Attachment – a Parenting & Buddhist Perspective

The Foundation House Family Workshop is an intensive, three-day family support program designed to educate family members about the Foundation House approach to early recovery in an extended-care setting while refocusing the attention of the family on their own healing process. The 2017 Foundation House Family Weekend was a really special event the group that experienced it will not soon forget. We were lucky enough to be joined by multiple special guests to share their experience and their expertise on the topic of family, attachment, and recovery.

Brad Reedy (Co-founder and Clinical Director for Evoke Therapy Programs), Michael “Griff” Griffin (lead therapist at Evoke Cascades), Hamish White (Owner/Founder of Recovery Counseling Services) and the Venerable Tulku Jigme Rinpoche (Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoche and Teacher from the Palmo Center for Peace in Eugene Oregon) all joined us for the weekend to lend their knowledge, explore the family’s role in the recovery process, and how parents and loved ones can improve the communication, support and boundaries that will help the entire family system heal.

75 family members and residents spent Friday through Sunday engaging in group discussions, presentations, process groups and experiential activities. We swung the bat together on the softball field, tossed dodgeballs around a room with blindfolds on, sat in meditation with Tulku Jigme Rinpoche, and enjoyed food prepared by our residents in our cafe. The weekend was a summation of our core mission here at Foundation House. We do the hard work, we enjoy the fun and the results, and we do it together.

In preparation for our upcoming four-day voyage across Casco Bay, fifteen of our residents undertook a sea kayaking crash course this Friday. From 9am until 4pm the guys were on the water learning everything from technique and balance to rescue procedure for oneself and others in the event of a capsize.  It turns out that there are few things more galvanizing than depending on your fellows to pull you back into the relative safety of your boat after it becomes clear that you will not be able to do so on your own.

Foxhole surfing every night at Higgins Beach in Cape Elizabeth has quickly become a favorite of our residents and alumni alike! Getting out on the water in the late afternoon as the sun is setting, riding waves, and having fun together is what sobriety and Foundation House is all about!

A quick video from a GPIHL league game for the Foxhole! This night league gives our residents, alumni and staff an opportunity to play together as a team against some serious local competition.

Thursday evening’s Surfing Club is an amazing experience for both staff and residents. Our residents ride with great enthusiasm, and stay in the water right up to sunset. With the waves being on the smaller side, it was a great opportunity for the guys to get the feel of just being on the board.  Some were naturals, getting up on almost every wave they went for. Others struggled, eventually finding the thrill of their first standing ride. Multiple residents gave us the ok to sign them up for surfing every week!

Major League Baseball is in full swing which means Foundation House residents get to utilize our season tickets to Sunday home games at Fenway! These tickets allows us to give our residents an opportunity for a road trip to visit the historic ballpark in Boston in addition to validating the work that the residents are doing in the program. Typically, we give these tickets to a group of residents who are exhibiting a strong and consistent cultivation of leadership skills, in conjunction with working a solid program of recovery. Being able to enjoy sober activities such as this ballgame feeds directly into the narrative for young adult male sober success!

We took 12 residents to Acadia National Park for a hiking and rock climbing experience focused on the therapeutic mission of processing how each individual feels about their recent life transitions and recognizing our personal approach to transition in our own lives. After arriving at Acadia National Park on our first day, the group found its way to the trailhead over 1500 ft. above sea level spanning a distance of four miles in the shadow of Cadillac Mountain with breathtaking views overlooking Mt. Desert Island.

The following morning our group headed off to meet our rock climbing guides from the Acadia Mountain Guide Company and were educated on the proper belay techniques and climbing etiquette. The residents challenged themselves and applied true effort in each of their climbs. The group as a whole exhibited a willing attitude and developed a genuine understanding of their personal comfort level in challenging themselves and focusing on their feelings around transition.

It is difficult to put into words the experience our residents, and a handful of our staff members, had during a service session with Special Surfers. It was a night we won’t easily forget, and one that many of us desperately needed to have; to get out of ourselves through service to others. Special Surfers is a nonprofit organization that hosts an event every third Tuesday of the summer months. Their main goal is to help disabled youth learn how to surf, an activity they believe to be therapeutic and most importantly, fun.  Numerous surf apparel companies participate lending surf boards and wet suits for both the children and volunteers. Every child was assigned two volunteers to help them get up on the waves.  The two hours of surfing that ensued was one of the most chaotic and beautiful thing most of us had ever witnessed.  Volunteers and children running around laughing, smiling, and cheering.  Everywhere you looked kids found complete euphoria, with many of them latched on to our residents. After surfing for a couple hours, our volunteers were thrilled that they could assist the kids they were paired up with, with some standing up and riding waves to the beach.  After the event our group went out for dinner for some post service fellowship – dinner and ice cream served an excellent way to cap off an unforgettable night.

The Foundation House Golf Scramble took place on June 15^th and the weather could not have been any better! Residents, alumni, and staff traveled to Nonesuch Golf Course to play 18 holes of Scramble-style play. The teams were very well balanced, and the final scores were in a tight range of six strokes. The outcome of the tournament was a break-neck tie! The residents had an amazing afternoon enjoying the opportunity to play a game they struggled with, with staff and alumni captains there to help where needed.

Foundation House’s entry into the world of Portland athletics was a great success!  Our team of alumni, residents and staff, without practicing together first, pulled together incredibly well and took home a close 9-8 victory in our first league game.  The team’s performance was led by a few standouts: Operations Coordinator and alumnus Will “Hutch” Hutchinson with one goal and three assists, David B. (resident) with one goal and FIVE assists, and Todd B. (resident) with three goals!

Under the terrific bench coaching of Patrick (Owner, CEO) and Jen (Director of Operations) the team survived a late surge by our opponents to pull off the victory.  Also, a great showing of 15 of our resident fans who came out to support the team’s entry into this competitive local league.