A Room with a View
This evening I was looking out my office window at Mount Diablo. From time to time, it’s important to remind myself why I became interested in the work of The Center. This is important because I never want to take things for granted - especially a view of Mount Diablo.
In 2001, I worked at a children’s psychiatric treatment facility in Washington State. The living area consisted of three lounges and 16 single bed rooms. Each lounge was furnished with heavy furniture, upholstered in a coarse material. The weight of the furniture was meant to discourage the patients from lifting and throwing chairs. The lounge carpet was also coarse and difficult to sit on for long periods of time. Each lounge was built with only one window, about 15 feet hight. The color of the entire facility was beige. Needless to say, there were few positive distractions for the staff or the patients.
One afternoon, I was assigned to take a patient to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington. At the psychiatric treatment center, this patient’s (a 16 - year old girl, diagnosed with schizophrenia) demeanor was consistently subdued. However, upon entering Children’s her face brightened immediately. She happily talked about her previous experiences at Children’s and excitedly spoke about her appointment that day.
As soon as we entered Children’s, it was apparent that this hospital was extraordinarily different from the treatment facility she was used to. We were both struck by the bright murals and inclusion of nature. The patient’s face reflected the same positive environment that I noticed. That moment was a dramatic demonstration of the constrasting influences the built environment can have.
I often wonder what it would have been like to work at a treatment facility where the environment reflected the hope that we had for the patients’ future. Remembering this experience reminds me how lucky I am to be part of an organization that supports this hope (and one that gives me a room with a view!!)