A Collection of Notions about The Other 23 Hours (original) (raw)
2018, Residential Treatment for Children & Youth
Being invited to write this commentary is a career high. To prepare, I took an old and tattered autographed copy of The Other 23 Hours down from my bookshelf. It had been many years since I had read this book. When I first read it, I was a young clinician at a residential center. Thinking back on my 'beginnings' I recalled how this book had changed my perspective of my job. My 'aha' moment was that I was not a therapist hired to work individually with emotional troubled children but, instead, I was part of a team. I could play a valuable role in helping staff understand children's behaviors. I could design activities and responses to help children learn new adaptive behaviors! At that time and in that moment, The Other 23 Hours changed my ideas about how residential care could impact children's lives. After reflecting on my first reading, I opened the book and, much to my surprise, this reading became an even more personal journey through my career. Beginning with the first chapter written by Dr Trieschman, my thoughts flashed back to 1981 when I had the honor of meeting Al Trieschman. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the residential treatment center where I was working invited Dr Trieschman to spend three days in consultation, basically 'living with us' and sharing his observations and recommendations. In 1981, the Walker School was also 20 years old and both agencies cared for about 50 boys. That is where the similarities ended. The Walker School had Al Trieschman as a director and was a reference point for a book that clearly outlined how to maximize the 'transformative power of the therapeutic milieu in the lives of troubled children', essentially to make good use of the Other 23 Hours (Trieschman et al., 1969). This chapter reminded me of how Al helped us see the power of daily interactions and the milieu as a teaching tool-the core of helping children change, grow and develop. Those three days were pivotal for us as an organization. They were also pivotal for me personally when Al described me as 'the heart' of the agency. Al has passed but his words still reverberate with those who work with children. Chapter 2, written by Dr Larry Brendtro brought back a memory in the late 1980's when our residential center invited him to present at a symposium. We sat transfixed as we listened to Dr Brendtro speaking about
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