Validating the True Self: Failure to Launch & Residential Treatment

We can all recall a time when we decided to not be our true selves. Similarly, we can all think of a moment when we chose to do what we were meant to do, validating and reinforcing our true self. For me, I remember I had the opportunity to take advanced placement courses in high school, and I decided not to do so. Reflecting on it now, this choice caused a deviation from who I was meant to be and became a limiting factor in college choices. When has this type of situation occurred for our OPI participants? Maybe it was a time when someone in their lives told them that an accomplishment was not good enough or a time when a type of success was not properly validated. At OPI’s residential services, these instances of letdown are brought into light to work towards openness and acceptance, thus allowing participants to gradually evolve into who they want to be.

At the OPI apartments, our participants wake up each day and have the decision to fulfill their daily intentions and attend their appointments; they are guided by staff to make a choice that is best for them in the current moment. Sometimes, emotions take over and participants may not feel like going to work or attending classes or workshops, and DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) terms like “opposite to emotion” come into play as a skill that can be used during this period. Applying this DBT skill doesn’t always work, and participants may elect to miss an appointment; however the very next day it is guaranteed that staff will continue to validate, support, and guide rather than discourage. Then one day, change happens. A participant will choose to get up and use their “Wise Mind” to show up, which is half the battle, and an accomplishment that we praise.

This is when real progress sets in. These choices are made every day, and I’m sure we can all recall a time when we had that one mentor or that one family member tell us that they believed in us or that they could relate to what we were going through. For me, I was fortunate in college to be told by my advisers that attending UC Santa Barbara was a good move. Looking back at it, I now know how much the right support affected my decisions. For our OPI participants, it is the validation received in the residential treatment program that gears their spirits to rise. They are given the forum to have openness with their failures, which gives room to launching day-to-day successes and becoming their true self. No matter how seemingly small the progress, these are the steps that lead to becoming one’s true self.

by Vanessa Espina, Independent Living Specialist

For more information on OPI residential programs and our measures to help reduce Failure to Launch obstacles, call us at (888) 814-5985 or click HERE to submit an online form. We’ll be in touch promptly.