The effective treatment of adolescents with substance abuse and behavioral disorders requires an approach that includes attention to every aspect of a young person’s life. We see every individual as a whole being. In addition to fully understanding the emotional, developmental, physical, psychological, familial, social and cultural factors, there must be appropriate resources in place to address these issues. Need help? Contact Us Today! (866) 889-3665
While in recovery, I've learned how to talk about how I am feeling. I've learned all the tools, how to talk, and what to do. Sometimes even when I talk about how I feel, there is still something in me that needs to physically get out. When I was using I wouldn’t talk about anything. I would stuff down all my emotion with negative coping mechanisms. I would either use, cause chaos, or literally run away from problems. I didn’t know how to let go of the physical strain I was going through. Recovery has taught me healthy ways to physically let go of emotion. One of these ways is art therapy.
When I am in a depressing mood I will play my guitar and write a song. When I’m angry I’ll draw. When I’m bored or feeling sorry for myself I’ll make a collage or a card for someone. Art is the most expressive thing I know. It feels so good to be able to let everything just slide off me and into this creative emotion filled entity. I can just sit in my room for hours, expressing myself with art, getting lost in it all. By the time I finish, I realize that I hadn’t once thought about using drugs or alcohol. It gives me a sense of fulfillment. I had been able to work through the issue without feeling the need to resort to havoc.
Sometimes my best friend will come to my house and we will express ourselves with art together. It creates and environment where we can focus and talk about what is on our minds. It has helped me in recovery when just talking about what’s on my mind wouldn’t completely help. Today I make it a habit to do art. Everyday I make sure I am physically expressing myself with creativity. Whether it be poetry, music, sculpture, etc. I do it. Art has been a huge outlet for me and for others to help keep clean and sober.
I got my first acceptance letter to a college today and I’m pretty excited. I’ve come a long way since going to rehab. As a teen , I never thought that I would ever get it together enough to go to college. I really didn’t think I had it in me. After finishing adolescent drug treatment , I continued in the outpatient program and attended sober high school. I maintained my support system which helped me finish high school, even though my ADHD made it really difficult. In treatment, I learned how to keep going even when things were difficult, frustrating, or seemingly endless. These tools have now enabled me to keep going towards a great, rewarding life. If you had told me a few years ago that I would go to rehab, get clean, stay clean, and get into college, I would have never believed you. I’m so glad that other people believed in me and helped me get back on track. If I can do it, anyone can.
Adolescent drug treatment occurs in four stages. The first stage is Treatment Initiation, where the teen first enters treatment. This can be a difficult process for the whole family, and it is not uncommon for teens to be angry, scared, and severely resistant to going to rehab. Early Abstinence is the second phase of recovery. During the first few days of treatment, teens must adjust to their new environment and the daunting prospect of living life without drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. This is the phase when teens are introduced to the recovery tools they can carry into the next phases.
After 90 days, teens move into the Maintaining Abstinence phase of recovery. This often involves a transition from inpatient treatment to outpatient treatment, sober high school, and sober living facilities. Gradually, the levels of supervision recede as teens accept more responsibility and demonstrate a commitment to recovery. With maintenance, recovering teens grow into recovering adults, which is the final stage- Advanced Recovery. Long-term sobriety provides a life of freedom and choices. Teens who get the opportunity to arrest their addiction and alcoholism early in life have their whole lives ahead of them, and what seems like a gaping canyon now can only be a minor bump in the road in retrospect.
Started using drugs
Got expelled from school
Scared my friends and family
Crashed a car
Got stitches
Took multiple trips to the ER
Lost privileges
Lied a lot
Destroyed relationships
Became a teen runaway
Got sent to teen drug rehab
Got clean
Stayed clean
Made new friends
Repaired relationships
Got to help others
Finished high school
Applied to college
Celebrated multiple years clean
Got to travel
Got my driver’s license
Got a job
Learned to love myself
Have made steady self improvements
Have learned to be honest
Have learned to take care of myself
Developed self respect
1.) Does the program specialize in adolescents? Teen addicts face a very different set of circumstances than adults. A program that focuses on teen recovery provides the essential facet of peer identification and support.
2.) Does the program provide treatment for the entire family? Teen drug and alcohol abuse affects the entire family. Proper counseling for the family is necessary to ensure a productive environment upon the teen’s return home. Also, it is important that the family get to process the anger, fear and frustration that comes with dealing with a teen in active addiction. Both teens and families must learn to break old destructive cycles and habits.
3.) Does the facility treat all aspects of the disease? Addiction affects the mind, body, and spirit. Good drug programs should offer group and individual counseling, medical supervision, and a nurturing program to continue beyond treatment, such as an introduction to 12 step fellowships like AA and NA.
4.) Does the program offer aftercare? Experts have concluded that a “soft landing” into the outside world after treatment greatly aids in ongoing sobriety. This can include sober living houses, sober high school, and outpatient treatment.
Visions Adolescent Treatment Center works to address all aspects of teen addiction, working with the teen and their family to create an individualized program geared towards lifelong success.
I know that my parents had a really hard time sending me to teen drug and alcohol rehab. They shared with me later that they had felt like they had somehow failed as parents and that my drug and alcohol abuse was somehow their fault. I have met a lot of drug addicts in the last few years and I have come to the conclusion that while nurture may play a part in things, nature is also heavily responsible. My parents were great. My home life was great. I was given a great foundation and yet I became a drug addict. I had a genetic predisposition to alcoholism and addiction. I don’t think it would have mattered what they gave me; something in me craved a way to change the way I felt inside. I don’t know what created that feeling. I don’t particularly care. What I care about is focusing on the solution.
