
Dialectical behavior therapy – DBT focuses on building positive coping skills to deal with stress and negative emotions Individual therapy – Addiction recovery is a process that looks different for everyone, so individualized therapy sessions help each teen work through their unique challenges
Full Answer
How can I help my teen’s recovery from addiction?
Family support is often crucial for a teen’s long-term recovery. Outpatient programs typically include parents and siblings in addiction treatment exercises. This helps the whole family heal and prevents the recovering teen from relapsing.
How long does it take a teenager to recover from addiction?
Teen Recovery. Seeking professional help for addiction is a smart choice, but recovery doesn’t end after a 30-day or 60-day treatment plan. Those treatment plans help teens achieve sobriety and prepare them for long-term recovery. Long-term recovery requires hard work, lifestyle changes and continued support.
Should teens continue outpatient treatment for addiction?
Ideally, teens should have received some kind of counseling or therapy during their initial treatment for addiction. Continuing that treatment on an outpatient basis greatly decreases the chances of relapse.
How can behavioral therapy help a teenager with substance abuse?
Behavioral Treatments. Many teens struggling with drug abuse also face underlying disorders such as depression or anxiety. Behavioral therapy can help teens address psychological issues that lead to drinking or drug use. Behavioral therapy is hands-on for both teens and families.

What are the most important factors that help people recover from addiction?
While there isn't yet a cure, these factors can set recovery on the right path.Readiness to Change. If you know anything about recovery, you know this one's a no-brainer. ... Belief in the Ability to Overcome Challenges. ... Maintenance of Psychological and Emotional Wellness. ... Support. ... Structure. ... Productivity.
What are the four steps involved in recovery from addiction?
The four stages of treatment are:Treatment initiation.Early abstinence.Maintaining abstinence.Advanced recovery.
What are some ways to overcome the addiction?
5 action steps for quitting an addictionSet a quit date. ... Change your environment. ... Distract yourself. ... Review your past attempts at quitting. ... Create a support network. ... For more information on finding an effective path to recovery, check out Overcoming Addiction, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.
What are 3 strategies often used to treat addiction?
There are many options that have been successful in treating drug addiction, including:behavioral counseling.medication.medical devices and applications used to treat withdrawal symptoms or deliver skills training.evaluation and treatment for co-occurring mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.More items...•
What is the recovery stage?
There is not an individual set amount of time for the stages, as recovery is just as individualized as the addiction to drugs or alcohol. There are generally three stages of recovery: abstinence, repair, and growth.
What are the steps to recover?
What Are the 12 Steps to Recovery?Step 1: Admit your life has become unmanageable. ... Step 2: Accept that you need God to become sober. ... Step 3: Decide to turn over your life to God. ... Step 4: Honestly take stock of your life. ... Step 5: Admit your wrongs to yourself, God, and others.More items...•
How can we prevent drug abuse in youth?
Consider other strategies to prevent teen drug abuse:Know your teen's activities. Pay attention to your teen's whereabouts. ... Establish rules and consequences. ... Know your teen's friends. ... Keep track of prescription drugs. ... Provide support. ... Set a good example.
How can God help me overcome addiction?
2 Corinthians 12:9 – God tells you that his strength is all you need because His power is greatest when you are weak. When you are facing an addiction that makes you feel feeble and defeated, remember God is your strength and there to carry you through those moments.
How long does it take to get rid of an addiction?
It takes 21 days to break an addiction According to psychologists, while it may take approximately 21 days of conscious and consistent effort to create a new habit, it takes far longer to break an existing habit.
What is recovery therapy?
Based on Aaron Beck's cognitive model, and embodying the principles and spirit of the recovery movement, Recovery Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R) is a treatment approach designed to promote empowerment, recovery, and resiliency in individuals with serious mental health conditions.
What is a treatment plan for substance abuse?
A substance abuse treatment plan is an individualized, written document that details a client's goals and objectives, the steps need to achieve those, and a timeline for treatment. These plans are mutually agreed upon with the client and the clinician.
What type of therapy works best for substance abuse?
Behavioral therapy is perhaps the most commonly utilized types of treatment for addiction that is frequently used during substance rehabilitation.
What is outpatient treatment for teens?
Family support is often crucial for a teen’s long-term recovery. Outpatient programs typically include parents and siblings in addiction treatment exercises. This helps the whole family heal and prevent the recovering teen from relapsing.
What are the best ways to help a teen?
Many treatment exercises include the teen’s support group of family and friends. These “family-based therapies” target many potential problems, including: 1 Co-Occurring disorders 2 Peer pressure 3 Problems with work or school attendance 4 Family communication and conflict
How does addiction treatment work?
