David Altshuler, M.S.
(305) 978-8917 | [email protected]

Category: Troubled Teens

Driven Kids

Every day during Spring Break, Victor painted lines on the athletic field and changed air conditioner filters at his school. Then he painted a potting shed and two dugouts before moving on to paint a fence around the perimeter of the institution. Although Victor–at age 16–was not a member of

Read More »

Hark! I Hear the Canons Roar!

After years of kicking around auditions and struggling to survive waiting tables, Oscar gets his big break. It’s a small part admittedly-actually only one line-but for the first time, he has the chance to act in a real show. On Broadway, no less. Oscar attends every rehearsal and practices his

Read More »

The Sound of Silence

What is the one sound that resonates more than any other? What is the one sound that no one can ignore? What is the one sound that makes everyone respond viscerally, at the deepest level below conscious awareness? A jet engine is annoying, loud, disturbing, unpleasant. Firecrackers going off can

Read More »

Trick Question

Which of the following first person stories seems more plausible? 1) “There were these two sets of double doors between the dining room and the kitchen. I carried trays stacked high with the leftover food from the plates of the patrons. On the way to hand the trays to the

Read More »

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Sixteen year-old Paula is unhappy at her rehabilitation facility in California. She was happier last year before ending up in treatment. She was happy when she was running away from home, getting into cars with strange adult men, staying away for days at a time, binge drinking, and using IV

Read More »

Tommy, Can You Hear Me? Insights and Answers

“I’ve changed, Mom. I’m not going to smoke pot any more or play video games either. I just need some money until I can get a job.” Tommy pauses as if for dramatic effect then plays the card that has always worked in the past: “I can’t believe you don’t

Read More »

Tommy, Can You Hear Me?

“It’s all your fault, Mom. You are the reason I don’t have any friends. All of the other kids drive nice cars, but you gave me this lousy car to drive. The other kids make fun of me. If you would just leave me alone, everything would be OK.” “But,

Read More »

Video Didn’t Just Kill the Radio Star

I’ve never asked Dennis and Joanie for money. But I could if I had to. If I couldn’t make a mortgage payment, I’d ask them for a couple thousand to tide me over and they’d say, “You’re sure you don’t need more?” That’s how close we are. That’s the kind

Read More »

I Never Metaphor I Didn’t Like

Before touring a wilderness therapy program in Hawaii this past March, my wife and I arrived a day early so that we could enjoy the sights of the big island. One of our tourist stops was Volcano National Park. My wife, the science teacher, began explaining about volcano bombs, magma,

Read More »

What’s the Difference?

Javier’s and Alejandro’s parents could have been in the same Lamaze class. Born days apart but in the same hospital in 1987, the lives of the children had followed almost identical courses: learning differences and attentional issues that turned into trouble in school, evaluations that turned up no psychopathology, just

Read More »

Copyright © David Altshuler 1980 – 2022    |    Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC     |    (305) 978-8917    |    [email protected]