When I was in treatment, my parents took the advice of Visions’ counselors and sought help for themselves and they attended the family program at Betty Ford in Palm Springs. My insanity put a great deal of strain on my family and it was vital that they took care of themselves too. I had run my parents ragged with the fear and guilt and anger that saturated our relationship. I terrorized them. They went to counseling and learned to create strong boundaries with me. At first I was angry and resistant, but now I see that they had to protect themselves from my insanity. My parents are stronger today, and so am I. Our relationship is deeper and stronger than most of my peers and their parents’ bonds. I broke the trust in my family and it has been up to me to build it back. It was a long and sometimes painful process for all of us, but today it is clear that it all grew from love. I have an amazing family, and they think I’m an amazing kid. I am so grateful for what we share today, and that they were there to help me on this journey. Please click here for more information about teen drug rehab.
When I went to teen drug treatment , most of my friends thought I either went to hell or went on vacation. I think they either imagined me digging trenches and staring at walls or having a blast riding horses and getting massages at the beach. It wasn’t like either of those things. I did learn how to manage my time though, which has turned out to be an unexpected benefit of going to treatment. I watch a lot of my peers struggling to get everything done, and a lot of them resort to drinking and taking pills like adderall or vyvanse to get through finals week or to finish a bajillion college applications. Some of the things I learned in treatment I learned without realizing. For instance, I learned how to recognize priorities and to set and stick with a game plan. I know that nothing is worth using over, and in order to keep myself from losing my mind, it’s imperative that I create a manageable workload and schedule. I can recognize my boundaries today. I know how much work I am capable of, and what I am able to do without going off the deep end. I also know how to put my head down and work. I know that uncomfortable feelings pass and that sometimes life is just challenging. I thought that teen drug rehab in Malibu was just going to help me get off drugs (which it did) but it also helped me learn valuable life skills that I use daily.
This is a video not for faint of heart about crystal meth and it's damaging affects. Speed is a very common drug of choice among teens entering teen drug rehab this year, Along with Marijuana, alcohol, extasy, prescription pills, etc. If you or a loved one needs help please contact us at adolescent drug treatment.
Mocha Lisa was created during The Rocks Aroma Festival, in Sydney, Australia. It took 8 people three hours to complete as well as 3,604 cups of coffee and 564 pints of milk. That's a whole lot of caffeine.
The 20ft by 13ft replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s La Gioconda was created by adding various amounts of milk to the cups of coffee.
Yesterday I went on an adventure on the way back to LA from Phoenix. I’d pulled off the 10 to get gas and saw signs to the Salton Sea. I had never been there before and had no idea what it was so I figured, what the hay? Might as well. I followed the road off into the desert and came upon the sea. I was so surprised to see such a huge body of water pop into sight that I just started laughing out loud by myself in the car. It was amazing. I pulled into the state park and got out of my car. No one was around and I just sat on my hood watching the pelicans float around. It energized my spirit and I felt perfectly free and happy in that moment.
I don’t know what possessed me to wander off my route to see the Salton Sea, but I know for sure that I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t clean and sober. When I was using, I was so terrified to do anything new or different. Even in sobriety, I have a lot of anxiety, but to me the best solution is action. I was a little timid about going off into the desert alone on a Sunday, but after I took the action regardless of my feelings, I felt empowered and free. I think I am going to do things like that more often, because sitting in front of that strange body of water in the silent middle of nowhere, I felt alive. If youd like to feel alive again please contact us at adolescent drug treatment.
Several recent studies have suggested that it is beneficial for parents to talk to their teens about their own teen drug use in the past. Studies by Hazelden which has a sober college, Brigham Young University that has a sober dorm, and the Partnership for a Drug Free America that supports sober university, all suggest that an open dialogue about drug and alcohol use is beneficial to teens- because if anything, the doors of communication are left open.
For me, a lot of my drug use was motivated by the thrill of secrecy, and the feeling that I was not under my parents’ control. especially while I was away at school. However, my parents had always been fairly open with me about drugs and alcohol. Alcoholism runs in my family, so knowing a parent’s particular struggles actually made it easier for me to go to them when things got really bad. I knew that they might be disappointed that I had chosen to use drugs, but I also knew that they would be understanding of my inability to stop. I feel really grateful for that. I was still in big trouble- don’t get me wrong- but I was offered a chance to get help as well. I feel that honesty amongst parents and teens benefits all parties. It seems like disclosing some “secret” information about past drug use is a good bartering tool for parents: they give a little and hopefully the teen will feel safe giving a little as well. Communication between parents and teens has been historically difficult, but today we all have a chance to break those patterns by opening up the lines of communication. While I'm not attending a sober college I am living in a sober dorm. Please contact us if your teen is struggling with alcohol or drug dependence and needs treatment in the Los Angeles area.
MTV premiered Adam Goldstein’s Gone Too Far, a series on teen drug addiction, on October 12. Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, recently died from a drug overdose. The series was shot prior to his relapse, and was a true testament to his desire to help other addicts get clean. The series will focus on DJ AM’s efforts to help eight young drug addicts find recovery.
The death of DJ AM was a shock to everyone in both the entertainment and recovery communities. He had been sober for over 11 years and worked very hard to help others find the gift of recovery. I find it especially moving that despite the tragic end that met DJ AM, his ability to inspire and help others will live on. Perhaps having MTV do this series on recovering young people will inspire others to give this thing a shot. If your teen is struggling with addiction, Contact us today Visions Adolescent Treatment Center is ready to help.
A recent study of rats suggests that adolescent drinking leads to poor decision making in adulthood. They needed rats for that? Apparently, alcohol may damage decision making areas of still-growing brains. That makes sense. My still-growing brain made some really damaging decisions when I was drinking and using. Fortunately, I got help. I went to a teen drug and alcohol program that helped me learn how to make decisions for myself. I had to learn to think before I said things, and check out my behavior with others before I acted. I realized, I made a lot of dumb decisions.