Teens addicted to drugs or alcohol struggle with an adult issue, but their psychological and emotional needs differ from an adult’s. Rehabs that recognize these needs help your teen get the most effective treatment. Teens are separated by gender and age during inpatient treatment.
How does MTE help teens?
One to three therapy sessions inspiring teens to take part in drug addiction treatment. MTE is paired with other therapy methods to motivate teens to plan for recovery. An intervention method that helps replace negative environmental factors with healthy ones. A-CRA focuses on improving teens’ support systems.
What is behavioral therapy for teens?
Behavioral therapy can help teens address psychological issues that lead to drinking or drug use.
Is detox necessary for addiction?
Supervised, medical detox might be necessary for severe addictions. Quitting some drugs, like prescription painkillers, without medical supervision can be lethal. Inpatient treatment programs offer 24-hour care to families battling teen drug addiction.
Entering Addiction at a Young Age
Maggie French was 12 when she started drinking. According to Maggie, “it was pretty standard where I grew up,” in Vermont. By 15, she was using heroin intravenously. Little did Maggie know she was part of a trend – young Vermonters using drugs at an alarming rate.
The Shape of Recovery for Those Who Start Young
In her Far from Finished podcast, Maggie French reports always looking outside herself for solutions. She remembers her disappointment one childhood Christmas when the gifts under the tree failed to uplift her in the way she’d expected. Later in life, she turns to boyfriends for that boost.
Recovery: No Matter How Young You Start, You Can Put It Behind You
French says that in early recovery she still engaged in a lot of attention-seeking behaviors; she became a workaholic “because when I was at work I didn’t have to deal with myself.” And she had a couple of false starts (relapse) before she learned, partially through mentoring and partially through trial and error, to surround herself with women who were steady (and “ahead of her”) in their recovery..
How to tell if a teenager is addicted to alcohol?
If they are afraid of disapproval, they will go to great lengths to keep their secret under wraps. Trouble with the law, lying, stealing, shoplifting, or encounters with the police are signs. 2. Loss of interest in school and friends. When teens start to leave behind childhood friends and spend more time with an older group, they could be exposed to alcohol and drugs leading to alcohol addiction or drug addiction. 3. Physical signs include dilated or pinpoint pupils, bloodshot eyes, frequent nosebleeds, changes in appetite, digestive problems, excessive yawning, and the shakes. The Right Step adolescent drug and alcohol recovery program was developed to provide for the specific needs of youth. Duration of treatment, residential or intensive outpatient program, aftercare planning, and assistance with transitioning to a productive future vary from client to client. The program engages teens in a recovery-based lifestyle and begins the process of making a lifelong connection to AA/NA. In addition to attending an accredited onsite school, the alcohol addiction program focuses on teaching personal accountability, respect, communication skills, and the necessary tools to achieve long-term sobriety, while also incorporating a variety of leisure and recreational activities. With nearly twenty years of experience, The Right Step is known as one of the country’s greatest values in addiction treatment and offers both adolescent inpatient and outpatient programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Additionally, there are seven other outpatient programs throughout Texas. To read more about our outpatient treatment and locations, click here.
How common is drug use among teens?
For a parent, recognizing flags that your teen is abusing drugs or alcohol is not a pleasant task and many parents may feel like their child doesn’t have a problem. However, a study found that alcohol and drug use is common among American teens and more than 15% of them meet the criteria for substance abuse. Between the ages of 13 and 18, more than 78% of the oldest teens had consumed alcohol, about 47% consumed at least 12 drinks a year, and about 15% met the criteria for alcohol abuse. Source
How does recreational therapy help a recovering addict?
Recreational therapy (also called Therapeutic Recreation or TR) engages teen rehab patients in active leisure activities (e.g. sports, arts and crafts, games). Healthy leisure can benefit a recovering addict in several ways, and TR has an emphasis on treating the “whole person,” not just the mind. In the worst of a substance addiction, a teenager can easily forget how to enjoy life outside of drugs or alcohol. Recreational therapy encourages them to loosen up throughout the treatment process and helps them rediscover the positive traits of their personality. It also allows them to bond with other recovering addicts, and relearn how to interact with others in a healthy way. Along the way they may learn new skills, improve their physical health and feel a boost to their self-esteem and self-worth.
What happens if a teenager has a substance use disorder?
If your teen has a substance use disorder, the consequences can spread like wildfire into all aspects of their life. Some people who experiment with substances believe it “won’t happen to them.”.
Why do teens need pharmacotherapy?
Prescribing medications during substance abuse treatment may help your teen reduce cravings, restore their normal health, or address any underlying psychiatric disorders (which is also known as a dual diagnosis ). Pharmacotherapy, as it’s called, is far more common in adult treatment patients.
