The Family's Role in Young Men's Recovery

San Cristobal Academy believes that strong, vital family relationships are fundamental to the growth, recovery, and long-term health and well-being of our students.

That said, it's also true that the majority of our families come to us in some state of major crisis. Relationships are often broken, dysfunctional, and lacking the cornerstone elements of respect and trust. No family member is immune to the effects of a family system that no longer functions.

The parent/caregiver journey that spans from the early stages of knowing that a problem exists to actually engaging and finding appropriate solutions can leave families exhausted, scared, disoriented, confused, and angry.

In building a Center that focuses on help and resources for the family, we start by doing everything possible to understand, respect, and honor the journey that brought you to our doorstep. We hire people who have extensive programmatic experience in working to help families heal: parent coaches, advocates, teachers, and mentors. Even in our Admissions and Aftercare areas, we have hired a person whose son attended San Cristobal several years ago, in order to assist families in a way that's impossible for someone who has never walked in their shoes.

We've designed in-family workshops to help parents and family members heal. Our goal is help parents grow, change, and learn to trust again. A relationship not based in trust is doomed to repeat old negative, unproductive behavior patterns... relapse. As students move forward in our program phases, it is critical that parents begin to see the new person for who he is and learn how to parent an adult—not the broken, troubled person who arrived months before.

To learn more about our Family Resource Center, please contact Don Purves at 866-918-8383.