The good news, was that I could fix most of it. The first step was to stop drinking and using, and to not do that stuff again. The second part was learning about the patterns in my behaviors and to cease making the same mistakes over and over. That part took a lot more time. I am grateful to know that I stopped the cycle. I left my home in Poway, San Diego to go to adolescent drug treatment so that I didn’t have to let my teen drinking and drug abuse follow me into adulthood. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes in my life- I’m human, but I don’t have to be a slave to drugs and alcohol anymore. As long as I have that going for me, I am at a greater advantage than when I was using. For More info please click here adolescent drug and alcohol treatment.
Columbia University reports that teens who eat dinner with their families less than three times a week are twice as likely to use tobacco or participate in teen marijuana use and are more than one in a half times as likely to drink than teens who eat dinner with their families five or more times per week. Those who have dinner with their families less than three times a week where distractions are present, such as texting and talking on the phone, are more than three times as likely to use marijuana. Those teens who have fewer family dinners are also one and a half times more likely to have friends that use prescription drugs, meth, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. Also, 12-13 year olds who have infrequent family dinners are more than six times more likely to use marijuana.
In today’s times, it is difficult to imagine getting everyone together for dinner, but the study emphasizes the importance of a specific time set aside for talking and being together. My household was extremely busy growing up. With both parents working and my siblings and me in all kinds of after-school activities, it was a wonder we saw each other at all. Also, with my drug use, getting together with the family was a pretty unpleasant time for everyone. Fortunately, in teen drug rehab, my whole family was able to benefit from treatment. I, of course, was in an intensive inpatient program in Malibu, but my family got to get help too through family counseling in Bakersfield. As we rebuilt our family relationships, we planned on ways to reestablish closeness within our family. We try now to set aside time to be with each other. No cell phones. No facebook. We may not be the Cleavers, but we are slowly rebuilding our family closeness. In drug treatment, I got the help I needed to be a better child, and my family got what they needed so that we can all heal and be the best that we can be. Please click here for more info about adolescent drug and alcohol treatment .
I love watching Bear Grylls in Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel. He is amazing. He makes snow caves and wrestles wild pigs to death and bites through the spines of live fish to survive. He is constantly informing the viewer about the basic survival tools one would need to get by in any situation. While this may be a stretch, it got me thinking about my own survival tools that I learned in teen rehab.
The first thing I need is a good support group. This can include my Visions treatment team, my peers in recovery, my family, and my sponsor. My sponsor is another survival tool I definitely need. Visions helped me find a sponsor when I entered treatment, who is someone that helps me work the 12 steps and was initially my personal introduction to the 12 step fellowships. I call my sponsor daily to check in, a habit I began in teen rehab which I continue to this day. Another tool I can’t live without is my journal. I use writing as a great way to process feelings or to just check in with myself. When I can’t get a hold of anyone, my journal is always there to listen. Along with meetings and activities with my clean and sober peer group, these survival tools are there to help me make it through every day clean. Each one of them was given to me in teen rehab, and I use them on a daily basis years later. It may be weird to say that knowing how to call my sponsor when I need help is the equivalent of knowing how to trap and kill a bird in the middle of the Swiss Alps, but to an addict just out of teen rehab in Palo Alto, it’s the little things that can end up saving your life. For More information about treatment services please click here teen drug rehab.
It’s my birthday this week! Each (natal) birthday I have clean makes me really grateful for the life I have, and the fact that I managed to survive my teenage years is something to celebrate. When I was using, I had resigned myself to the idea that I probably wouldn’t live very long, and if I did, it was going to be a life full of drugs and misery. A few birthdays ago, my parents figured out that I was using again. I had to show up to my birthday party sick from last nights drug use. Everyone showed up for me and I showed up a disgusting mess. After a few more weeks of promising to stop using on my own and failing, I got a chance to go to teen drug rehab. It was the best belated birthday gift of my life, even though I didn’t think so at the time. After getting clean, celebrating each year I live is a real gift.
I am especially grateful for my mom and dad, who had to watch my painful descent into addiction in La Jolla, San Diego. If it wasn’t for their help in getting me into treatment, I might not be blowing out candles this year. They stuck with me despite how nasty I was, and how difficult I made things. They loved me when I couldn’t love myself, and had hope for me when I had none. They gave me the space I needed in early recovery and did their own work in family therapy sessions so that we could all have a better relationship after the damage my drug use wreaked on the family.
This year, I am just happy to get to spend my birthday with my family and my friends that love me. I won’t be blacking out, or throwing up on myself, or overdosing this birthday. This birthday, I have a chance to really enjoy the quality relationships I have developed since entering teen recovery.
It is reported that calls to poison-control centers in Orange County regarding teens misusing ADHD medication rose 76% . Around 42% of the adolescents suffered from moderate to severe side effects, and of the calls, four teens died as a result of misusing ADHD medications. Opiates are not the only medications teens are abusing. Adderall, Concerta, and Ritalin are all ADHD medications that act as stimulants. Many teens abuse these medications in order to achieve a “speedy” effect. The pills may make teens feel like they are more focused or confident.
I began abusing ADHD medication when I began to feel too much pressure in school. I thought that the pills would make me study better or help me stay up and finish reports. When I was on the pills, I felt like I was brilliant and everything made sense. Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t translate into my school work, and I certainly didn’t retain information the next day. I often felt tired and irritable following a pill binge. I began snorting them to get the effect faster. As I began to need more and more stimulants, I turned to cocaine and speed because they were stronger and cheaper. After awhile, my original intent of using the drugs to achieve more in school fell aside and my newest priority was to just get high. I went from an A student to ditching class to get high with my friends. My whole life revolved around using.
