Peer pressure, prevalent during the formative teen years, can lead your teen to drug addiction. You may fear losing their young person to addiction and death. Avenues of support for treating teen drug addicts include treatment facilities, interventions, family therapy and group counseling.
Group Counseling
Although teens are susceptible to peer pressure, positive peer pressure can lead to addiction recovery. Teen groups can be found in hospital settings, youth correction centers or at residential treatment facilities as part of the treatment plan. Group counseling facilitated by a mental health professional allows teens to share their feelings, vent frustrations and offer support with other teens facing similar addiction problems.
The counselor/facilitator lays down the basic rules of group counseling, such as refraining from judgment and not insulting each other. He might also encourage otherwise silent members to speak up or add to their input in order to help others in the group understand that they are not alone in their struggle.
Intervention
Sometimes an intervention is required as the first step in beating teenage drug addiction. A professional counselor facilitates the intervention, bringing family and friends of the addict together to give testimonies as how the substance abuse affects them, such as physical or emotional abuse and creating extreme worry. They can also testify to the teen's isolation and social withdrawal from family and friends, in addition to physical symptoms like rapid weight loss, loss of concentration, school problems and trouble sleeping.
Family members may give an ultimatum that if the addict doesn't seek professional help immediately, they will cut her out of their lives. Addicts who agree to treatment attend a treatment facility for a specified period of time.
Treatment Facilities
Rehabilitation can include in-residence treatment facilities, depending on the level of addiction and substances abused. Facilities have medical staff on-hand to help treat and manage symptoms of drug use and withdrawal. Professional counselors provide your teen with coping skills for dealing with post-treatment life such as learning ask for help and ways to curb peer pressure. Other skills can include properly expressing anger and other emotions versus turning to substances. Counselors might also diagnose co-morbid conditions such as past-traumatic stress disorder or depression.
Some residency settings allow family visits, while others are more restrictive.
Family Psychotherapy
Family focused therapy is an effective way to treat teens for drug addiction. Family focused therapy doesn't mean that the entire family is there to help the counselor "fix" the teen; rather, the entire family's dynamics are addressed. Although other family members may not be addicts, they may be enablers. Family members might also produce the triggers that get teens thinking about drugs, such as constant criticism or absenteeism. Family focused therapy helps the family all become part of the solution by teaching everyone communication and support skills.
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