Kathryn’s Story

Content warning: Challenging family situations

Nearly all of Kathryn’s life she followed the rules and did well in school. She was adopted by a family member at a young age, but she had a good relationship with her adoptive parent. However, all of that started to change when Kathryn entered her junior year of high school. Her social circle began to include negatively influencing peers. Unfortunately, she started getting into trouble at school and running away from home.

Kathryn ran away to an emergency shelter, and the staff there felt The Bridge would be a great resource for her. She was taken home and immediately started counseling services with The Bridge. It was decided that Kathryn’s adoptive mother would join her in counseling because they had the most interaction. From that moment on, Kathryn and her mother started down a new journey to heal together.

Like many parent-child relationships, the two needed to work on improving their communication. The Bridge staff dove right into tackling the problem and set up certain behavior expectations–and consequences for violating those expectations. Additionally, staff turned a new leaf with the family by setting up specific rules for them to follow, outlining more effective ways to communicate, and discovering the intent behind negative patterns to help to break the cycle.

After encouragement from The Bridge staff, Kathryn and her mother began to spend more quality time together outside of counseling. They focused on improving their communication and increasing their comfort level through small, gradual actions both in and outside of their therapy sessions. They attended church activities, watched movies, and even participated in a breast cancer walk together. This allowed them to connect while mutually working towards something and they were each able to re-discover enjoyment in their relationship.

Kathryn and her mother made great strides during their journey to heal together at The Bridge. They re-kindled their relationship and have improved the way they communicate with each other. Further, Kathryn even took matters into her own hands and distanced herself from the negatively influencing peers. She has reconnected with her family as well as the friends who are a positive influence.

The client stories shared on our blog are based on real scenarios, but names and identifying details have been changed or removed.