When my parents found out, we tried several different outpatient counselors but I just kept using. When they were at their wits’ end, and I was confident I would never stop using, they contacted Visions Adolescent Drug Treatment Center.
It seemed really harsh to me to have to get sent away to drug treatment, but it was exactly what I needed. I learned to deal with my feelings and learned how to manage my time effectively. I realized that I’m a really competent person and I don’t need stimulants to feel like I’m worth something. Learn how to stay clean, one day at a time, that’s just what I’m doing.
Sometimes being clean is painful. I got clean really young in an adolescent drug treatment program, and have stayed clean since. My life has grown and I have a wonderful existence thanks to being sober. I have all kinds of opportunities that I never had when I was using, like going to college or keeping a job. It gets painful when you stay clean and other people don’t. It gets really painful when some people don’t make it.
My friend died of an overdose this week. When I got sent away to treatment, I had to cut myself off from my using friends. It was really hard, and they didn’t understand why I couldn’t talk to them anymore. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t be around people when they were using. It was too hard for me. After I had been clean awhile, some of my friends checked out some AA or NA meetings with me. I got really excited that we would all be clean together and have fun. A few of my friends stayed clean for a bit, and then would go back to using. I had had such a strong foundation in teen drug treatment that I knew I couldn’t “dabble” in using again. I think that if I use again, I will die.
My friend died this week. She overdosed and died. She was 18. Sometimes I wonder why I stay clean and others don’t. I wonder how I didn’t die when I was using and why others do. I wonder what I could have done to help my friend and I know that I did what I could. I just feel really sad. I feel really angry with drug addiction. I know that I don’t have to use over the feelings I’m having, and that the only thing I can do is to stay clean and try to help other teens see that they can stay clean too. I’m really going to miss my friend. She was an amazing person who really struggled with addiction. I know her death was an accident, and that she didn’t believe she might die from this. I wish addiction didn’t exist, and that this wouldn’t happen to people, but it does. So I just stay clean, and stay close to my support group in Hartford Connecticut like I learned in treatment. I just feel really sad today. Please contact us for teen drug and alcohol rehab if you or a loved one needs help.
When a group of California pre-school teachers came down with nausea and tingly limbs after consuming some street bought brownies, Los Angeles health officials launched a full investigation. The cause? The brownies were laced with weed, leading the CDC to caution the nation that weed must now be considered “a potential contaminant during foodborne illness investigations.”
Yep, CDC, people put marijuana in food. It’s one of those ways people get high without a whole lot of evidence. There are entire cookbooks devoted to the cause of how to make marijuana brownies. I especially think teenagers are enticed by this novelty. With all of the talks about the legalization of marijuana, it’s important to remember that weed isn’t necessarily harmless. Like alcohol, marijuana can still be a devastating force in certain people’s lives- especially teenagers’. Getting clean at a young age sometimes made me question my drug use. Was it bad enough? I often thought that because I “just smoked weed,” that I wasn’t a real addict. The reality was that marijuana made my life truly unmanageable, and I couldn’t stop even when I wanted to. I truly felt like I would rather die than have to keep being a slave to using drugs. In teen drug treatment, I began to see that my addiction wasn’t about the substance, it was about the feelings behind my drug use. Today, I am free from using. I don’t have to use drugs and I certainly don’t have to worry about my brownies poisoning anyone. If you think your teen may be struggling with marijuana abuse, contact us today.
I just ran into my friend this week after not seeing her for three years. She got sent to teen rehab, too- in the Domincan Republic. We met up for coffee and she filled me in on the horrors of “treatment” in a third world country. Since her passport was taken by the directors, she had to stay- not like she was going to try and get past the guards with sawed-off shotguns posted at the gates. The walls were solid cactus, not fencing, so there was no way over or through. Each day they were forced to go to school and then change into work clothes to do hard labor, which included digging trenches and cutting sugar cane in the fields with machetes. When she misbehaved, she was whipped. None of her issues were directly dealt with, and the only counselors she saw were volunteers with no recovery experience, only religion. When she acted out and self injured with a machete, she was beaten rather than treated. She turned 18 at the facility but couldn’t leave because her passport was gone.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Since then, her drug problem naturally resurfaced as she tried to deal with the traumas she faced living in that environment. Treatment outside of the United States is a bad idea. Tough love programs in third world countries don’t hold the same human rights standards as American facilities, and teen safety is never guaranteed. Therapeutic environments have to be facilitated in the proper ways in order to achieve maximum success. Beating and breaking teens doesn’t provide them with any tools for recovery. I used to complain about having to do writing or chores at Visions. I hated having to go to group and whined about what movies we saw on our recreational outings. Now that I realize what a really bad experience my friend had, I am so grateful to my parents for ensuring my safety when I was sent to adolescent drug treatment. I had therapy, group sessions, and as good a time as you can have in rehab. I am so glad that my friend managed to make it out and I hope she finds the help she needs to repair the damage done. Please contact us for adolescent treatment alternatives.
Heroin use is on the rise among teens, largely due to widespread prescription opiate abuse. Many teen addicts graduate from abusing opiate pills like Oxycontin, to using heroin, which may be cheaper and easier to obtain. A survey by the US Department of Health and Human Services indicated that by 2007, when choosing to use an illicit drug for the first time, 57,000 more teens chose prescription pills over marijuana. This is especially alarming because it changes the status of marijuana as “the gateway drug,” by instead moving teens faster down the path by beginning with opiate abuse rather than ending with it.
