Troubled Teens Resources

A milestone in a troubled teenager’s journey to healing is when they return home from teen boot camp or from the boarding school where they successfully completed a drug treatment program and rehabilitation. It is a time of joy, appreciation and fear. Fear of relapse can haunt the teenager as well as the parent.

An effective boarding school treatment program will have provided the troubled teen with a variety of tools to combat relapse.

One of the most important weapons against relapse is to have successfully implemented a complete change in lifestyle. It is important not to revisit “the scene of the crime”, i.e., old hang outs or gathering places where the struggling teen may run into the old crowd. New friends are part of the process, friends who are committed to the teenager’s success. Even new music and clothing styles can help the transition as th e old styles very often reflect the drug culture the teenager has just shed.

“A lifestyle change is not easy to make or maintain. Lapses (a one-time return to addictive behavior) and relapses (a return to an addictive lifestyle) do occur. Some people relapse several times before new behavior becomes a regular part of their lives. Thus, it is important to learn about and use relapse prevention techniques. Before discussing prevention, it is useful to understand the nature of relapse.”

Here are a few basic principles to apply in preventing a relapse.

• Ask for help from an experienced peer and use relaxation skills to reduce the intensity of the anxiety associated with cravings.
• Develop alternative activities, recognize “red flags,” avoid situations of known danger to maintaining new behavior, find alternative ways of dealing with negative emotional states, rehearse responses to predictably difficult events, and use stress management techniques to create options when the pressure is intense.
• Reward yourself in a way that does not undermine your self-caring efforts.
• Pay attention to diet and exercise to improve mood, reduce mood swings, and provide added strength to deal with stressful circumstances and secondary stress symptoms, including loss of sleep, eating or elimination problems, sexual difficulties, and breathing irregularities.

Relapse Prevention