that is not a happy story. that is nice of everyone to point to "short notice" and say it's OK that H doesn't show up. My son was in both an inpatient and an out-patient program. The in-patient program did not ask for family participation, but I got some very caring letters from my son at that time, thanking us for our support and apologizing for all his bad behavior. i know that they helped him write those letters, but they were still good to see. At the out-patient program they did an encounter session with me there. The therapist and all the other group members talked about their perceptions of my son. Then they asked me to sit in the middle of the circle and talk about my hopes for my son. Then they had him join me, face to face, in the middle of the circle and apologize for his past behavior and talk about his hopes for his future. It was a moving experience. It was worth being there. And for him, it looked very good that he had someone to come and participate.
