WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE! Here you will find information about how I can help you navigate the waters between where your child is now, and his or her placement in a setting where your child will thrive. Signing on with me gives you the assurance of very personal attention, constant availability by phone/email without limitation, and my experience of over forty years working with schools, colleges and programs.

I work with only a small number of families so that I can offer undivided attention to each. My practice is an extension of my career as a teacher, where I focus on each individual student with the goal of establishing a personal relationship and maximizing potential.

For children ages six through eighteen, I do placement in day and boarding schools [including schools that specialize in ADD/ADHD and Learning Differences], wilderness and therapeutic programs. For young adults [18+] I do placement in college, therapeutic and transition programs. I work with young adults who have a high school diploma but need support for their first year of college, and with young men and women who have substance abuse issues and/or in other ways need help in navigating the adult world. I meet with you in my home office or travel [US and worldwide] to meet with you in your home. While either location is satisfactory, I must say that I do like seeing folks in their natural habitat so that I can get a sense of the family and their environment as a whole.

I like to meet with your whole family, first speaking separately with the parents and the child, and then together. I want to get to know each family member – siblings too, if it’s convenient – in a personal way, and talk about the desires and hopes of each so that I can help get everybody onto the same page as we make crucial decisions about the future. The initial meeting usually takes around two hours. As you can tell, I work only with families whose child I have met personally.

The fee for this first meeting is $500. If after we meet and I have given my thoughts about your child and his or her needs, I will ask if you want to work with me. If you choose not to, or want to think it over for a time, that is quite acceptable to me. If you do choose to go forward with my services, we begin work immediately and the initial $500 payment will count toward the total fee.

I will ask you to complete some forms [available for download from the website] and to give me a copy of all testing [achievement, IQ, SAT, psychological, learning differences] along with as many report cards/transcripts and other records as are available. Also welcome are reports from teachers, therapists if any, and/or direct conversations with them.

If you and I agree that testing, or further testing, would be useful or necessary, I can arrange it with my tester in Phoenix during your visit. Pat Comfort is an incredibly insightful and compassionate soul who does one-on-one testing. I call her the "Human Ouija Board" because she reads, sees into and understands the emotional and academic needs of kids so well.

I can also work with a tester of your choice near home. If you don't know of one, I can use my resources to find a good one. If you wish, I will sit in on the consultation between you and the tester.

After reviewing all of the information and minutes from our family meeting, I will contact the schools or programs which I think are appropriate. If they have space, I will ask them to contact you and send you their brochures and applications. I will give you their names, websites, and a general description of their mission. I will help with questions about the applications, setting up interviews and any other way that you might need assistance.

