Issue 149: july 2011

sess ment  and  re stor ative  plan ning  pro cess 

at Mountainbrook is to conduct a

Developmental Audit. 

“What oc curs (and how it oc curs) dur -

ing as sess ment and anal y sis sets the tone

for  col lab o ra tion  in  in ter ven tion.  In ter ven -

ers  fos ter  col lab o ra tion  when  they  are

fa cil i ta tors,  com mit ted  to  prob lem-solv ing

and not to as sign ing blame” (Cantrell,

Cantrell, Valore, Jones, & Fecser, 1999, p. 8).

An in take day is ar ranged so that the

par ents and stu dents can begin to build an

al li ance to sup port the child. This day is

not seen as an ap point ment for an as sess -

ment but rather a time to begin to build a

part ner ship with the fam ily in plan ning so -

lu tions. On this day, the fam ily is met by a

coun selor and a so cial his tory is con ducted 

with the fam ily. This so cial his tory not only 

in cludes  de vel op men tal  in for ma tion  but

also en lists the par ents and/or care givers

to tar get strengths of the stu dent as well

as goals for growth. These strengths are

then used as build ing blocks for in ter ven -

tion plan ning. The stu dent and fam ily are

given a tour of the fa cil ity and are in tro -

duced to teachers, fellow students, and

support staff. 

The stu dent meets with the psy chol o -

gist, and an in ter view be gins. This is not a

typ i cal  clin i cal  in ter view  fo cus ing  on  def i -

cits and di ag nos tic cri te ria but rather a

dis cus sion cen tered on the youth’s story

as viewed in his or her own terms. The in -

tent is to begin to make a con nec tion

be tween the child’s thoughts, emo tions

and cop ing strat e gies. Over the next six

weeks, time is spent build ing rap port and

sup port ing the stu dent in the con struc tion 

of his or her unique Developmental Audit

and growth plan. 

Form ing  Re spect ful  Al li ances 

An  ef fec tive  al li ance  in volves  both  per -

sonal traits of the helper and prac tice

ex per tise. Mountainbrook staff are trained 

in tech niques to em power youth, lis ten

with gen u ine em pa thy, and gain in sight.

The pro gram en lists the Re sponse Abil ity

Path ways (RAP) model as the pri mary

source of con nect ing with the child

(Brendtro & du Toit, 2005). Ad di tion ally,

each stu dent at the pro gram is as signed a

staff men tor whose pri mary focus is to

take a gen u ine in ter est in this stu dent.

Mountainbrook strives to en list the stu -

dents as part ners rather than as pa tients

(Brendtro & Shahbazian, 2004). Young

peo ple at the cen ter are in vited and en -

cour aged to par tic i pate in the plan ning of

their goals through par tic i pa tion in treat -

ment  teams  and  in di vid ual  ed u ca tional

plan ning meet ings. This al li ance and em -

pathic con nec tion helps fur ther gain

in sight into the stu dent’s unique world

(eco sys tem)  and  think ing  (pri vate  logic),

both essential components of the Audit. 

The power of this al li ance was dem on -

strated to the Mountainbrook team when

a new stu dent’s par ent began cry ing in a

meet ing and dis closed to the team: “This

is the only place that has truly taken the

time to get to know Sarah for who she is 

— not just given her an other set of di ag -

no ses.” 

Iden ti fy ing  Key  Con nec tions  in  the

Ecol ogy 

The strengths of the child and of the

peo ple in his or her ecol ogy are an

im por tant  focus  for  anal y sis  and

in ter ven tion. Areas of need or prob lems

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offer tar gets for change. Strengths

be come  crit i cal  el e ments  of  sup port  for

bring ing about those changes. (Cantrell, 

Cantrell, Valore, Jones, & Feeser, 1999,

p. 8) 

The  iden ti fi ca tion  of  key  con nec tions  in 

the ecol ogy is crit i cal to con duct ing a De -

vel op men tal  Audit.  To  begin  this  eco log i cal 

scan, the Mountainbrook team re views

the  stu dent’s  re cords.  Par tic u lar  at ten tion

is given to the child’s so cial ecol ogy. Eco -

log i cal sci ence states that prob lem

be hav ior  can not  be  un der stood  in  iso la -

tion (Hobbs, 1982). Thus, the fam ily and

stu dent,  as  well  sig nif i cant  oth ers  (case -

work ers, coun sel ors, teach ers, etc.) in the 

stu dent’s life, are in vited to par tic i pate in

form ing a growth plan. By iden ti fy ing con -

nec tions or the need for con nec tions in

the areas of fam ily, peers, school, and

com mu nity,  a  richer  un der stand ing  of  this

student’s ecology is gained through the

audit. 

Clar i fy ing  Cop ing  Be hav ior 

Mountainbrook in cor po rates the use of 

func tional  be hav ior  prin ci ples  and  the

strat e gies  of  Life  Space  Cri sis  In ter ven tion

(Long, Wood, & Fecser, 2001) to con -

struct timelines of sig nif i cant events for

the Audit. Through these timelines, one

can often in ter pret the func tion of a be -

hav ior as well as iden tify pat terns and

path ways of cop ing be hav ior. This be -

comes an in stru ment of au then tic

as sess ment pro duced jointly by stu dent

and  fa cil i ta tor  (Brendtro  &  Shahbazian,

2004). The stu dent’s cop ing be hav iors are

clar i fied through these timelines and con -

ver sa tions with the stu dent and pri mary

caregivers during the construction of the

Audit. 

Ad di tion ally,  a  model  of  col lab o ra tive

team prob lem-solv ing called CLEAR is

em ployed (Koehler, 2006). Typ i cally, four

to six weeks after a stu dent en rolls at

Mountainbrook, a C*L*E*A*R meet ing is

con ducted, bring ing to gether the stu dent,

par ents,  school  ad min is tra tion,  teach ers,

and clin i cal staff as well as any other fam ily 

mem bers  or  com mu nity  rep re sen ta tives.

Through this meet ing the stu dent’s

strengths are iden ti fied as well as the

Challenges (stress ors) the stu dent faces;

the Logic used when think ing about self,

oth ers, and the world; the Emo tions  the

stu dent  ex pe ri ences;  the  Actions the stu -

dents takes; and the Results of the ac tions. 

The dis cus sion seeks to turn prob lems

into  op por tu ni ties. 

The  Cir cle of Cour age is a com mon

frame work for iden ti fy ing where the stu -

dent’s cir cle is bro ken, i.e., where needs

are unmet (Brendtro & du Toit, 2005). For 

ex am ple, a new stu dent re vealed that she

was a vic tim of aban don ment and sex ual

abuse, some thing she pre vi ously was re -

luc tant to share with pro fes sion als. These

trau matic events led her down a path way

of maladaptive cop ing mech a nisms in clud -

ing sex ual act ing out, sui cide at tempts, and 

drug abuse. 

This overt act ing out and self-abu sive

be hav ior was used not to as sign a di ag no -

sis but to un der stand and in ter pret this

child’s unmet needs. It also helped her

rec og nize her pat terns of maladaptive

cop ing be hav ior and begin to de velop re -

sil ient  cop ing  mech a nisms.  The  stu dent’s

growth plan in cluded: 

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