I guess my stepson attending the Intensive Outpatient Program was only going to last anywhere between 4 – 8 weeks. Still not enough time for the truth to come out of what has been going on.
But honestly, will the truth ever come out if he just continues to stay with his mother only?
In this case, it doesn’t have to just do with my stepson doing a good job with acting like nothing is wrong. It also has to do with insurance.
Insurance companies will only allow up to 8 weeks unless you can show that the patient in care needs more time. We unfortunately can’t show them that as the I.O.P. is claiming that my stepson is improving. Truthfully, I am a little confused on how he can be improving since he still isn’t speaking to half his family.
When we found out from my husband’s ex-wife that he would be finishing up potentially in April, we could not believe it. It was also something completely out of the blue as my husband never received any updates prior to that. He had only been in the program for 3 weeks at this point. How is that enough time?
My husband ended up reaching out to the G.A.L about this random email. The G.A.L. seemed surprised too as she shared that early that same day, she had an already planned phone call with the doctor. And the thing was, the doctor did not say anything to her about my stepson finishing up mid-April.
Since my husband’s ex-wife left out the G.A.L., the G.A.L. replied back to the email thread stating how my husband had to forward the email to her to keep her in the loop with their son’s treatment. The G.A.L. requested a time to speak to the therapist as well. They agreed to Thursday, March 28th. My husband also reached out to request a time to speak as well. In the email that even had his ex-wife he stated without hesitation, “the doctor shared this would be a long process due to the damage that has been caused”. They agreed to speak on Good Friday, March 29th.
After the G.A.L.’s phone call she reached out to everyone to summarize her conversation. The one thing we did appreciate was that she shared some additional information with both the doctor and therapist again about the history and issues related to my stepson including some of the behaviors and incidents he has experienced at school. Both the doctor and the therapist felt this additional information was helpful as they continue to work with/treat my stepson.
Another thing I got a kick out of was the G.A.L. said she sent the therapist a complete copy of the current court order as she had only been provided one page. I still do not understand why my husband’s ex only sent the first page when the I.O.P. was on other pages as well to follow. Unless it was for the therapist to not see it says both parents have to agree for him to leave sooner than what the program says…
The G.A.L. also mentioned that my stepson will need a new therapist and psychiatrist upon his discharge. The therapist at the I.O.P. indicated that appointments with both of these would need to be established before Ben could be discharged. The therapist also said that my stepson can see an individual therapist, a psychiatrist, and the reunification therapist all while in the IOP program as long as those appointments were on different days than his IOP.
Truthfully, none of that has happened yet, as we were surprised from the start about hearing of a tentative release date already. He literally started the program not long ago and it just seems so rushed at the moment.
According to the G.A.L. which we found out from my husband was true, the therapist at the IOP advised that the reunification/family work could commence at this time. She believed the appointments with Ben and this therapist would be good to start now while Ben is still in the IOP as it provides a place where my stepson could work through emotions/feelings/etc. while beginning the reunification process again and thus also helping to provide a smoother transition once the IOP ends.
Last time either of my stepson’s parents spoke to the reunification therapist was on November 6, 2023, which was the day before Safety Plan #3 and my husband’s birthday.
I don’t know if this additional information that G.A.L. gave them would help, but it would be better for him to go the whole 8 weeks, instead of just 4 when not much can really happen in 4 weeks. Some might say that a lot can happen in 4 weeks but when you are trying to hide the truth of the colluding, you might want to just act like everything is fine and nothing is wrong. Something that my stepson and his mom are always saying.
Comentarios