Teen Drug Treatment Centers should be staffed by Licensed and accredited Professionals for maximum results. Adolescent Rehabs should have a staff that consists of Physicians, Licensed Therapists, Chemical Dependency Counselors, Registered dietitians, Psychologists, etc. Teen rehabs need to be safe and secure for the teen,family and Staff.
Author: VISIONS
The AP is reporting that “A migraine [and epilepsy] pill seems to help alcoholics taper off their drinking without detox treatment,…offering a potential option for a hard-to-treat problem,” according to a study published in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The pill is called Topamax (topiramate), and may “appeal to heavy drinkers who would rather seek help from their own doctors, rather than enter a rehab clinic to dry out.” Heavy drinkers consumed about “11 standard drinks daily,” which translates into “two six-packs of beer each day, or two bottles of wine.” While study participants noted some side effects, addiction specialist Dr. Mark Willenbring of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said, “The size of the treatment effect is larger than in most of the other medications we’ve seen. … And all the drinking variables changed in the right direction.” On average, Topamax would cost about $350 per month, in addition to physicians’ fees.
PRESS RELEASE
RAND Corporation
Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to suffer employment problems, abuse other drugs, and commit criminal and violent acts once they reach young adulthood, according to a RAND Health study released today.
Following a group of young people from 7th grade through age 23, researchers found that youthful drinking was not only associated with an increased likelihood of people having academic and social problems during their teenage years, but was associated with a heightened risk of behavior problems at least through their early 20s.
“Early drinkers do not necessarily mature out of this problematic lifestyle once they become young adults,” said Phyllis Ellickson, a RAND researcher and the study’s lead author. “Early alcohol use is a signal that someone is likely to have more problems as they transition into adulthood.”
Researchers say the findings suggest that adolescents who drink are at high risk and should be targeted early with intervention programs that focus not only on alcohol, but also cigarette smoking, use of illicit drugs, and perhaps other problem behaviors. The study appears in the May issue of the medical journal Pediatrics.
Underage drinking is a major national problem, with estimates suggesting that by the 8th grade one-fourth of all adolescents have consumed alcohol to the point of intoxication. In addition, adolescent drinking plays a key role in the four leading causes of death among teens–car accidents, accidental injuries, homicides and suicides.
The RAND findings are from a study that followed about 3,400 youths who were recruited in 1985 from 30 socially and economically diverse schools in California and Oregon when they were enrolled in 7th grade. Participants were surveyed during the 7th grade, 12th grade and at age 23 about their current use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and about a number of behavioral issues.
At the outset of the study, about three-quarters of the 7th graders had used alcohol. Researchers labeled 46 percent as “experimenters” (had consumed alcohol, but fewer than three times in the past year and not within the past month) and 31 percent as “drinkers” (three or more alcoholic drinks within the past year or any drinking in the past month). Nondrinkers (those who had never drunk alcohol) accounted for 23 percent of the 7th graders.
Students who used alcohol by the 7th grade were far more likely than nondrinkers to report using other substances, stealing and having school problems. For example, the drinkers were 19 times more likely to be weekly smokers or hard drug users, and 4.5 times more likely to have stolen items in the past year when compared with nondrinkers. Experimenters reported fewer problems, but were still 2.5 times more likely to have used hard drugs and twice as likely to have stolen when compared with nondrinkers.
The differences remained at the 12th grade, although they were less pronounced. Compared with nondrinkers, drinkers were 5 times more likely to be weekly marijuana users, 3 times more likely to use hard drugs or experience several drug-related problems in the past year, twice as likely to have been suspended or dropped out of school, and about twice as likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior in the past year.
Experimenters were about twice as likely to be weekly marijuana users, use hard drugs, and have multiple drug problems, 1.2 to 1.7 times more likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior, and 1.5 times more likely to commit a felony or be suspended from school.
“Early drinking clearly is associated with other problems that develop in school and in many other settings,” said Joan S. Tucker, a RAND psychologist and another author of the report. “Differences between drinkers and nondrinkers show up early and persist over time.”
At age 23, those identified in 7th grade as drinkers still showed significantly more behavior problems than those who had been nondrinkers. The drinkers were 2 to 3 times more likely to use hard drugs, experience multiple drug problems, or have undergone alcohol or drug treatment, 3 times more likely to have been arrested for drunk driving, twice as likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior in the past year, and nearly 1.5 times more likely to report missing work for no reason.
