“Being Good on the Phone”…It’s not what you think!

By Stephen C. Schultz

I was sitting at my desk the other day and a colleague of mine poked his head in the door and said;

“Man…Schultz; you are Good on the Phone.”

I chuckled and said with a smirk;

“Thanks, but just make sure that statement doesn’t get around the office. I don’t need the mockery that will come my way with people hearing that I’m Good on the Phone!”

 

 

That conversation started me thinking. Our organization is in the process of growth and we have been interviewing for therapists as well as admissions directors for a couple of our treatment programs. So, I wondered what that really meant when my colleague said I was Good on the Phone. And, was this a skill set that could be shared.

With over 25 years in the field of Mental Healthcare, I have worked in administration, marketing, clinical services and admissions. I even did a four year stint with an advertizing agency. There are “Sales” Books, CD’s, DVD’s, Seminars, Webinars, Websites and Workbooks. I’ve participated in training, in one way or another, from most of these!

I took a few moments and compiled some of the basics that will be helpful to anyone who ends up talking with a client or a customer. I know there are quite a few clinicians and educational consultants that have private practices, who see my blog from time to time. This is information that has worked for me over the years and I hope it will be beneficial to those who frequent my blog.

An Open Letter to International Educators

By Stephen C. Schultz


Please allow me to share an experience I had at the International ICEF Conference in Montreal last year. I was speaking with an educator from Canada and she mentioned to me;

“I wish I had known about your services last year. I had a student from China who struggled with an eating disorder. We did all we could to assist her, but she was eventually sent back to China. She was embarrassed, her parents were embarrassed, it was not a good outcome for this girl or her family. Is this the type of student you can help?”

I said, “Absolutely!”

Please feel free to review the below links to learn more about Discovery Academy for teenagers and our short term Medicine Wheel program for young adults age 18-25.  

I have been asked by educators, consultants and agents alike how we might work together. My hope is that we can be seen as a resource when you have a student that needs this level of assistance. We can be a solution focused option for the student and their parents.

Students enter our very specialized academic services through two methods. They come to us on referral from schools or they are recommended by Educational Consultants. The students are generally struggling with academics due to depression, substance use, eating disorders or sexual concerns of abuse, trauma or addiction.

I hope you find this information helpful. Too often students who struggle because of emotional concerns get discouraged and drop out of school. There is an option for these students and their families to have an international boarding school experience without the failure so often associated with the burden of emotional concerns.

You can learn more here:

http://www.theinterpretedrock.com/2011/09/american-boarding-school-educates.html

http://www.theinterpretedrock.com/2012/04/failure-to-launch-its-no-april-fools.html

Hiding in Plain Sight

By Stephen C. Schultz

 

I was recently in Tucson Arizona meeting with the family of a student who graduated from Oxbow Academy. www.oxbowacademy.net I was traveling with the clinical director of Oxbow, Todd Spaulding LCSW.  We also had the opportunity to meet with allied health professionals in the area who work with troubled teens and their families.

As we met with folks in Tucson, I just wanted to make a brief introduction to Oxbow Academy. I shared with them that Oxbow works with families that are struggling with a son who is burdened with sexual behavioral concerns. Often this is excessive use of pornography, inappropriately touching a sibling, friend or neighbor or other compulsive sexual behaviors. About half of our students come to us with some type of Learning Disability (LD) and 60% are adopted…80 and above IQ, but socially awkward.

 

 

If you are reading this as a clinician or as a parent, I’m sure you are aware; this is a growing problem, one that “society” isn’t quite ready to grapple with yet. This is a social concern that seems to be “Hiding in Plain Sight”!

Perfectly Wicked - A Fractured Fairy Tale

Guest Blogger
Amanda Schultz
Age 15


There she was…hair as black as night, lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow. Standing by the window, washing dishes, whistling while she worked. Snow White. I shudder with disgust every time I hear her name. What kind of a name is that anyway? “Snow White”. Gahhh, it’s a name that practically begs to be made fun of. Yet, there she goes, frolicking around like she owns the Enchanted Forest. No. I’m the Queen. I’m in charge. My magic mirror was mistaken. I’m the Fairest of them all, not that sorry excuse for a princess. One bite from my poison apple and that air-head will be so ugly not even her mother could love her. And I will be the Fairest once again!