Opiate addiction causes a certain physical desperation in addition to emotional and mental attachment to the drug. There is also less of a stigma attached to heroin as it is popular to snort and smoke the drug rather than inject it. Many teens don’t feel like taking pills is a big deal, and smoking and snorting drugs doesn’t seem nearly as dangerous as shooting up, but it is. When I was abusing opiates, I would do anything to avoid withdrawals. If I had to steal pills from my friend’s medicine cabinet or steal money from my mom, I did it. Part of my fear of getting clean was facing the detox process. I couldn’t stop using because I couldn’t stand being “sick”. Treatment helped guide me through the process, and like anything, it had an end. Eventually I felt better and I know today that I never, ever have to go through that process again. Most people were surprised when they found out I was on heroin. Many people that knew me knew I had some kind of problem, but most people don’t assume a teenager from a good home and a good community is a heroin addict. In Seattle my parents certainly didn’t want to believe it, but once the truth came out, they helped me find help at an adolescent drug treatment center. I never thought that I would love being clean, but I do. It feels so good to be free when I wake up, and not sick and trying to figure out how I will get my fix for the day. I owe my freedom to Visions, for introducing me to the tools I need to live a life free of drugs.
Michael Beasley, star forward of the Miami Heat may have Tweeted his way right into a Houston drug treatment program this weekend following a series of increasingly disturbing tweets on Twitter, a couple of page deletions, and a TwitPic which may or may not show a couple baggies of drugs in the background of the photo. Beasley’s increasingly bizarre posts including things like, “Not feelin’ this at all,” and “Y [sic] do I feel like the whole world is against me?” precluded his admission to the recovery center. He managed to publicize his own breakdown which may have led to pressure from others to get help.
Social networking sites are popular- especially with teens. For whatever reason, it seems like many adolescents are more comfortable letting the entire cyber universe know what’s going on with them than talking to their parents or loved ones. A suspicious posting on a blog, Twitter, Facebook, or Myspace can be a cry for help that parents may not hear. My Myspace site was covered in suggestive drug slang and hints at self injury when I was using. After my behavior changed, my parents decided to check out what I was up to online. I was so mad at the time, and felt like my privacy was being invaded, but now I know it was for my own sake. After seeing the kinds of things I was putting out into cyberspace, my parents sat me down for a long talk, which led us to the decision to try adolescent drug treatment. It’s a difficult thing, to ask for help, and the process was definitely a struggle for everyone at times, but it was so worth it. I hope that Michael Beasley finds the help he is looking for, and that anyone who needs help finds it. If you feel that your teen may be struggling with drug or alcohol dependency, help is here.
Oh, Canada. What are you doing? A Canadian study including Victoria, BC, in which heroin addicts were given either morphine or HEROIN to treat their heroin addiction found that those in the heroin group were more likely to stay in “treatment.” What? Of course more teen heroin addicts that were given heroin stayed in treatment. They were being given free heroin! The study concluded that the heroin group was less likely to engage in illicit activities when they were supplied with heroin. Yeah, okay. Only a couple of people overdosed during the study.
I can’t imagine having this program in my life rather than the one I have now. I wouldn’t have changed anything! I would still be a junkie! I might not have gotten arrested or stole from my parents but uh- not having enough free, legal heroin wasn’t my problem. There weren’t enough drugs in the world to feed my problem.
I know what works for me, and that’s what I learned in Teen opiate rehab. I can’t successfully use drugs or alcohol. Complete abstinence has given me an entirely new kind of freedom. Of course it was difficult to give up drugs, but the personal changes that resulted from that decision have helped me become a better person. I don’t believe that the answer to my heroin problem was more heroin. The answer to my problem was to seek real help, make some serious changes, and change my life.
A recent report published by the Scientific American reveals that 90% of American paper currency is laced with cocaine! A study of 18 American cities found that 5’s, 10’s and 20’s were the most frequently tainted, with Washington DC leading the pack by having the highest percentage of tainted bills nationwide. While this is somewhat amusing to me for some reason, it is decidedly disturbing that cocaine still has such a pervasive presence in this country. While cocaine is often thought of the drug of the 80’s, it still makes up a huge part of the drug problem amongst teens in the US.
The idea of US currency being coated in coke leads me to remind people of some of the signs of cocaine use- the first being rolled-up dollar bills, straws, or other pieces of paper! Look for white residue or razor marks on desks, CD and DVD cases, mirrors, or other smooth surfaces. Cocaine can come in vials, baggies, or even ripped up pieces of plastic grocery bags. Whenever I see little pieces of a grocery bag that have been ripped and stretched into a little pouch, I assume it used to hold cocaine. (It’s amazing what paraphernalia you see everywhere when you know what to look for!) Teen cocaine use can be spotted by: enlarged (dilated) pupils, a frequent runny nose, or bloody nose, mouth breathing (being your nose gets hard to breathe out of…it’s weird but trust me), excitability, paranoia, irritability, sleeplessness or excessive sleeping (the comedown). Cocaine use can cause death, especially when mixed with medications, alcohol, or other drugs- which is a really popular thing to do. No one wants to think that their kid is on drugs, and it can be easy to ignore the signs. If you suspect your teen may be using drugs, call us today. Help exists, because no one has to do this alone.
Lately the question as to why I stay clean has come up a few times. Either non-recovering peers ask me or I have been faced with encouraging newer recovering addicts and alcoholics at my home group in Los Angeles to give this a chance. Recovery can be a pain in the neck. It’s a hard road to follow sometimes, especially being young. By now, my peers are having weekend parties, drinking at the beach, or having a drink after work. Sometimes I feel left out from what seems “normal,” but then I remember that I can’t drink like “normal” people. That drinking and using as a teen landed me in a lot of trouble and pain not to mention adolescent drug treatment. Now that I am clean and have stayed clean, I can help other teens that are in the same painful place that I used to be in.