The differences were smaller for the group identified as experimenters in 7th grade. Compared with nondrinkers, experimenters were twice as likely to have multiple drug problems, 1.6 times as likely to engage in criminal behavior, use hard drugs, or have undergone alcohol or drug treatment, and nearly twice as likely to have been arrested for drunk driving.
“These results suggest that drinking in early adolescence may be among the most important risk factors for a wide variety of behavior problems during the transition to young adulthood,” Tucker said. “Preventing drinking initiation before Grade 7 may help reduce these later problems.”
Researchers say it is not clear what mechanisms link early alcohol use to behavior problems later in life. It may be that alcohol disrupts the development of adequate social and academic skills that are needed to succeed later in life. Or early alcohol use may signal that an individual is predisposed to use drugs and develop other behavioral problems.
The research was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The project also included RAND researcher David J. Klein.
RAND Health is the nation’s largest independent health policy research organization, with a broad research portfolio that focuses on medical quality, health care costs and delivery of health care, among other topics.
Press Release
RAND
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Teen Drug Slang
Every parent is baffled at times by the slang of their teens. Individuating via language is an important rite of passage for each generation; a way for the younger generation to identify themselves as unique. But can this normal behavior mask something more dangerous? It is entirely possible that your teenager is talking about their drug use right in front of you. Knowing current slang may be the difference between keeping your child safe, and allowing them unknowingly to engage in unsafe behavior.
Every generation adopts slang for drugs, and the paraphernalia used within the drug culture. Many terms from previous generations remain them same; successive generations strive to identify themselves with fresh new spin words. The advent of new drugs and hybrids of old drugs has necessitated the invention of original names. Many terms may have alternate or multiple meanings depending on a specific region. To try and keep up with current slang can be difficult for most parents. Fortunately, with the help of the Internet and interviewing a group of “experienced” adolescents, we have come up with a shortlist of some of the more common contemporary drug terminology.
Adderall: addys
Cocaine: blow, coke, girl, nose candy, powder, snow, “snow white”, white, the white pony, yay, yayo
Coricidin: cherry bombs, dm, dxm, robo, skittles, triple C’s,
Crack: freebase, ice, rock
Crystal Methamphetamine: crank, crystal, “Crystal Light”, glass, ice, meth, shit, speed, spiff, sugar, Tina, twak, tweak, twizzle, white ice, yaba
Ecstasy / MDMA: Adam, beans, disco biscuits, E, raves, thiz, thizzle, X, XTC
Ecstasy and LSD: candy flip
Heroin: cheese, china white, chiva, dope, H, horse, junk, monkey, smack, tar
Ketamine: k, special k
LSD: blotter, doses, L, liquid, Sid, sugar cubes, sunshine, tabs, trips
Marijuana / Cannabis: blaze, bud, cheeba, chronic, ganja, grass, greens, herb, hydro, MJ, Mary Jane, reefer, THC, trees, weed
Use of Marijuana: blaze, have a sess(ion), let’s go bowling, 420
Mushrooms: magic mushrooms, shrooms
Nitrous Oxide: cartridges, hippy crack, laughing gas, NO2
Oxycontin: o.c., orange county, oxy, Percocet, Percodan
PCP: angel dust, evil
Vicodin: narcos, vics
Xanax: bars, footballs, white sticks, xanys, z-bars, zanies
This list is not comprehensive, and drug terms change frequently, so remember to do your own research. Google any terms you hear your children throwing around if you suspect they may be talking about drug use. Knowing what your teenagers know may be the best way to protect them!
For further information visit:
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/streetterms/default.asp
www.erowid.com *
www.urbandictionary.com *
* The last two sites were provided by teens and represent sites where they get their information about drugs. These sites are designed for young people, teens and/or drug users, and may contain offensive material and candid discussion of drug use.
December 30, 2004 WASHINGTON (AP)
More than four million people younger under age 21 drove under the influence of drugs or alcohol last year, according to a government report released Wednesday. That’s one in five of all Americans aged 16 to 20.
“That’s an awful lot of kids if you think about it,” said Charlene Lewis, acting director of the Office of Applied Studies at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which produced the report.