	Once I have all the available information, and have discussed with both parents and student their desires and hopes, I make a list of colleges I feel to be appropriate and ask the family to contact them for their brochures and applications, and to check them out on their websites. I give parents and student the Mason Master Schedule which we will follow without fail. Over the next few discussions, by phone or in person, we narrow the list down toward a final group of seven or eight colleges: one or two “reaches,” three or four that are just the right fit, and two backups. Once the list is final – including the possibilities of Early Decision and Early Action – we make a timetable for completing the applications, including writing the essay[s], compiling the activities sheet, selecting teachers and getting their recommendations, and finishing EVERYTHING before Christmas [or by November 1 for the “earlies.”] I do coaching with the essay[s] and activities sheet in such a way that the result is the student’s work and gives a good insight into him or her that doesn’t appear elsewhere in the application. I am also happy to begin this process in the fall of Junior Year. In either case, I am always available to family and student from the time we sign on until the student graduates from college. Though my practice does not include working with Financial Aid, I know that money is a big part of the equation as you consider four years of college. I work with and recommend Bridget Hotrum, a Financial Aid expert [bridgethotrum.com], who may save you money by maximizing your financial aid eligibility and filing all required financial aid applications. She charges a fee for her knowledgeable services, and guarantees you will make informed decisions. I know that the decision to work with a consultant is a momentous one, and that picking up the phone and making the call is sometimes hard to do. PLEASE know that I am happy to talk with you about your situation at no charge, and, without pressure, try to clarify what you need and what your choices are. You may not need my services. Many of my families have used these lenders, who specialize in educational and program loans and can stretch payments over ten or more years: KeyCorp www.key.com and PrepGATE www.prepgate.com However, here I must add a caution for the independent souls who research the web and make choices for their children based on what they find there, or on the experience of a friend of a friend. You are about to make an extensive investment of time, money, emotion and your child’s life. Financially, you are about to commit anywhere from $30,000 to $75,000 and more to this process. My fee is a VERY small percentage of that sum, and for that fee you get my forty years of knowledge, and my experience with uncounted schools, programs and children. My practice is committed to knowing which programs are legitimate [you’ve read the boot camp horror stories], which aren’t, and which are appropriate for what kind of student. I base my recommendations on what I know, backed up by the additional expertise of a national network of colleagues I keep in touch with on a regular basis. Crisis Situations defiance verbal abuse manipulation depression substance use/abuse sneaking out suicidal ideation [threats of] violence running away disrupting the household promiscuity school failure inappropriate friends For those of you reading this whose child has gone off the rails, or who feel as if s/he is about to do so, and who have contemplated acting for some time but haven’t admitted that you are in over your head, or simply haven’t asked for help, here are some thoughts: Your child is begging you by her behavior to STOP her from doing what she’s doing. He doesn’t want to be the pivot point around which the entire family spins, a family whose every action must take him and his reaction into account; he doesn’t want to control your lives. She can’t believe she’s getting away with her defiance and other actions that are covering up her pain, and will [believe me] actually be relieved when she doesn’t have to do that any more. Will the situation get any better if you wait? In my experience, if your call reflects something like the situations above, the downhill path is irreversible as long as the child is at home. The best of parents have tried, but nothing short of an intervention has had any effect on the child. More rules, fewer rules, getting tougher, giving in, therapy once a week – nothing seems to work. The devil’s question. A multiplicity of factors is at work, from how the parents were raised to the tensions in the home to the Golden Child sibling to the school to the friends to the hormones of adolescence and beyond. Parents tend to beat themselves up, and sometimes blame each other rather than seeking help. When our older child, age 28, called from the county jail with a first-offense felony possession of crystal meth – a stunning surprise to us – I called a consultant colleague [and a good lawyer] and, with her willing consent, she began a program the next week. Holly and I are working as hard as she is to insure openness and health in the future. Ask me how it’s going. “Whose fault?” Wrong question. “What can we do?” Now we’re talking. After a teen has completed a therapeutic program, and the parents want their child to rejoin their family, I strongly recommend that they engage the services of an In-Home Coach to help with what can be a difficult transition. Why is it difficult? No matter how much good work parents and child have done during the program, the ghosts and shadows of the past: curfews, personal habits, family anxieties and expectations, school – any and all of these can bring back the “bad old days,” and it helps to have a safety net in the form of an outside expert to keep the family on track. A Coach initially talks to the program therapist, the child and the parents, sets up a contract that covers areas of possible conflict, and regularly monitors how the re-entry is going, helping the family stay “unstuck” and out of old ruts. I work with a number of excellent Coaches who are available to travel to my families and meet their needs. An intervention is called for when the personal habits and actions of a family member, colleague or friend are hurting that person and entangling those sympathetic to him or her in a lifestyle that is destructive and debilitating to all concerned. Addiction to substances, physical and/or emotional abuse, gambling, philandering and other harmful actions cause great anxiety, while those closest to the person wish the behavior would stop but don’t know how to begin. In most cases, loved ones and friends are enabling the person to continue wreaking havoc. Anyone who cares can arrange an intervention by gathering family members, friends and co-workers who are affected, letting the person know about their feelings and concerns, and demanding that he or she own up to the behavior, and seek help. I can help set up and conduct an intervention that brings reality to the person in an objective, non-judgmental and caring way to break through his or her denial. I can also recommend safe, loving and relentless therapeutic programs which can help the person realize that s/he needs assistance and begin the road to recovery.

After you have considered my recommendations and completed your research [and, if possible, traveled to visit the schools/programs], we will confer about your final choice. Once placement is completed, I follow the progress of the child by receiving reports from the school/program, and through phone calls with you. From the time you sign on until the time your child completes the placement, I am available to you ANYTIME, or, in almost every case, the same day you contact me. You will work with ME personally, not an associate, or even a secretary [well, you might get my wife Holly, a labor and delivery nurse, who will deliver your message].

Finally, be aware that I work only for you and your family, not for selected placement options. To make sure that you have the widest choice possible, I do not accept fees from schools, programs or colleges. My only payment comes from you.

Sincerely,