How Teneo Works

In-home assessment

 We believe that a key to helping an individual make positive change is to understand the environment in which they function.  Keeping this in mind, our staff will visit in your home and contact  key individuals in the community such as educators, youth leaders, therapists, coaches and even friends  to gain a thorough understanding of your son or daughter’s strengths and challenges.  This assessment process is usually an ongoing process that is completed over the first few weeks.  As we identify community and family resources we will help you harness their combined strength to effect and maintain change.  The assessment also takes into account your own family’s strengths, talents and resources that can also be drawn upon.   After an initial, one to two hour visit in your home, our staff begin to complete other contacts and then work with you to develop a plan of action tailored to your needs.

Support for Parent Initiatives

Our experience tells us that most parents have already discovered several strategies that can be highly effective in helping their son or daughter.  Parents have fabulous knowledge and instincts about their kids, whether they are 11 or 24. Sometimes, because of a current crisis or a change in circumstances a previously successful strategy seems to be either outdated or even a contributor to the problems!  Having an extra set of eyes and ears to observe your son or daughter in the home, at school or in other situations can help verify ways in which we can help you reassert your effectiveness.  As we back up your plans and expectations we can often change the way an interaction feels and evolves.  Our goal is not to take over.  Our goal is to observe, provide suggestions, and involve the family in pertinent approaches and sometimes to coach parents right in the middle of a conflict.  We arrange our schedules to be present at times that might be the most challenging, such as right after school or dinner, or early in the day when an older child may be avoiding work or other responsibilities.  We are usually in the home two or three times a week in the early stages.  Over time most families require less of our support, but we continue to be available by phone, email, or in person. 

Harnessing the Support of Your Friends and Others

Over the last 25 years researchers have verified something most of us already knew: Families who have solid connections in their neighborhood do better than those who are more isolated.  Researchers have also found that those who live with a family member who is struggling tend to y have less time to connect with others, especially when that family member’s struggles are with behaviors or conditions that don’t fit with society’s norms.  School failure, addictions, rebellion, running away, isolation, social struggles and other challenges tend to take away much of a family’s free time, energy, spontaneity, and even creativity as one individual is focused upon. 

Researchers also have found that families who intentionally organize extended family, friends, teachers, clergy and others into a support network do not feel as overwhelmed or as isolated.  Using a family’s identified connections, coupled with our suggestions, Teneo staff who utilize nationally researched methods will help you to design and implement what we call a Personal Success Team that stands ready to assist you during the time we work with your family.  More importantly, this Team is your Team and continues to provide support by way of giving you back up in a crisis, alternatives  for one or more family members to get a break, reinforcement of your expectations by way of periodic check-ins, etc.  Teneo begins with informal contact with these Team members and helps you to harness their unique skills for months and years to come.  We find it ironic that many of the youth who are struggling are far better networked than their parents despite their inability to thrive in other parts of their lives.   

Partnering with Professionals

At Teneo, we work to support family function, beginning with making sure parents are empowered.  While helping parents intervene to assist their children in making positive change through our assessments, education, live coaching and community networking, we may discover underlying issues an individual may need help with.   The majority of Teneo referrals come from therapists, but for some families, they may not be currently using such resources.  We recommend that families consider working with a therapist for individual issues as well as possible couple and specific family issues.  We will then collaborate by frequent contact to share information and by helping to implement the therapist’s treatment strategies in the home.  In some instances, we may attend a therapist session to make sure the therapist understands a family’s strengths and progress while also helping the family to implement the therapist’s recommendations.

Pioneering Multi-Family Group Therapy

Although others in the community can be helpful in assisting parents in their work with a struggling son or daughter, they may not be able to fully understand the great stress and frustration parents may be feeling.   Parents need support and understanding from others who may be walking the same path.  Teneo’s founders have pioneered the use of multi-family group therapy over the past fifteen years in alternative settings with impressive results.  Once weekly, for a two hour session three to five families enrolled in the Teneo program meet in an interactive experience designed to support change, provide positive role modeling, build parent alliances and aid youth in understanding how families function.  Often, when one receives feedback from another parent or youth, they can be more receptive and less reactive.  

                       

Monitoring Behavior and Progress

Accurate, frequent praise has been shown to be more important in helping an individual make positive change than the elegance of most any treatment strategy or parenting technique.  Although Teneo will assist you in developing effective family rules, expectations and consequences that match your son or daughter’s unique personality, we will also be working hard to help you and your family members become more positive about each other.  We will assist you into being an effective teacher of essential coping skills to the family utilizing methods that have been developed and refined over the last thirty years.