complete turnaround in his life since his return home. He still has his moments of stubbornness and occasional defiance, and when push comes to shove (figuratively, of course) he will comply with our wishes. I know for a fact that ?Ricks? life was quite literally saved as a result of his time spent at Meridell. As painful as it was for all of us, we wouldnt change a thing if asked to do it all over again.

Falcons Parent: ?Mark? is still at home and doing well. He is passing all of his classes. I had a chance to share with the judge in Wyoming my extreme appreciation of all the time and resources given to ?Mark.? I am so thankful that you did not let him slip away. I know things arent perfect and ?Mark? has a lifetime of hard ahead of him but in the big picture of it all we got our son back. We got a second chance with him and have him on the right path for now.

Hacienda Parent: I just had to share this with you. ?Gail? is doing so well that none of us can believe it. She continues to use her coping skills and many times works on helping other children. Last week she invited another student on her coping skills walk. (?Gail? is allowed to take a walk around the school each day for a few minutes with an aide). I could go on and on. I really just wanted you to know how appreciative I am for all of your time and care with ?Gail?. You gave me back a new child! Please share this with Dr. Kroll too. Without the both of you we would be in a very different place.

Hacienda Parent: ?Trish? is doing beautifully at home and in school. She is back to the regular classroom and has had no major episodes of aggression this school year. All issues have been typical 9-10 year old behavioral and easily managed. We maintain a schedule and boundaries with clear expectations, but she is capable of being much more flexible and handling frustrations in a more proactive manner. I am thrilled and grateful with her progress. A little anxious with puberty close at hand, but we have good resources if we need them.

Hacienda Parent: The short time ?Ken? was at Meridell was the most everyone has been able to do for him. ?Ken? continues to use his coping skills during times of trouble and has learned to communicate those emotions with both me and his dad. He continues to use his stress balls, he continues to use the scale to rate his day and how he felt during certain times of the day. Hes been a great little helper around the house and following through with tasks accomplished! Today was his first day back in school and he described it as being a 10 day! Im confident that hell continue to be successful. Although well see next week when it comes time to do homework.