“As founder of an aftercare program that helps families with struggling teens and young adults, I have known Dore for the last 10 years. She and I have worked closely together to help many families. Dore is very successful in helping families because she has many skills and strengths. She has lots of experience and travels the country visiting programs and getting to know the people in those programs. This is essential in our business.”
David Herz, Founder and Executive Director, Colorado
“Honestly, I felt absolutely hopeless when I contacted Dr. Frances. If I didn’t love this child and see the goodness in him – maybe this wouldn’t hurt the way it does. I spent well over a year trying to get help for my adopted son. I had doors slammed in my face at every turn. I personally felt like a pariah for even seeking help. On the other hand, the medical professionals tasked with caring for my son told me I was overreacting. As you can imagine, my regret is enormous in that I waited so very long to look elsewhere. I am happy to have found Dr. Dore Frances.”
Rebecca Wallin, Minnesota
“I am the Administrative Director of a specialized residential treatment program for adolescent males with sexual abuse issues. Dr. Frances and I first met during a tour of our program about 7 years ago. She was working as an educational consultant for families needing residential placements for their teenage youth.
From our initial visit I found Dr. Frances’s knowledge of sexual abuse prevention and treatment was beyond other educational consultants. We had a long discussion about treatment philosophy and the effects of internet pornography on the youth of today.”
C.David Herz, MS, LPC, Utah
“If you looking for a wonderful resource to help you explore the options available for you as a parent trying to do the best thing for your teen who is either out of control or simply not thriving call Dore!
She has a wealth of experience and led us through the maze of therapeutic interventions, wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools and next steps. She is passionate about her work and can tune in specifically to what your child and your family needs. We were at our wits end about how to keep our daughter safe in what was an escalating series of scary events, unhealthy choices, and our lack of capacity to have sufficient influence over her behavior. Dore picked out programs suited to her personality and needs. She held our hand through the process.
And now our daughter is a mature, sober, high functioning young woman with a close and loving relationship with us.”
SP Psychologist, Boulder, Colorado
“I have known Dore for over a decade in my capacity as Clinical and Academic Director, and previously as a colleague Educational Consultant. Over the years I feel blessed to have gained a friendship with her and we have worked together to assist several Special Needs families. Dore has a number of strengths to offer young people and their families. She has a compassion for youth, a genuine commitment to family systems and strives to help students emotionally grow and realize their hidden strengths. I have been continually impressed with her dedicated efforts to find solution-focused strategies.”
Bernie Zimmerman, MA, LCPC, Idaho
“Our son was sinking into a black hole of poor behavior and personal problems. He was exhibiting oppositional and defiant behavior within our family and was also exhibiting physically aggressive behavior. He was jealous and resentful of his sister and his treatment of her was very poor and inappropriate. Our son is a complicated case. My wife and I came to believe we did not have the appropriate resources to deal with this situation in our home city. We tried a variety of doctors and therapists in our area but were not getting the desired results. In fact it appeared to us things were getting worse. We also realized there was not a therapeutic boarding school anywhere in our area that would be appropriate for our son.
Before selecting Horizon Family Solutions, I travelled to Colorado to meet with Dore Frances in person. She was very thorough and professional in her approach. She devoted plenty of time to our case and listened carefully as I described our situation. Dore showed a good deal of compassion and understanding toward our son but also dealt with our case in a fairly straightforward manner. She did not mince words. She answered our questions with direct answers and specific recommendations. Dore also showed a good deal of compassion and understanding toward the parents.
She understands dealing with a troubled child is hard on the parents and other family members. Dore recommended a therapeutic wilderness program for our son as well as a therapeutic boarding school. The wilderness program was an important component of our son’s treatment and had a positive effect on him. This was interesting because we had never heard of a therapeutic wilderness program until meeting Dore. Our son is now enrolled in a therapeutic boarding school and is making good progress. We feel HFS has been thorough and conscientious in recommending a therapeutic path for our son.
We have now returned to a more functional family environment and have hope that our son is on the right path.
Things are never perfect but we now feel our son is getting the appropriate level of treatment. As parents we are more relaxed and confident about our family’s future than we have been in quite a while.
