Shortly after the team closed out the treatment plan at 30 days, as per DMH (Department of Mental Health) guidelines, Erik’s mother called and, as suspected, Erik had relapsed and was no longer responding to his mother’s house rules. After the therapist had several family meetings without Erik, Erik finally called. He said he saw all of the phone messages from the therapist that his mother had placed on refrigerator and that each time he saw those messages, he “felt a shot to his heart.” Erik is now back in an independent study school, still struggling with his sobriety, but keeps regular contact with Ettie Lee’s therapist including twice weekly meetings.
Erik recently expressed interest in re-enrolling to The School of Arts. Prior to a meeting with the Dean of the school, Erik has agreed to join a teen NA 12-step meeting, work on taking more responsibility for his expulsion from the school and reflect more the underlying reasons for his marijuana use and the destructive social connections he derived from it. These actions will no doubt, demonstrate Erik’s determination to stay sober when he meets with the Dean again.
* to protect the child's confidentiality we are not using the child's name