Raising a difficult teen is hard work and it can seem impossible knowing where and when to turn for help. This task is made more complicated when your teen has an alcohol addiction. While many parents want to help their teen through these issues, teen alcoholism treatment is best handled by professionals. Learning the facts about teen alcoholism treatment can help you make the decision to find a program that can meet your teen’s needs. 
There are several things you may not know about teen alcoholism treatment:
Early Intervention Makes A Difference
Sometimes it can be difficult to identify if your teen is experimenting with alcohol or if they have a substance abuse issue. Alcohol use as a teenager can easily develop into a full blown addiction. In fact, 95 percent of adults with addiction issues started using their substance of choice during their teenage years.
In addition to the potential for an addictive lifestyle, there are a number of health risks associated with using alcohol early in life. If your teen is using alcohol it is important to get them treatment as soon as possible in order to adopt healthy living practices and recover from their addiction.
Adolescents Have Unique Needs
The needs of those in teen alcoholism treatment are completely different than those of people in adult alcoholism treatment. Due to their continuing physical, emotional, and mental development, teens have unique needs during addiction treatment. A program that specializes in the treatment of adolescents will provide a supportive, safe, and structured environment that caters to the unique situations teenagers face. Adolescent treatment programs should prepare teens to deal with the unique challenges they will face after leaving treatment, be it academically, socially, or personally.
Twelve step programs are widely known and have been successful in treating addiction in adults for decades. While exposure to twelve step programs plays a role in teen alcoholism treatment, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, commonly referred to as DBT, is a better tool for treating adolescent addiction. DBT focuses on being mindful and staying in the moment, providing the skills to control one’s emotions and building interpersonal skills. These skills are necessary to overcome addiction and provide the skills necessary to manage stress and conflict without the use of alcohol.
Family Involvement Is Important
The involvement of a teen’s family is a crucial step in recovery. In fact, many programs require that a teen have an involved family unit as a condition of admission. Family therapy allows the family to heal together, to recognize the symptoms of dysfunction, and to develop new was to work together as a family unit. Teen alcoholism treatment centers that discourage family involvement or do not support rebuilding the family unit should be avoided.
Additional Services
A teen focused treatment program will do more than treat the substance abuse. Treatment should extend to every aspect of a person’s life from basic life skills like hygiene to time management. The treatment center should include schooling to allow clients to keep up with the cirruculum from their previous school. If learning disabilities or other issues are present, the adolescent treatment center should be equipped to address these concerns. After all, it is likely that the stressful situations the teen found themselves in, socially and academically, likely played a role in their decision to self-medicate with the use of alcohol.
Treatment Can Be Fun 
Recreational programs are a must have when treating adolescents. Teens will be unable to focus on their treatment without a recreational outlet. Additionally, many adolescents with substance abuse issues will be unable to see how they can have fun without using their substance of choice. Recreational activities can help adolescents discover their interests and learn that life can be fun and enjoyable without being under the influence.
For additional information on the teen alcoholism treatment programs available at Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers, schedule a session with a counselor today. Please click below to schedule your consultation or call us at 866-889-3665.
Originally posted on August 13, 2014 @ 8:42 am