The report, based on a large household survey of drug use, found a small drop in driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol between 2002 and 2003. In 2002, 22 percent drove under the influence; last year, it was 20 percent. Just four percent of these young people reported being arrested and booked for driving under the influence in the year before they were interviewed.
The report was released Wednesday in advance of New Year’s Eve in hopes of raising consciousness of the issue on a night when the risk of drinking and driving is high, federal officials said. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among young people. The data come from face-to-face interviews in the homes of people ages 12 and up, part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. People were asked to define for themselves what driving “under the influence” of drugs or alcohol means. Young people were most likely to drink alcohol and then drive, with 17 percent admitting this. Fourteen percent said they had driven under the influence of illicit drugs, and eight percent reported driving after consuming a combination of alcohol and drugs.
The rates were highest among people who lived in the Midwest and among those who lived outside of metro areas. Researchers did not have data to compare the 2002-03 rates to earlier years. But a similar survey of teen behavior found that drunken driving fell steadily between 1984 and the early 1990s, as media campaigns pleaded “friends don’t let friends drive drunk” and urged partygoers to choose a designated driver.
The rates remained level from 1992 to 1995 before jumping a bit in the late 1990s and then declining a little in 2003, said Lloyd Johnston, principal investigator for the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey of students. “It’s not nearly as serious a problem as it was in the mid ’80s but it’s still a serious problem,” he said. He said that his survey also found that a substantial number of teens rode in cars where drivers had been drinking, adding to the number of young people at risk.
Johnston added that while teens growing up in the 1980s were exposed to heavy media campaigns against drunken driving, that’s not true for today’s teens. He warned of “generational forgetting.”
“Each generation has to be reeducated about the dangers of any of these behaviors,” he said.
“Make sure that every time you talk to your kids about sex, you also talk about drugs and alcohol, and every time you talk to them about drugs and alcohol, you talk to them about sex,” Califano advises. He says kids should learn how the topics are connected, so they are better equipped to deal with challenging situations when they arise.
Experts also suggest keeping an eye on the television shows your children watch, the music they listen to, and the Web sites they visit, because staying aware of outside influences helps parents become better equipped, as well.
By John Stossel, abcnews.go.com
Parents have their hands full trying to keep kids away from alcohol, smoking and drugs. Now there’s yet another substance that teens are using to get high – legally. They’re taking big doses of ordinary cold medicine.
A group of kids who spoke to ABCNEWS said they were using Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold Pills to get stoned. The ingredient that gives kids a high is dextromethorphan, or DXM. It suppresses coughs safely, but in large amounts it produces a chemical imbalance in the brain that allows the kids to get high.
Dextromethorphan is in more than 100 cold medicines, not just Coricidin, but one type of Coricidin has the particular cocktail of ingredients that the kids prefer. This week, the American Association of Poison Control reported teen abuse of these types of over-the-counter cold medications has doubled in the last four years.
‘It Tastes Just Like Candy’
Molly, 17, described how taking a large dose of the pills made her feel, “You turn your head and everything went in slow motion. It was like you were in The Matrix or something.” The abuse of Coricidin is so appealing, kids say, because it’s easy to get, it’s legal, and parents and teachers usually don’t have any idea they’re taking it. ”
As far as drugs go, you don’t need to know a dealer, you know. If you can find a Walgreen’s or a grocery store, you’re set,” said Jeff Helgeson, a 20-year-old from Minneapolis. Helgeson says he’s been getting high on Coricidin for four years.
Some kids call the habit “skittling,” because the pills look like the popular candy Skittles. “It’s just like pot, except it’s better and it tastes just like candy and your parents won’t know if you get high cause your eyes won’t be red,” said Ashley, 16.
Jason, a 15-year-old from Seattle, said he liked the feeling so much he took the pills every day for five months. Another teen, Kevin, said he took Coricidin for a year and a half.
Parents, Teachers Often Unaware of Abuse
When parents see that their kids have cold pills, they don’t think twice. It’s just cold medicine, after all; it seems innocent enough. School principal Judi Hanson says she’s finding that Coricidin is becoming kids’ drug of choice. It’s easier to conceal. There’s no smell, there’s no dealing with a dealer. It makes it hard to detect.
