ECHO MALIBU Annouces New Relationship with Children's Hospital Los Angeles

ECHO MALIBU is pleased to announce that it has entered into an official agreement with Children's Hospital Los Angeles to serve as an affiliate site for Residency Education in Adolescent Medicine.

Children's Hospital will assign second and third year fellows who will participate in rotations at ECHO MALIBU under the supervision of ECHO's Medical Director, Dr. Steve Sager. According to Dr. Sager the benefits will be multi-faceted. "We are very excited about this arrangement. It will afford ECHO's clients the opportunity to be exposed to an even greater number of medical professionals, each possessing a different perspective on any number of treatment complexities. It will also allow a number of gifted Medical Residents to be exposed to some of the most progressive treatment being offered today for young people struggling with chemical dependency and mental health issues. It is our hope that these Residents will then go out into the world and impact other treatment venues in positive ways."

This hope is shared by Cole Rucker, Co-Fouder of ECHO MALIBU. "One of our long term goals has been to impact treatment for youth as a whole. We would like to see more programs that build on strengths, that empower , that build youth up rather than break them down. We would like to believe that if emerging professionals are afforded opportunities to be exposed to high quality, strength based treatment, that they might encourage programs they are affiliated with in the future to adopt similar practices. If so, this effort has the possibility of doing a great deal of good." He goes on to state "We are very honored that Children's Hospital Los Angeles has demonstrated such faith in our program. We recognize the creation of an official affiliation with ECHO as a serious commitment from one of the world's finest institutions."

Returning Baseball to Inner Cities

Echo Malibu continued it's support to Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI)' as a co-sponsor of a fund raising dinner. The event brought together professional baseball players' business leaders' members of the news and entertainment professions and other concerned civic leaders committed to RBI's goal to revive baseball in the inner cities. Proceeds went directly to RBI to support the mission of providing a positive' high quality baseball experience to more than 185,000 youth in 185 cities worldwide. The ultimate intent is to use baseball as a tool to reduce high school drop out rates' drug use and gang affiliations.

According to Dr. Jeffrey Nalin' co-founder of ECHO MALIBU Youth Treatment Center “Supporting quality prevention programs is an important part of our effort to be of service. It's our belief that if youth can find positive alternatives to drugs they may never require our services." He went on to say "The youth who come to ECHO frequently enjoy some direct benefits as a result of our relationship with RBI. We have had the privilege of having a number of players visit ECHO to share their own stories of recovery, strength and hope. Needless to say, support and inspiration from these legendary sports figures means a great deal to the youth we serve.”

Alumni Association Elects New Chair

On March 1, 2009 the alumni of ECHO MALIBU elected Danny W. to a one-year term as chair of the Alumni Association. Danny graduated from ECHO approximately three years ago and has remained an active member of the Alumni Association since that time.

Danny states' ”When I first came to ECHO I was living with my family in Utah. I felt so hopeless. Luckily my Mom and Grandparents didn't give up on me. They refused to send me to one of those rehabs you hear awful stories about. They did what they had to do to get me to ECHO. None of our lives have been the same since." He goes on to say "I want everyone to have an opportunity for an experience like mine. That's why I want to do this -so I can help other ECHO graduates get back into a life where you can feel things instead of using drugs or alcohol to avoiding feelings."

Danny replaces Jake B. who completes a successful term as Alumni Chair. Upon his succession, Alonso Dominquez, ECHO MALIBU program coordinator stated "Everyone at ECHO owes Jake B. and all of the members of the alumni association our deepest thanks. They have worked hard along side the parent’s council creating the annual alumni art calendar, organizing sober events, and providing a valuable support system for each other."

He goes on to state "We are really happy that Danny W. has agreed to take this leadership role. He is one of the most gifted young people I have had the privilege of knowing. His commitment to sobriety and his approach to life are contagious."

Narritive Therapy an Important Component of Treatment at ECHO.

An important part of treatment for every youth who attends ECHO MALIBU is the process of writing and sharing their life story. This is a core component of the narrative work that is an important part of each youth's treatment. Very often parents and professionals in other fields ask us; "what is narrative therapy?"

To answer this question, we thought it best to go to one of the most respected authorities of narrative therapy, Alice Morgan. In her widely acclaimed book, WHAT IS NARRATIVE THERAPY, AN EASY READ INTRODUCTION, Morgan states the following:

• "Narrative therapy seeks to be a respectful, non-blaming approach to counseling and community work, which centers people as the experts in their own lives.
• It views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many skills, competencies, beliefs, values, commitments and abilities that will assist them to change their relationship with problems in their lives.
• Curiosity and a willingness to ask questions to which we genuinely don’t know the answers are important principles of this work.
• There are many possible directions that any conversation can take (there is no single correct direction).
• The person consulting the therapist plays a significant part in determining the directions that are taken."

She goes on to state:

It seems appropriate to begin any exploration of narrative therapy with a consideration of what is meant by the ‘narratives’ or ‘stories’ of our lives.

Narrative therapy is sometimes known as involving ‘re-authoring’ or ‘re-storying’ conversations. As these descriptions suggest, stories are central to an understanding of narrative ways of working.

The word ‘story’ has different associations and understandings for different people. For narrative therapists, stories consist of:

• events
• linked in sequence
• across time
• according to a plot

As humans, we are interpreting beings. We all have daily experiences of events that we seek to make meaningful. The stories we have about our lives are created through linking certain events together in a particular sequence across a time period, and finding a way of explaining or making sense of them. This meaning forms the plot of the story. We give meanings to our experiences constantly as we live our lives. A narrative is like a thread that weaves the events together, forming a story.

We all have many stories about our lives and relationships, occurring simultaneously. For example, we have stories about ourselves, our abilities, our struggles, our competencies, our actions, our desires, our relationships, our work, our interests, our conquests, our achievements, our failures. The way we have developed these stories is determined by how we have linked certain events together in a sequence and by the meaning we have attributed to them."

In discussing the use of narrative therapy at ECHO MALIBU, Co-Founder, Dr. Jeffrey Nalin states "We use many and varied modalities to treat youth based on both their needs and their strengths. Without question one of our most effective tools is the utilization of Narrative Therapy. It resonates with young people. They want to be heard. They want to tell their stories. It is an important piece of the healing process."

To learn more about this powerful methodology, please pick up a copy of Alice Morgan's book, WHAT IS NARRATIVE THERAPY, AN EASY READ INTRODUCTION. To learn more about the utilization of narrative therapy at ECHO MALIBU, please give us a call.