Few people in adolescent behavioral health have been at it as long, or with as much personal investment, as Patrick Barrasso. The founder of In Balance Behavioral Health and Align Adolescent Recovery, Patrick has spent decades working alongside adolescents and their families at some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
The Founder's Corner is where that experience finds a voice. Each installment, Patrick shares his reflections, observations, and the occasional story from over forty years in a field he has never stopped learning from.
In 1981, the vision of what would eventually become In Balance Behavioral Health was born. What was significant about 1981? It’s a long story, but I’d like to share an abbreviated version.
I was sitting on a rock beside a lake, helping a young man learn how to fish. He was someone I had the privilege of working with as a volunteer through our local juvenile court. He had grown up without a father, and his mother moved in and out of residential treatment centers for mental health challenges and substance addiction.
Over several months of spending time together, something remarkable began to happen. He slowly started to trust adults again. More importantly, he began to lean into his own vision of a better life.
I was hooked.
Seeing the transformation of a young life—and knowing I had the opportunity to play even a small part in that process—changed the trajectory of my own life.
Twenty-three years later, Align Adolescent Recovery was born, grounded in that same idea: helping hurt and wounded young people, along with their families, walk through a transformative experience that allows them to rediscover hope and often realize the full potential of their lives.
Our purpose and mission have remained constant. It has been the greatest joy of my life to watch this vision evolve into what I believe is one of the most comprehensive continuums of care for young people in the United States—if not the world.
Young people today are not fundamentally different from who they were in 1981. However, the world around them has become far more complicated. The pressures, distractions, and challenges they face are greater than ever before.
That is why we continue to show up—every day—across all of our programs within the In Balance continuum of care. Our commitment is to help young people and their families who are hurt, wounded, and suffering from mental health challenges and substance use disorders find a foothold on a new life.
And it all began with a young man, a fishing pole, and a conversation on a rock.