Troubled Teens Resources

Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary Defines intervention as “the act or fact of interfering with a condition to modify it or with a process to change its course”.

American Heritage Dictionary defines intervene as “To come, appear, or lie between two things.”

Most parents would not hesitate to throw themselves between their child and an oncoming car if they thought they could throw the child to safety. The combination of peer pressure, anger and emotional pain can set your child on a collision course every bit as fatal and a parent will have no choice but “to lie between two things.” To “interfere with a condition” of the heart and mind that is propelling their at-risk child far from life and safety, and to “change the course” of a self-destructive teen towards a new course of healing and productivity.

Because of popular media, for some parents, the term intervention itself suggests an ordeal involving coercion and trauma. A little investigation can assure the parent that interrupting the processes at work in your teen’s crisis can be an effective course to stop the momentum of a life out of control.

When is it time to make that choice? Crisis Counseling.com provides some valuable resources that the distressed parent can use to begin evaluating what is best for their teen.

“The choice of intervention, the duration and the competence of those involved are critical factors to insure success. More than anything, the intervention must be appropriate to the level of risk and responsive to the underlying problem or potential cause. The key is to determine the level of risk and likelihood that problems will continue or escalate.

The most reliable and systematic methods are the first and best approach in assessing risk. The “Adolescent Clinical Screening Questionaire” is am excellent tool.”