Newsletter July Aug 2016



PRN for Families is pleased to announce a collaboration with Voyageur Outward Bound School to provide support services for families with teens struggling at home, in school, or in other settings. Families who enroll in Voyageur Outward Bound School’s Intercept courses will have the opportunity to take advantage of a post-course support program, offered exclusively to Intercept families by PRN for Families.  PRN for Families, a therapeutic industry expert in home-based outreach and transition services, will provide guidance, support, and case consultation to families that build off of the Intercept experience.

Through this collaboration, PRN for Families will provide customized transition support to participants of Voyageur Outward Bound School’s Intercept courses, as well as to their families. Outward Bound Intercept Expeditions are specifically designed for families with teens struggling at home or in school. This highly structured and facilitated program removes students from the pressures and influences of home and school, and instead presents them with the healthy risks and real challenges of the natural world. Intercept courses focus on communication, conflict resolution and decision making tools.

Research demonstrates that families benefit from targeted therapeutic support and guidance as they navigate the transition home, and through this collaboration, Intercept families will be able to extend the support they receive beyond the wilderness and into the home. PRN for Families and Voyageur Outward Bound School’s courses and services are designed to support families in sustaining and further developing the lessons, tools and resources they have gained through their participation in Outward Bound’s Intercept program.

“We are excited to be able to offer PRN’s therapeutic wrap-around support, parent guidance, and case-management services to families who are participating in the Voyageur Outward Bound School’s Intercept courses,” said Charles Elias, PRN’s Executive Director. “Outward Bound has a long-standing history of serving families, and their model has served as the foundation for many wilderness programs. We are honored to be able to collaborate with the Voyageur Outward Bound School to offer this extended care experience, and to connect with families that might not otherwise be aware that such support exists.”

Both Voyageur Outward Bound School and PRN for Families share the goal of creating sustainable positive outcomes for participating families. PRN for Families services will be offered for all Voyageur Outward Bound School Intercept courses in 2016.

To learn more about Voyageur Outward Bound School’s Intercept and other wilderness courses, visit: www.vobs.org.

To learn more about PRN for Families’ services for Intercept participants and their families, visit: http://www.prnforfamilies.com/outward-bound-aftercare/.



May 2016

Dear Charles,

As you know, the first time we met was under extreme circumstances, where you performed an intervention for our son, who had psychological and chemical abuse issues. The experience was critical and very serious. We were impressed that you gained control of the situation and, incredibly, were able to guide our son into a program for further treatment.

Although our son improved in the program and was stabilized, he was not making much progress. Having placed our son in a variety of “programs”, all of which were well recommended, we were concerned that the standard treatment program and its group sessions and standard psychological approach would not make much of a dent in our son’s approach to the world.

I am so glad I contacted you to consider a customized program for our son, with personal mentors to live with and guide him. I am thrilled to be able to say that today our son is employed, going back to college, volunteering and making excellent progress in life skills. We have great hopes that he will be moving towards independence and a stable and safe future. We are greatly impressed with the impact you have had on our son’s life and commend you and your staff for your professionalism and competence.

Trusting your son to another is perhaps the greatest compliment we could give you. All of us parent are enablers of sorts and it’s very hard to give up that impulse to try to solve all of your son’s problems for him. But, you and your staff have blended the right kind of “tough love”, role modeling and mentoring to move him forward, step by step, in the right direction.

Thanks so much for your help and, more importantly, giving our son back to us.