Melissa
16-year-old Melissa had a history of assaultive and out-of-control behavior at home. She had been using alcohol and drugs and running away for weeks at a time. She also had been engaging in self-injurious behavior—cutting her arms—to manage her intense, erratic feelings. Melissa’s parents had exhausted their insurance, as well as their own financial and emotional resources for a private school and tough love approaches with no lasting effect. In desperation, Melissa’s parents reached out to the court for help. |  Photo courtesy of studiostoer on Flickr.com |
The Judge referred Melissa to ACS for an evaluation, which finally brought some clarity to her underlying problems. No one before had fully explained to Melissa’s parents that their daughter had bipolar disorder and suffered from the effects of early childhood trauma. As Melissa received the right medication, substance abuse treatment, and an important combination of family and individual therapy over the course of several months, Melissa stabilized and her family began to feel normal again.
To everyone’s relief, Melissa sustained the improvement in her behavior—she stopped cutting herself and abusing substances and was able to live successfully at home. Elaine, Melissa’s mother, told ACS clinician Colleen: “Melissa’s turned a corner, she’ll never go back to the way she was.” A few months later Elaine wrote the following note expressing her heartfelt thanks.
Dear Colleen,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you soooo much for bringing so much light to our understanding of Melissa. Your excellent work and insight has provided us with more direction than we could ever have though possible. We will keep you in our heart and prayers of thanks forever.
Elaine
*All client names and some identifying details have been changed in order to protect confidentiality.
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