I suppose that I should rewind a little bit. It wasn’t always a competition between Snow White and me. In fact, back in the day, we had a nice little system going on. I would rule the kingdom and practice my magic, while Snow did the dishes and tended the garden. She stayed out of my way, and I tolerated her. Everybody won. Then one day, it all changed. One thing you should know about Snow White is: she’s a crier. I heard her sobs echoing through the castle one spring morning. Reluctantly, I tore myself away from my magic and entered her room. “Snow,” I said sweetly, “whatever is the matter Dear?”

The Therapeutic Value of Work

By Jennifer C. Jones

 

(Editors note: Everyone who has studied in a therapeutic or human development discipline understands that there are adolescent "Stages of Development". What I have noticed over the last twenty-five years of working with families is that there are also "Stages of Development" when it comes to career and work. Many of the students who are plagued by emotional concerns miss out on this developmental process. Developing a career path and the necessary skills and competencies is an important aspect of human development. I hope you find this piece by Jennifer Jones engaging and informative. Thank you for visiting, Stephen C. Schultz)


Jared Schultz did not want to be a mortician when he grew up. No matter what the interest survey suggested, as a sophomore in high school he was sure formaldehyde was not the way to a girl’s heart; which, after all, was his primary concern at the time. 

 

Nor did he want to be an apartment maintenance worker or a day laborer. He learned that because he worked those jobs as a teenager.

But what do teens in therapy learn about what they like or don’t like in the world of work? How do they experience critical vocational learning in a residential treatment center?

“Work is a very important part of that rehabilitation process because it’s an entry way into society,” Schultz says. “It’s how people become integrated into their communities.”

Schultz, who holds a PhD in Rehabilitation Counseling and is a Licensed Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, says there’s an important void in the lives of most adolescents receiving therapy.

“In many cases these teens have very limited work experience, primarily because of their age,” Schultz says. “In some cases it’s because they’ve been in and out of treatment programs and in and out of trouble. Work hasn’t been at the top of their priority list.”

But Dr. Schultz believes therapy programs are missing a great opportunity to contribute to the teen’s over-all well-being.

He cites Viktor Frankl’s belief that the two best ways to find meaning in life are to develop meaningful relationships and meaningful work.[1]

“It’s not just about making money and being self-supporting,” Dr. Schultz says. “There is an aspect of work that speaks to us as human beings. It’s a very important part of who we are.”

Teens and Sexual Dependency - A helpful option for parents

By Stephen C. Schultz

 

A wise man once said, “The gate of history swings on small hinges. And so do people’s lives.”

 

 

 

Small choices can have large consequences.  With the click of a mouse your son may be stepping into a trap carefully laid to prey upon his own developing body. More than 11 million teens view pornography on line (Washington Post 2004).

Oxbow Academy offers treatment options specifically designed for teenaged boys who struggle with sexual dependency. Oxbow offers a specialized environment where students can acknowledge their behaviors more quickly, then learn to overcome them.

If you fear your son may struggle with sexual dependency, don’t make him fight the battle alone.

 

Answers and information are available at http://www.oxbowacademy.net

New Hope.  New Help.  No Secrets.

The Therapeutic Value of Research

By Stephen C. Schultz

 

“One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning” ~ James Russell Lowell

 

The smell of cedar and sage is everywhere. The pack is heavy, but not too bad. She used to hate carrying that thing. Now she thinks she’s getting stronger. There’s a murmur of conversation from the kids behind her. Suddenly, the sound of hiking boots against the dry dirt is pierced by a hawk’s cry! Everyone stops…no one talks. They are all thinking the same thing…I Want to Fly!

Experience is a valuable aspect of life. Individuals, families, organizations and communities all learn from experience. When working with troubled teens, RedCliff Ascent assists the teens in having healthy and helpful experiences that shape their lives for years to come.

RedCliff as an organization is no different. RedCliff must also learn from experience and continue to improve. Here are some ways RedCliff Ascent practices what it preaches.