Going to rehab in Los Angeles gave me the opportunity to reshape my life. It was aggravating at times- it was hard to let go of my old attitudes and behaviors and replace them with new things. The recovery process felt so foreign but as time has gone on, it feels like the right thing to do and I endure without question. Being around other recovering teens made recovery feel less bizarre and more like something we could all do together. As I stay in recovery now, long after drug treatment and random drug tests, I know I stay to help new teens that feel like I felt. I stay because in recovery, I have a choice in how I live my life as opposed to being a slave to the horrors of addiction. Beginning the recovery process can be the scariest step, but a lifetime of freedom lies beyond that, so contact us.
This is a slide show of graphic evidence of the amazingly devastating affects of crystal meth even over a short period of time. Imagine what it does to the young adolescent brain?
This last Sunday was a great day for meeting up with old friends and celebrating our collective gift of recovery at my Adolescent Drug Treatment Center Alumni softball game. Staff and past residents competed for glory while sharing our common bonds and this year, for the first time ever- clients beat the staff! Yay! It was such a blast to see staff members who had made such a difference in my early recovery experience and to see other residents who had shared the beginnings of the recovery journey with me. It was truly inspirational to see all of the young people who had benefited from Treatment and to hear about the awesome things they are doing with their lives now that they have escaped the perils of adolescent addiction.
Keeping in touch with my treatment center has been part of the unique recovery experience I received there. Being in adolescent drug treatment is a fairly sheltered experience; you don’t have the constant temptation of being exposed to drugs and alcohol. You are separated and safe in early recovery. The gradual transition from teen inpatient treatment to the adolescent outpatient program allows for a “soft landing” upon entering the outside world again; you are back in the world, but with a strong sense of structure and support. As teen outpatient treatment phases out, the program is still a supportive and loving force. Alumni activities allow ex-residents a chance to celebrate their new freedom while sharing their hope with current residents. When I was in treatment, seeing ex-residents having fun in adolescent recovery and enjoying a full life inspired me to embrace what the program offered. Who wants to be stuck in teen drug treatment? I wanted what they had and I worked for it! So even with my massive sunburn, I am so grateful for the fun had yesterday in celebrating my teen recovery- and our recovery. I can’t wait to see who’s joined us next time. Teens do recover, and we’re doing it together.
A survey of 12,000 high school seniors indicates that 12.3% of the teens have abused prescription opiate-based painkillers to get high, confirming the rising trend in Teenage prescription drug abuse. Either ignorant of the dangers, or by choosing not to care, teenagers are putting themselves in great danger by abusing these drugs, which can very easily lead to accidental overdose. The study also concluded that most teens who engage in prescription drug abuse are also more likely to abuse other drugs and to have addictive problems. When I was a using, I considered prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin to be harmless. I wasn't shooting heroin so what was the big deal? The big deal was that regardless of the substance, I was desperately addicted.
I tried them with a friend who had found them in her parent's medicine cabinet. I began to use my after school job money to buy more pills from kids at school. I stole my mom's prescriptions to trade for opiates. When I didn't have them, I got really sick. My whole life began to revolve around getting more pills. I was constantly calculating how many I had versus how many I would need and how I was possibly going to get them. At the end of my using, I was consuming potentially lethal amounts of pills because my tolerance was so high. I needed help. Visions Adolescent Treatment Center helped me detox and begin the recovery process. We covered all aspects of my life, finding new ways to handle life without using drugs. It was a difficult process, but as the number of teenage prescription drug abusers increases, I am so glad I made it out alive.
Lately I have been overwhelmed by the number of prescription drug commercials that are bombarding the airwaves. It seems like there is a pill for everything, and while the ads aren't necessarily for medications like Vicodin or Demerol, they definitely reflect our culture's increasingly relaxed attitude about medicating everything. I absolutely recognize the need for medication in certain cases. In recovery, sometimes medication can help when dealing with severe emotional challenges. For instance, if you can't get out of bed to get to a alcoholics anonymous meeting because of crippling depression, then meetings aren't going to help. I suppose I am just concerned about our country's casual attitude towards pills, because it is similar to the attitude I had when I was using. Just woke up? Take a pill. Stubbed your toe? Take a pill. Feeling upset? Take a pill. Going to work/school/bed? Take a pill. Heck, take a handful.
When I went to adolescent drug treatment, I was suddenly faced with having to deal with things clean. My pill addiction made me want to use every time I had an uncomfortable moment. It was hard to do new things without having that veil of intoxication separating me from the world. The new feelings I experienced made me feel like I was crazy, but as I sat through them, they became less foreign. I felt sad, and happy, and angry and upset. I didn't know what to do with my feelings. This is usually why I used. I had never put in the work to learn how to have acceptance, self-honesty, and hope. Working with the medical staff, I was able to sort out what feelings were actually detrimental to my ability to function, and which ones I was simply uncomfortable having. As I have stayed clean, a lot of those feelings have gotten better. I have learned to be patient with myself, and to not panic when I have a feeling. I can call my sponsor, or do some journaling, talk to a friend, or go for a walk. My feelings don't govern my decisions today. I am free from my teen prescription medication addiction because today I know that sometimes there aren't quick and easy answers to everything. Sometimes I have to do some uncomfortable work on myself. While this new process denies me the instant gratification of getting high with pills, the long term results are of a quality that are deeply gratifying. If your teen is struggling with a pill addiction, there isn't a quick fix, but there is help that can last a lifetime. Click here and contact us today.
My friend recently pointed out to me that she had gone to the beach for the first time sober and that it was really weird for her. I totally understood. Part of getting sober means building new associations with people and places. In early recovery, I let people, places, and things trigger me- which means they made me want to use. I learned that I had a choice in what I let trigger me. It was all about perception and my willingness to change. Teen drug rehab helped me gain new experiences sober that helped me rebuild my perception of places. Because we were able to participate in recreational outings in, I learned that it was possible to have fun sober and I was able to go to the movies for the first time sober and with a group of other sober people. When we went to AA and NA meetings in different areas like Newport Beach, I learned to associate places with meeting locations rather than places I used to use drugs.
