The much anticipated annual Parents Weekend was held on the Valley View campus in mid-October. It is an occasion to learn more about resident families, deepen clinical family work, and enhance the community that makes up Valley View.

Jim Haupt at Valley View states, “Many family dynamics show themselves in various unexpected ways. Yet it is all grist for the therapeutic mill and, invariably, the weekend is a very enjoyable and productive experience.”  

The clinical team uses this weekend to reinforce the focus on addressing family dynamics. After breakfast and a community trivia contest, parents spent several hours in closed sessions with the clinical team. In addition to psychoeducational materials, clinical presentations, and discussions, this year a parent of a recent Valley View graduate told the assembled parents her family’s story. The raw emotional power of the address was palpable. She spoke movingly about her son’s intense emotional struggles, their futile efforts to address his issues on an outpatient basis, and the difficult decision to send him to residential care. She conveyed the pain and chronic disruption that this ordeal inflicted on her emotional state, her marriage, and her other children.

As executive director, Rick May states, “This mother was able to speak directly to the core emotional experiences of our parents and the redemptive capacity of residential care.”

The rest of the weekend consisted of family sessions, parent-teacher meetings, a soccer game, a formal dinner, a concert by the VVS house band, “AD HD” and a theater performance. Everyone was tired by the end of the weekend but excited by the positive community vibe and the work that lies ahead.  

About Valley View School

Valley View School is a small, private therapeutic boarding school serving boys in grades 6-12. Our campus is situated on 215 acres of forests and rolling hills in the heart of New England, just 90 miles outside of Boston.