“The rare person who can make this process even a bit easier is Colleen Ecker.”
“I can’t thank Colleen Ecker enough for guiding my family through the painful realization, then the gut-wrenching decision, that our child needed treatment at a therapeutic boarding school. I don’t know that we could have done the right thing without her encouragement and knowledge. We were referred to her from an outpatient rehabilitation facility where our child was in treatment.
We simply did not have the resources or the emotional bandwidth to find a school in the middle of crisis by ourselves. Trying to decide where to send our child only added to the stress, fear, and guilt that we were experiencing. Colleen has extensive knowledge about placement options through her work as an Educational Consultant. After conducting informational sessions and meeting with us, she thoroughly researched and identified a boarding school that she knew could address all of our child’s challenges with addiction.
Her presence is calming, no-nonsense, but not without a sense of humor. Nor did we have to be wealthy to afford her fees. While other consultants are extravagant, Colleen’s fees were straightforward, without hidden costs, and 100% reasonable. Truly, every penny was the best I have ever spent on a professional counselor.
We enrolled our child in the school to continue with academic learning while receiving treatment for addiction. Colleen provided the physical transport services to get our child safely to the boarding school. She helped prepare us for the process to make it the least emotionally taxing as possible – covering all scenarios from small details to the big picture. For those who need treatment but are unwilling to go – no matter how much prep you have, surprising your loved one with a transporter to take them away from home is excruciating. And the rare person who can make this even a bit easier is Colleen.
As hard as all this was, and is for any parent, I am happy and relieved to report that the boarding school helped my teenager overcome addiction and recover health, while growing and transforming as a person. Our story has a positive ending, though it could have easily resulted in succumbing to drugs, landing in jail, or worse without action. I believe going through the therapeutic boarding school process truly saved my teen’s life, and definitely our relationship.
We were so hopeless and anxious about sending our teenager away, and having to do it with the help of a stranger, I could not then foresee the magnitude of recovery and growth that was possible – and achieved. So much, in fact, that just a year later, that very same transporter, or “goon” as kids have been known to call them, joined us in our home for a friendly dinner with the whole reunited family! That’s the level of caring and investment this team brings to the table.
Today our young adult is sober, healthy and prosperous. Colleen helped us find the crucial path that led our child and entire family to healing.”
Dan F.,
Los Angeles County