Treatment also helped me build new associations with my family and feelings about things. While I used to slip right into the role of the black sheep when around my family, in teen drug treatment we worked to change our dynamic and work on what was challenging us as a family. I had to take a lot of personal responsibility in how I treated my family. I also learned positive ways to deal with my feelings. Instead of letting a feeling make me use drugs or drink alcohol, I learned to write or talk about my feelings, or do something like take a walk or draw a picture. Adolescent drug treatment in Malibu gave me the opportunity to rebuild my life, and it started with rebuilding how I perceived the world. My fresh outlook on life has helped me change my life for the good. If your teen is struggling with substance abuse, Contact us today and help them find a new outlook on life.
Last night my friend and I went to a party to celebrate our friend’s tenth anniversary in recovery. She got clean when she was fifteen in adolescent outpatient in Newport Beach and has stayed clean since. It is really inspiring to see someone get clean at the agethat we did and to actually stay clean. Sometimes it is easy for me to tell myself that I was just going through a phase and that I was as an adolescent too young to be an addict or alcoholic, but I think that since I needed all of that help at such a young age, it’s not likely that my life would have gotten better if I hadn’t gotten clean.
Getting clean young can seem like a death sentence, but seeing people who have stayed clean and had their lives improve helps me maintain hope. Sometimes people in 12 step meetings or my old friends made me feel uncomfortable about how young I was when I got clean, but since I was there to save my life, it didn’t matter what they thought. Having a strong support group and recovering friends in my age group really helped me feel like I wasn’t alone and that I was doing the right thing.
Watching my friend celebrate her tenth anniversary clean and sober reminded me of my own commitment to recovery after adolescent drug treatment. I was definitely reluctant at first, but in teen outpatient treatment in Newport Beach, I was introduced to other young people trying to turn their lives around and it started to seem like a doable thing. I love my life in sobriety today, and no one can take it away from me. I feel lucky that I got clean so young, and that I didn’t have to waste half of my life in active addiction. I have a fresh start, and a chance to tackle life with some really useful tools.
I started to use drugs because I thought that it would help me fit in with my peers. I felt so uncomfortable with myself and drugs and alcohol initially helped to numb those uncomfortable feelings. As my using progressed, the numbing effects were less pronounced and the unmanageability of my life created a need to use more and more. When I went to Visions adolescent drug rehab, I felt like I was the only person on earth who felt the way I felt. Using drugs and alcohol had created this cosmic loneliness where it felt impossible to connect with people on anything but a superficial level. As I listened to my peers in treatment, I began to hear the same things over and over: We all felt alone, disconnected, and misunderstood. It was no longer possible for me to claim that no one understood what I was going through, because I was surrounded by a house full of other teens struggling with the same feelings.
As I began to identify with my peers and with other recovering addicts and alcoholics that I heard in AA and NA meetings and panels of recovering addicts that visited us, I began to feel safe enough to let others into my life. No longer was I a lonely, misunderstood teen addict. My peers and my treatment team heard me, and suddenly my feelings were valid. When I was using I wanted to be heard. I didn’t want someone to fix me, I just wanted them to hear me. As I began to share my life with others, I began to let them love me. They believed in me and wanted to see me get clean. To them, I wasn’t a lost cause. The treatment staff absolutely believed that I could stay clean, and for that I began to believe it myself. The love and support I found in teen drug and alcohol treatment spilled over into my life when I left. Because they believed in me and gave me the tools I needed to be successful on “the outside,” I continue to be vigilant about my recovery. I know that what I have is a gift, and I will do everything in my power to cherish it. It helps to have people on your side.
A 20-year study has concluded that abstinence from alcohol rather than controlled drinking has proven to be the most beneficial method of recovery for alcoholics. It makes sense to me. When I first entered adolescent drug rehab, it made sense to me that I should probably stop using drugs, but alcohol? I wasn’t even old enough to drink legally. I wondered what I would do when I went to college, or turned 21, or got married. What would I drink on New Year’s Eve? How would I ever have a normal life? Some of my friends and family shared similar concerns. Not even a glass of wine at dinner? None of Nana's famous eggnog? The decision to remain completely abstinent from alcohol and drugs was made after I realized in adolescent drug treatment that it didn’t matter what the substance was. If everything was taken away from me, I got creative and abused over-the-counter medications and inhalants that I could find around the house. If left to my own devices, I found myself taking heroin and nearly dying.
Understanding the root of my addiction helps me to make the decision to remain abstinent one day at a time. I know that if I were to drink, all of the work I’ve done will go out the window, and let me tell you- that work was painful and difficult, so I’m not going to just toss my progress away! It is rare that I encounter a situation where I feel like I wish I was drinking. In my age group now, my peers in Manhattan Beach still like to binge drink, and that never looks good to me. I don’t want to puke on my shoes anymore, you know? In day to day life, I feel proud of my teen recovery. I don’t tell everyone I know about it. Many people think that maybe what I went through was just a phase and that I’m being dramatic. It doesn’t matter what they think. I learned in teen drug treatment to put my recovery first, no matter what. I have watched peers relapse and end up worse than when they started, and I don’t want to trade the life I have now for a life of shame, guilt, and puking on my shoes.
I don’t worry anymore about what my life will be like without alcohol. I worry about what it would be like with alcohol. I continue to take the steps to protect my sobriety that I learned in adolescent rehab. I stay connected with my support group. I attend 12-step meetings. I don’t spend an unnecessary amount of time around alcohol and I don’t hang out with people who are using drugs. Sometimes these decisions make me feel awkward, but I can deal with awkward. I will take awkward any day over the despair and hopelessness I felt when I was drinking and using. Teen drug and alcohol treatment gave me an opportunity to honestly look at the destructive force drugs and alcohol were in my life, and showed me a new way to live, one day at a time.