But Jason’s father, Pat, noticed his son seemed stoned when he came home with friends and he confronted him. Jason finally admitted to abusing the medicine. Like many parents, Pat didn’t know kids could get high on cold pills. Often the kids don’t even buy the Coricidin – they steal it. Helgeson said he stole it. “I’d wear my coat in there or stuff it in my underwear.”
The shoplifting has led some stores to move that type of Coricidin behind the counter. James Holm, a pharmacist at a Hopkins, Minn., store, said they had no choice.” These kids just seem to find it, zero in on it, and believe me, if you have it on the shelf, it’s going to be gone,” he said. “They’ll steal it right out from underneath your nose. … They just grab it and go.”
As the kids talked about getting stoned, there was a lot of laughter, even when they talked about accidents and injuries they suffered while taking the pills. Helgeson laughed as he talked about breaking his elbow and ankle while snowboarding and skateboarding when he was high on Coricidin.
Sometimes they laughed about not getting caught. Helgeson said he drag-raced a police car, and thought it was funny the officers couldn’t tell he was high when they pulled him over. “They gave me a Breathalyzer. I hadn’t been drinking. I didn’t have any drugs on me. So they didn’t know,” he said.
Helgeson was the oldest among the group of young people who talked with ABCNEWS about their experiences. As the younger kids continued to laugh about their experiences, we noticed that Helgeson seemed sort of separate from them. Helgeson says it’s still fun when he takes Coricidin, but he says it’s wrecked his life. His mom has to drive him places because he’ll lose his license if he gets another ticket. He dropped out of school and now lives at home, spending most of his time playing his guitar or just sitting.”
Living in the household with Jeff the past few years has been like living with somebody who’s sick and they never get well,” said his mom, Merrilly Helgeson. Jeff Helgeson has a twin brother, John, a junior at the University of Wisconsin, whose life is good.
His mom says Jeff “always has a reminder right in front of him of where he would be right now if he were not doing Coricidin.” And Jeff doesn’t seem happy with himself. “My brain has gone and I’m just wasted. It took all my friends away from me. I threw my life away.” Yet he keeps using.
Abuse on the Rise
Failing grades or a trip to the hospital is sometimes what it takes to alert kids and their parents to the danger. Doctors say they’re seeing more and more kids in emergency rooms who’ve taken too much Coricidin. Over the last three years, there’s been approximately a 300 percent increase in calls to poison control centers about dextramethorphan, said Dr. Edward Boyer, an emergency room physician in Massachusetts.
Boyer says the kids who come in to the emergency room are agitated, difficult to control, sweating and unresponsive when you try to speak to them. Molly and Ashley had a recent close call. They told Ashley’s mom they were going to bed. Instead they took Coricidin, sneaked out of their house, and went to a party where they took more Coricidin.”
My fingers were so numb that I couldn’t open the package. So me and Molly were literally trying to rip the package open with our teeth,” Ashley said. They went to a boy’s house where Ashley may have had sex, but she doesn’t know. “He took me in a bedroom and I guess he tried to have sex with me. … He was on top of me. But I fell asleep.”
Later, a hospital test revealed she and the boy had not had sex. She and Molly did get home and later went to sleep. But by morning, they were still very high. The Coricidin high can last a day. Ashley’s mom called the poison control center and was told to get the girls to the hospital.
Sometimes Deadly Consequences
At least five people have died after taking Coricidin, but even death doesn’t seem to scare the kids. Jason had heard about a boy who died, but said he knows that the boy took the type of Coricidin that contains acetaminophen. And he knows not to take that type. “It tends to cause you to die,” he said.
He’s right, because acetaminophen can cause liver damage or death when taken in large doses. Boyer said, “If you talk to kids, they know they should take the stuff that doesn’t have acetaminophen in it.” It’s hard to believe the kids know which type of medicine is going to hurt them less.
But Boyer says he believes they do, and he says they can get a lot of information from an online drug encyclopedia called Erowid. While Erowid warns that high doses of acetaminophen can be fatal, the Web site appears to have been written by drug users. They describe first-time experiences, and suggest dosages – and in the case of Coricidin, warn of its dangers. In fact, you can get more information from these than you get from the government’s drug-abuse Web site, Boyer said. “If I need information on a drug of abuse, I go to this Web site,” he said.
Easy Access Makes Drug a Greater Threat
Some parents say Coricidin, because it’s so accessible, is worse than other drugs. They want it taken off store shelves. But the company that makes Coricidin, Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, said removing it from the shelves would deny cold sufferers access to a helpful medication.
