My daughter had been stuck for a while. She was trying to work things out, but didn’t know how to go about it. It was frustrating for me, as a parent, to want to help, but I didn’t know what she needed, either. We found a terrific consultant who met with us and recommended Red Mountain. The consultant thought it would be the right combination of “nurturing and requiring.” In other words, she would be supported but required to take responsibility for her choices. The consultant also said it would be a supportive community.
She was right, especially about the community. It is a great environment and my daughter was like a plant finding the right combination of soil, light, and water for growth. She really thrived there, and it is a tribute to Maureen and Josh for creating such a place.
Like most things in life, knowing what to do is not that hard, but having the persistence to get there is difficult. Red Mountain helps its students to persist until they reach their goals. My daughter felt like she was constantly rolling a ball up a hill and it kept rolling back down. Her therapist was terrific at helping her to push through her resistance and it was also helpful to her to see that there were others climbing that same hill.
It was also empowering for her to take ownership and have her father become less involved in the solution. Many of the components of the program helped her; in particular, yoga and meditation displaced some negative patterns and habits.
As a parent, I was fortunate to be able to live close enough to visit her once a month. I was also comfortable with the level of oversight she was receiving and that was never a concern. Weekly feedback sessions from the therapist gave me a sense of her progress without getting into specifics. I felt appropriately connected and I felt that I had just the right amount of contact.
My advice to parents considering Red Mountain is this:they have to be ready to change for the program to work. When I went to the morning sessions at RMS and listened to the students talk about their issues, it was inspiring because they clearly wanted to do the work to change their lives for the better. This attitude is very helpful to everyone in that room, because it shows you that you are not the only one with “stuff” that needs to be addressed.
This program is not the only way, but it is the Red Mountain way and it works.
-Parent