Troubled Teens Resources

Putting the Pieces Together:Toward a Motivational Understanding of Change
• Miller and Rollnick suggest that one way to put together
this puzzle is to “think of motivation as fundamental to
change.”
• There is reason to believe this, since clients’ motivation
to change is often a good predictor of outcome.
• Motivation can be influenced by many naturally
occurring interpersonal and intrapersonal factors, and
by specific interventions.
• It seems particularly sensitive to interpersonal
communication styles.
• Effective brief interventions appear too short to teach
new skills or alter personality, but that they can change
motivation. (pg 2)(PDF)

The above is from a PDF found on WIRED, an excellent site that “… developed as a way of empowering people to tackle problems caused by substance use.” It is based out of the UK, very well organized, offering a bit of a different perspective on varying methods of working with the teen in crisis, and replete with small vignettes featuring both parents and teens alike finding their way through the mine fields of substance abuse, intervention and treatment. Reading these, embattled teenagers stand a chance of catching a glimpse of themselves in the words of their peers.

This statement is particularly interesting :

“ Effective brief interventions appear too short to teach
new skills or alter personality, but that they can change
motivation“

‘Brief interventions’ may seem futile when dealing with an addicted or abusing teen, but cumulatively, they rip a hole in the fabric of denial that blinds a teen to their own downward spiral. They can pierce the hardness of heart, if only briefly, that typifies an addict’s self defense. They can be very simple things, an introduction of new paradigms, comparable to planting seeds, that will bear harvest later as the teen heals.

“...they can change the motivation.” A small intervention may be something as simple as allowing your struggling teen to see and hear himself in the stories of other teenagers. There are some brutally honest stories and confession of use and abuse on the Moments of Truth Board on the Check Yourself site.

And here is another seed to plant. A quiz your teenager can take to assess the extent of his pot problem. Perhaps a series of “small interventions” will hold the worst wolves at bay until the addicted teen finds his way back home.

1. Has smoking pot stopped being fun?

2. Do you ever get high alone?

3. Is it hard for you to imagine a life without marijuana?

4. Do you find that your friends are determined by your marijuana use?

5. Do you smoke marijuana to avoid dealing with your problems?

6. Do you smoke pot to cope with your feelings?

7. Does your marijuana use let you live in a privately defined world?

8. Have you ever failed to keep promises you made about cutting down or controlling your dope smoking?

9. Has your use of marijuana caused problems with memory, concentration, motivation?

10. When your stash is nearly empty, do you feel anxious or worried about how to get more?

11. Do you plan your life around your marijuana use?

12. Have friends or relatives ever complained that your pot smoking is damaging your relationship with them?