“We want to minimize abuse by warning people and changing the package so it’s harder to shoplift, but Coricidin HBP is a valuable cold medicine, the safest and most effective product for patients with high blood pressure,” the company said in a statement.
It also said putting it behind the counter would deprive those who need it. Wal-Mart’s policy is to sell it only to customers 18 or older, and the chain limits the number of boxes people can buy to three. Still, kids who want to abuse the medicine can still find it in stores or buy it over the Internet. Ultimately, making the decision not to abuse the medicine will be up to the kids.
Ashley said it’s difficult to stop taking it once you get started. “It’s addictive,” she said, “Here’s some ingredient in those pills that makes you want to take it again no matter what.” That’s not correct. Dextromethorphan is not physically addictive.
Ashley and Molly have now stopped taking it. People do quit. Jason has been clean since June, and Kevin for almost a year. But Jeff Helgeson still uses.” I know that the right answer is for me to never do it again. Or drugs in general,” he said. “But once you’ve been down that road, it’s really difficult to get on a different path and stay on that path.”
Poison Control Information
1 (800) 222-1222 is the 24-hour emergency number to call to find a poison control center your area. Poison control centers have additional information concerning abuse and misuse of cold medicines containing dextromethorphan.
Press Release: RAND – www.rand.org
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Children who are drinking alcohol by 7th grade are more likely to suffer employment problems, abuse other drugs, and commit criminal and violent acts once they reach young adulthood, according to a RAND Health study released today.
Following a group of young people from 7th grade through age 23, researchers found that youthful drinking was not only associated with an increased likelihood of people having academic and social problems during their teenage years, but was associated with a heightened risk of behavior problems at least through their early 20s.
“Early drinkers do not necessarily mature out of this problematic lifestyle once they become young adults,” said Phyllis Ellickson, a RAND researcher and the study’s lead author. “Early alcohol use is a signal that someone is likely to have more problems as they transition into adulthood.”
Researchers say the findings suggest that adolescents who drink are at high risk and should be targeted early with intervention programs that focus not only on alcohol, but also cigarette smoking, use of illicit drugs, and perhaps other problem behaviors. The study appears in the May issue of the medical journal Pediatrics.
Underage drinking is a major national problem, with estimates suggesting that by the 8th grade one-fourth of all adolescents have consumed alcohol to the point of intoxication. In addition, adolescent drinking plays a key role in the four leading causes of death among teens–car accidents, accidental injuries, homicides and suicides.
The RAND findings are from a study that followed about 3,400 youths who were recruited in 1985 from 30 socially and economically diverse schools in California and Oregon when they were enrolled in 7th grade. Participants were surveyed during the 7th grade, 12th grade and at age 23 about their current use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and about a number of behavioral issues.
At the outset of the study, about three-quarters of the 7th graders had used alcohol. Researchers labeled 46 percent as “experimenters” (had consumed alcohol, but fewer than three times in the past year and not within the past month) and 31 percent as “drinkers” (three or more alcoholic drinks within the past year or any drinking in the past month). Nondrinkers (those who had never drunk alcohol) accounted for 23 percent of the 7th graders.
Students who used alcohol by the 7th grade were far more likely than non-drinkers to report using other substances, stealing and having school problems. For example, the drinkers were 19 times more likely to be weekly smokers or hard drug users, and 4.5 times more likely to have stolen items in the past year when compared with non-drinkers. Experimenters reported fewer problems, but were still 2.5 times more likely to have used hard drugs and twice as likely to have stolen when compared with non-drinkers.
The differences remained at the 12th grade, although they were less pronounced. Compared with non-drinkers, drinkers were 5 times more likely to be weekly marijuana users, 3 times more likely to use hard drugs or experience several drug-related problems in the past year, twice as likely to have been suspended or dropped out of school, and about twice as likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior in the past year.
Experimenters were about twice as likely to be weekly marijuana users, use hard drugs, and have multiple drug problems, 1.2 to 1.7 times more likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior, and 1.5 times more likely to commit a felony or be suspended from school.
“Early drinking clearly is associated with other problems that develop in school and in many other settings,” said Joan S. Tucker, a RAND psychologist and another author of the report. “Differences between drinkers and nondrinkers show up early and persist over time.”
