Troubled Teens Resources

Teen help is seriously hampered by Hollywood celebrities making drug addiction appear to be a walk in the park. Britney will make another album, Lindsay Lohan will make another movie , so what is the big deal? Parents of out of control teens may be wondering if it is even worth their time to put their teen into a drug rehab program. If you use Hollywood as a measuring stick, money spent on rehab certainly appears wasted.

Why bother to enroll your teen into a troubled teen boarding school or any other program if Spears and Lohan are an example. No, rehab doesn’t work all the time and the most compelling reason it fails is because the individual addict has not fully committed to the program. Parents of teens at risk who are undergoing the arduous search to place their teen need not despair at the apparent failures such as Britney and Lindsay.

“..experts say that the more permissive attitude of high-end residential programs is primarily a reflection of the demands of a new generation of affluent addicts, more pampered and less inclined to endure the tough-minded approach of the past.”

(source)

For those who have finally put the demon of addiction behind them, the fallacy in pampering the addict is evident. Consequences are a big factor in making an addict realize the seriousness of their actions and choices. Most understand that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Addiction is a complex malady and solutions for long term sobriety vary according to the individual and the addiction.

Despite the variables in treating drug addicts, what is universal is that no addict can be helped if they refuse to recognize that they have a problem. If rehab serves to pamper instead of teach the hard lessons of addiction, the likelihood of relapse seems inevitable.

Teen crisis intervention is the most powerful when it induces in the troubled teen a vision for the future that they never before could imagine. When their talents and skills are tapped and they can feel the high of recognition for a job well done. Often addictive personalities trade one addiction for another. If it is a positive addiction,it is a powerful change. Such as this photography and essay course introduced into a teen rehab program in California. What better way to recover than by being “addicted” to the joys that you can produce from your heart and mind.

“Kim, a recovering drug addict, is one of 20 teenagers with photos on display at the Anne Arundel County Circuit Courthouse in Annapolis. The exhibit, “Insights: The Identity Project,” is composed entirely of work by children involved in the county’s Juvenile Treatment Court program.
[..]
The project, a partnership between the county and VisionWorkshops, a nonprofit photography mentoring program, is a mandatory component of the drug court, now in its fourth year. County residents, ages 13 through 18 with substance abuse problems and legal woes, are lent cameras so they can take photos and keep journals about who they are and what makes them tick.”

(Source)

Often teen age drug abuse is the result of a sense of emptiness and futility. But for a teen to be able to examine their feelings and their world and interpret them according to their own light is a transformative experience. For a troubled teen to discover their creativity is a powerful gift.

Caroline and Dave, parents of a drug addicted teen learned their lesson the hard way. When they first discovered their son’s drug abuse they were entering totally uncharted territories and were guided primarily by a therapist that they engaged without exploring all of the possible therapeutic options available for troubled teens. After completing a thirty day residential treatment rehab at a local psychiatric unit, they thought their problems were behind them. Within three weeks, their son was back to getting high.

This time they did their research and chose to place their son in a troubled teen boarding school where he could become immersed in an environment that would support his recovery efforts with additional cognitive and behavioral therapies that, if used, would equip him to continue to fight the pull of addiction long after he graduated.

But what about parents who for reasons of finance or personal preference choose instead to put their troubled teen through a 30 or 60 day rehab program? What measures can these parents take to enforce their teen’s sobriety once they have exited the program and are back in a public school environment?

The following 5 suggestions are given by Author Dr. Larry Smith to encourage an addict and their parents to make sure that effective after care support is provided. You can read them in their entirety here.

• You are 100% responsible for your own recovery — Nobody else can do it for you!
• New behaviors, attitudes and skills require practice.
• Old behaviors will quickly return unless you have new behaviors to replace them.
• You are setting a good example for your peers and for society.
• Your disease will always be waiting for you.