Where Does the Child of a #1stresponder Get Help???

New Beginnings - Where Our Children Get Help

Sometimes we focus so much on providing the first responder when in crisis that all of us forget about the children of the first responders.  Today Safe Call Now® is honored to announce our partnership with New Beginnings Adolescent Recovery Center that has built a nationwide referral network for our children.  We only bring you the “gold standard” and with New Beginnings that’s what your children are getting!!!  Read more about our new partners.

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals and the premier global organization of addiction professionals, has recognized New Beginnings Adolescent Recovery Center located in Opelousas, Louisiana, as its 2015 Organizational Achievement Award winner for its high level of care, support and commitment to the addiction professionals on its staff and throughout the substance abuse treatment industry in America. Johnny Patout, CEO of New Beginnings, commented, “This is a great honor for our entire organization, our treatment and support staff, and mostly for the many teenagers and their families whom we are able to help break away from their substance abuse.” Under his leadership, New Beginnings has transformed from a struggling program in 2011 to one of the leading award-winning treatment centers in the country today.

NAADAC, in announcing New Beginnings as its 2015 award winner, stated that through the recruitment of qualified, Master’s-level therapists, nurses and physicians who are dedicated to providing the highest quality of care possible for their patients, New Beginnings has become a center of excellence for struggling teenagers from across the country. They added that New Beginnings’ highly experienced leadership team, many of whom are in recovery themselves, have offered their experience, training, knowledge and skills in treating substance abuse. In doing so, they have provided real hope for adolescents and their families.

The Child Inside of the #1stresponder...

By Safe Call Now®'s Dr. Laura Brodie

As I think about how those in helping professions were raised, it was a message of doing your best and making sure you take care of others.  Often this was taking care of a vulnerable family member.  The person was a substance abuser, a depressed individual, an anxious parent or a parent who needed you as a child at a level you were ill equipped to handle. You became what we in the profession call a “parentified child”.  In talking to individuals who have taken on this role it is obvious they did not realize it.  They saw the path they traveled as having great parents who had no problems and they simply helped or listened. I think it is the same in First Responders. Who else runs into danger when everyone else is running away?

I get worried anytime I hear a client say, “My parents were great/perfect, no problems.” Let’s face it, none of us were raised perfectly and our indoctrinations of the past can control our reactions to the future. The child learns to blame him/herself early in life if there is any conflict. The result is a highly responsible individual that believes he/she is without a self.  He/she strives to become someone who helps humanity, but also is oblivious that they have little coping skills available because of the caretaker life they have lived.

Wait, you would think the parentified child adapted to adults at a young age so they should be ahead of the game. Nope. As a child there is a need for guidance, not caretaking. A child does not need to rescue yet they do. It is instinct. The child has to make sure his needs are met or he does not have a chance of thriving. The rescue the child does is to stay alive.