A child’s first hospitalization is a watershed event. In my family, life is clearly divided: before that hospitalization and after.

Before my daughter’s first hospitalization at age 15, we had a struggling child and shifting diagnoses. We could occasionally glimpse a “normal” child, and we tried to convince ourselves that things really weren’t so bad. We were sure that our daughter would be fine once we found the right medication. That day couldn’t come a moment too soon!

No parent wants to think about hospitalizing their child for psychiatric treatment.

We tell ourselves that our child isn’t that ill, or that hospital treatment represents a failure. Or we are fearful, because our image of an inpatient psychiatric unit comes through the distorted lens of horror movies and TV dramas.