At age 23, those identified in 7th grade as drinkers still showed significantly more behavior problems than those who had been nondrinkers. The drinkers were 2 to 3 times more likely to use hard drugs, experience multiple drug problems, or have undergone alcohol or drug treatment, 3 times more likely to have been arrested for drunk driving, twice as likely to engage in violent or criminal behavior in the past year, and nearly 1.5 times more likely to report missing work for no reason.
The differences were smaller for the group identified as experimenters in 7th grade. Compared with nondrinkers, experimenters were twice as likely to have multiple drug problems, 1.6 times as likely to engage in criminal behavior, use hard drugs, or have undergone alcohol or drug treatment, and nearly twice as likely to have been arrested for drunk driving.
“These results suggest that drinking in early adolescence may be among the most important risk factors for a wide variety of behavior problems during the transition to young adulthood,” Tucker said. “Preventing drinking initiation before Grade 7 may help reduce these later problems.”
Researchers say it is not clear what mechanisms link early alcohol use to behavior problems later in life. It may be that alcohol disrupts the development of adequate social and academic skills that are needed to succeed later in life. Or early alcohol use may signal that an individual is predisposed to use drugs and develop other behavioral problems. The research was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The project also included RAND researcher David J. Klein.
RAND Health is the nation’s largest independent health policy research organization, with a broad research portfolio that focuses on medical quality, health care costs and delivery of health care, among other topics.
Adolescent substance abusers differ from adults in many ways. Their drug and alcohol use often stems from different causes, and they have even more trouble projecting the consequences of their use into the future. In addiction treatment, adolescents must be approached differently than adults because of their unique developmental issues, differences in their values and belief systems, and environmental considerations (e.g., strong peer influences). The use of substances may also compromise an adolescent’s mental and emotional development from youth to adulthood because substance use interferes with how people approach and experience interactions.
It is the philosophy of Visions that the effective treatment of adolescents with substance abuse and behavioral disorders involves a holistic approach that includes attention to adolescents’ emotional growth and development of:
- Physical health
- Psychological health
- Family relations
- Social supports
- Cultural factors
Every person who enters our facility is an individual with varied needs and problems. We avoid “pigeon-holing” anyone. We see each resident as a whole being, thus all aspects of recovery are addressed including psychological, environmental and physical. While the primary focus is on the need to maintain sobriety, other issues such as eating disorders, cross-addictions, low self-esteem, anger management, and family dysfunction will be assessed and addressed for the greatest success of our residents.
Visions believes teen recovery from chemical dependency, addictive behaviors and psychological disorders is a lifelong process. Visions teaches their residents the necessary skills required for on-going self-care and recovery including direct involvement in 12-Step community based programs. Following the initial recovery/stabilization period, each individual is encouraged to integrate a series of new living skills which focus on the development and nurturing of one’s mind, body and spirit and utilize the vast resources of adjunct therapies available. Such therapies include nutritional, meditation, yoga and experiential therapies.
The focus at Visions also accounts for age, gender, ethnicity, cultural background, family structure, cognitive and social development, and readiness for change. Younger adolescents have different developmental needs than older adolescents, and teen addiction treatment approaches are developed appropriately for different age groups.
Teen Program Goals and Objectives
- Encourage and motivate the adolescent to achieve and sustain abstinence.
- Assist the adolescent in identifying situations where drugs and alcohol were used to cope with life’s problems and in understanding that using drugs and alcohol to cope with or solve problems does not work.
- Help the adolescent to develop new, more effective problem-solving strategies.
- Introduce the adolescent to the 12-step philosophy and strongly encourages participation in Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and/or Cocaine Anonymous (CA).
- Assist the adolescent to recognize and acknowledge the existence of destructive behaviors and mental health issues in their lives and the impact they have on their family, friends and future.
- Help the adolescent to recognize and change problematic attitudes and behaviors which that may that may stimulate a relapse.
- Involve family and/or significant others in the rehabilitation process and reduce dysfunction within the family.
- Assess and meet the psychological and psychiatric needs of the adolescent.
- Assess and meet the medical needs of the resident, by referral.
- Establish a referral network system for services not rendered in our program.
- Assist the adolescent to resolve any legal issues, which may have involved criminal activity.
- Teach the adolescent to seek out and actively become involved in community-based resources including healthy peer groups.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact us today.