What is substance use disorder?
The term “substance use disorder” is applied to people with destructive and unmanageable substance problems. Over the years, the medical community has updated the terminology as the treatment and diagnosis for these cases has evolved. An individual may “abuse” substances — overindulging in drugs or alcohol from time to time — or develop an ...
What are the best medications for substance abuse?
Medications prescribed in substance abuse treatment may include: 1 Opioids – drugs like Vicodin and Percocet that help numb patients to pain 2 Stimulants – drugs like Adderall and Ritalin that increase mental functions like alertness and energy 3 Mood stabilizers – drugs like Lithium that reduce the appearance of emotional swings
How long does it take for a child to detox from alcohol?
The human body will do this naturally, and it can take a couple days or a couple weeks — depending on the patient’s situation. Detoxing under the care of professionals ensures that it’s done safely out of reach from harmful substances. Your teen may experience withdrawal symptoms as well — physical or mental anguish from not feeding their addiction. By undergoing detox with medical supervision, doctors can aid them through any withdrawal pains (potentially with the help of medication).
How many teens use substances?
Around 75% of high schoolers have used addictive substances at least once, and nearly half of them — more than 6 million kids in the US — currently use.
Why is it important to deal with a teen's drug or alcohol problem early?
It’s important to deal with a teen’s drug or alcohol problem early because it can affect the brain, making it more difficult to stop or control substance use through willpower alone.
Why do teens use drugs?
Struggling to maintain a strong grade point average or turning in college or job applications may push some students to seek relief through drugs or alcohol. Some teens also are attracted to substance use to try to improve their social life, using drugs or alcohol to loosen up or fit in.
What is the National Institute on Drug Abuse?
The National Institute on Drug Abuse provides information about individual drugs and their effects on teens along with a list of treatment options for substance use problems. Just Think Twice. Just Think Twice was developed in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to show teens the myths about drugs and drug abuse through real-life ...
What is the Office of Adolescent Health?
The Office of Adolescent Health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health provides national statistics on adolescent substance use, the risks of using drugs and alcohol as a teenager, and several resources for both students and parents. The National Institute on Drug Abuse.
What to do if a teenager is not comfortable talking to their parents?
Teens who aren’t comfortable talking about these issues with a parent or guardian, can ask a school guidance counselor to put them in touch with support groups and resources that have worked for other young people. In some cases, teen rehab programs are the best way to treat a drug or alcohol problem.
What are the problems teens face with alcohol?
It’s time to do something about it when teenage alcohol and drug use interferes with daily life or causes health issues, including: School failure. Problems with family and other relationships. Loss of interest in normal healthy activities. Memory loss.
What are the signs of substance use disorder?
Common signs of a substance use disorder can include loss of sleep or appetite, mood changes, dilated pupils, strange and unpredictable behavior, or losing interest in normal activities.
Where Does Addiction Recovery Start?
For many people, especially teens, the recovery process takes time to come to the realization that treatment is necessary. To achieve sobriety, many people go through several stages, such as the following.
Finding the Support Needed for Addiction Recovery
The stages of addiction recovery are important to understand, but action is even more valuable. For parents of teens with the need for detox and treatment, enrolling your child into care is an option. You can’t force them to change, but you can give them the tools they need to achieve their best outcome.
Call Destinations for Teens for the Support You Need
Understanding addiction recovery is hard. For parents who want to ensure their child maintains recovery and sobriety, it’s challenging to know where to start. From awareness to detox through aftercare, our team can provide comprehensive support in a healthy, positive environment.
How to help a recovering teenager?
Know the law and make an effort to learn appropriate boundaries with appropriate consequences that preserve the mutual respect among the entire household. A recovering teen needs to learn about boundaries and responsibility, but is often stuck on bad habits. Be patient, but persistent.
How to deal with a teen who is addicted to drugs?
1. Willingly engage in the process of recovery. Recovery takes the entire family’s help. You’ve survived together through major crises and now have the chance to repair family bonds. 2. See this in a new light. You know that your teen’s substance use was not a passing fad, so “accept” your teen’s addiction.
What do teens need to know about addiction?
It’s so easy to have high expectations for a teen coming home from addiction treatment, but what teens need to know is how important they are to their own recovery. Failure is not the end, and success is up to them.
Is addiction a choice?
Understand that addiction is a disease, not a choice. Look at recovery as an enduring process, not a single event. Don’t view relapse as a failure, but accept recovery, at any time, as a success. Usually, it is the biggest success in someone’s life that is struggling with addiction. 3.