If you have a child with strong behavior issues, emotional issues, adoption issues, or other similar problems, it’s very difficult to deal with this in a normal family environment. It’s stressful for the parents and potentially damaging to the other children in the family. Unfortunately the large, large majority of parents do not have the capability to deal with a child with these types of problems. Potentially HFS can help with this type a situation.
HFS can use their expertise to advise the parents on a proper therapeutic path for their child. Importantly, HFS can relieve some of the burden from the parents who are trying to deal with this situation on their own. This will definitely reduce the stress level of the parents and allow the family to return to a healthier home environment. As parents most of us are poorly equipped to deal with a child with strong emotional or behavior problems.
It’s difficult because as the parent you feel like you just need to try harder, spend more time with the child, be more patient, love the child more, or be more disciplined. But unfortunately some problems are simply bigger than this. HFS can advise you on the proper therapeutic path for your child.
They will relieve you of the burden of trying to do this by yourself. Dore Frances will be your ally and an advocate for your child. She will use her expertise and experience to make specific recommendations for you and your family.”
David and Leslie Hiller, Kentucky
“We adopted a boy from Romania when he was 16 months old. He had been subjected to extreme neglect and malnutrition, as well as a complete lack of any kind of stimulation. He quickly progressed after being placed in our loving family. However, there was always something “off” about him. He had many temper tantrums and was aggressive. We tried to deal with these incidents and just continue to provide a loving and supportive home for him.
We knew that we had to make up for the trauma he experienced as a baby. One night he became so enraged at his best friend, that he beat him up for a joking remark. We had to take our son to the hospital as it was clear he had no control over his behavior. He was admitted to the Adolescent Psych Ward for about a week.
It was clear that we needed to place him in a Therapeutic Residential Treatment Program before he ended up either incarcerated or dead.
Dore Frances is someone who is highly experienced and had direct knowledge of all the various programs in order to be able to choose the right placement. At first I thought “I’m a Special Education teacher. I can handle all the arrangements necessary to get him into the program. I don’t need Dore. I can save that money.” But then my husband said that I was making myself sick trying to handle everything. He was completely right.
I was in bad shape. I couldn’t eat, think, or sleep.
We realized that Dore was worth every penny because she not only had the appropriate knowledge and experience to find the right program, but she handled EVERYTHING. I felt such a sense of relief that Dore was involved. I could now focus on my son, and also on getting myself to a good place.
I highly recommend Dore Frances to any family having difficulty with their child and don’t know where to turn.
She knows about all kinds of children, not only the ones dealing with adoption issues. I have kept in touch with Dore over the years because she is a a one of a kind person and my family is lucky to have her in our lives. She was truly a Godsend.”
Dennis and Jeanne LaValle, California
“We appreciate Dr. Frances’s expertise,wisdom and discernment. We thank her for all of her work, leadership and counsel surrounding our son and our family. We know that it is truly a day at a time for all of us. We thank her for being so very honest and insightful!”
Ed and Terri Allen, Alabama
“We started out with having Dr. Frances help us with our younger adopted son and a year later we contacted her again to assist us with our older adopted son. She knew not only which programs would work best for them both independently, she also know which therapists to request. We thank her of her help and her patience in assisting our family. We are most happy to recommend her to other families in need.”
Bob and Trish Diehl, Florida
“In September 2007, I contacted Dore Frances to help me find a place that would help my son overcome some personal issues while staying current on his education.
Dore and I exchanged many emails and phone calls. Dore seemed to know what my son needed. While my son was attending this school, some issues became apparent. I either emailed or called Dore regarding them and she was in contact with the school immediately. I have to say, when I first started looking, I have one “bump” in the road. My sons father was not supportive of enrolling his son in a therapeutic boarding school. Dore made herself available to him at anytime. He contacted her regarding some issues and she responded immediately. Dore took the time to visit my son at his school.
She explained some things to him which helped him to start realizing why he needed to be there. Dore has been of great help and reassurance. I would be happy to recommend her to anyone.”
Carolyn Little, Alabama