Teens with drug problems come from all walks of life; they aren't just the teenage runaways depicted in Lifetime movies as I'd originally thought. Teens develop drug problems for a number of reasons- my daughter's competitive nature seemed to be what initially led her down the path of drug and alcohol abuse. I was the last person to suspect that my daughter was a drug user. On the outside, she was a perfect student. She excelled in school, taking all honors classes, and was the star of the track and volleyball teams. I often wondered how she could get it all done. She never got into trouble and seemed pretty happy at school. I knew my daughter was extremely hard on herself. Her weight began to drop and she seemed increasingly edgy and irritated. I chalked it all up to the stresses of high school and teen angst and tried to talk to her more. Her withdrawing from the family seemed like something teens do- I didn't want to smother her. I tried to be more lenient with her. She was such a good student I never suspected she was up to anything dangerous.
One night I heard a crash in her room. I found her sitting on the floor sobbing. I asked her what was wrong and she just cried and cried. It was a heartbreaking thing, to not be able to fix what was hurting her. I don't know what possessed her to tell me, but finally she just blurted out that she had a problem with pills and couldn't stop. I was floored. It was hard not to get angry with her, because I felt so scared, but at the same time, I didn't want to discourage her from talking to me. I guess she'd put so much pressure on herself to be the best at everything she eventually became a candidate for teen drug treatment turned to stimulants like Adderral to help her preform and downers like Xanax to take the stress away. As she opened up to me that night, I was horrified to learn what she was putting herself through. I promised we would get help, but I had no idea what to do for her. Sitting there on the floor, holding my sobbing daughter, I felt as terrified as she did.
I had heard of Visions through a coworker, but had never thought much of it, since I didn't think I'd ever need that information. They were amazingly helpful and understanding. It was hard leaving her there, but the weekly family sessions helped me work on myself so that I could help my daughter. She just blossomed there. Instead of being the rigid girl I knew who was so incredibly tough on herself, I began to see a girl who took care of herself and could respect her own limitations. As my daughter worked on herself, I learned ways to help support my daughter's new sobriety. She isn't a bad kid because she did drugs. She's a fantastic kid. She always has been. Visions Adolescent Drug Treatment Center just helped her realize that.
"The Razor Edge" a presentation by Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers.
Visions is a sponsor at the up coming "Moment of Change" Intervention conference September 28-30, 2009 in Palm Beach, FL. The conference is focused towards providing addiction training and offering the most up to date information for the addiction counselor who deals with teen treatment centers and families in crises. John Lieberman Director of Operations at Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers and Keith Fierman Certified Interventionist will be presenting on specific issues for families when their children are struggling with drug use, abuse and addictions. "The Razor Edge" is the title of the presentation and defines the energy and feeling of crises families feel as they take the first steps addressing drug and alcohol use and abuse at home. The goal is to provide a framework for the adolescent addiction professional and educate them as to the unique issues that parents face during this turbulent time.
Today, instead of dreading time with my family, I enjoy it. Mother’s Day is now a time when I can be proud to be my mother’s child, and not feel full of shame and self-loathing and guilt. It has taken a long time to rebuild my relationship with my mother, but the work has paid off. My mother and I used to butt heads over everything: where I was going, who I was with, what I was wearing…I was awful to her. I treated her with no respect and kept her lying awake at night wondering where I was and if I was alive.
In treatment, I had an opportunity to work on my relationship with my mother. I found that I couldn’t tell her how I was changing; I had to show her. In treatment, counselors worked with my mother and me both individually and together to help us rebuild the relationship that drugs and alcohol destroyed. It took a long time for her to trust me again, and she had little reason to. Even today, if I am slow calling her back, she gets worried. This used to frustrated me, but now I realize how much I used to scare her by disappearing. Every day that I stay clean and sober, I am building that trust back a little more and a little more. I am so glad that I don’t have to put my mother through the things I used to put her through. This Mother’s Day, the best thing I can give my mom is my sobriety.
Secrets Untold - Addicted Teens Share Their Secrets
Every teenager has secrets that they keep from their parents. No matter how hard parents try to have open communication with their kids, there are some secrets that are untold. I recently looked up this topic on the Internet and found an audio snippet on NPR on the subject (“Teens Share Their Secrets”). I have also added some of my own secrets from working with teens and from my own personal experience.
Some of the revealing things that teens keep from their parents are as follows:
they stole the family car
they are not a virgin
they feel too much pressure from their parents to succeed
they don’t like being compared to the standards of their siblings
they lie about being at the library or other places, when they are really with their boyfriend or girlfriend
they sneak out at night
they keep secrets for their siblings, such as sexual activity/drug use
they have hidden tattoos and piercings
their friends do drugs and they go to parties with drug use
they buy/sell drugs at school
they are gay or bisexual
they steal money from their parents
they use money that their parents give them for drugs or other illegal things
they are failing school/may not graduate
they hide drugs at home
they use household items as drug paraphernalia
If you want to hear their voices firsthand, click here .
If you need help with your addicted teen, click here .
Many teenagers that use drugs these days are using them as a method of escape. Some of them are trying to escape their family, friends, school or many other things. Numerous teenagers are using drugs to help them escape a co-existing disorder that they do not even know they have.
Some parents and guidance counselors are quick to attribute poor grades in school to lack of effort or simple laziness. A lot of teenagers are sick of hearing "You have so much potential."
What many people fail to notice is the number of undiagnosed learning disabilities that today's youth has to quietly suffer with. A recent study at Columbia University suggests that 11.8 million American children have learning disabilities, but only just 3 million have actually been diagnosed. That leaves close to 9 million American children dealing with learning disabilities that they don’t know that they have.
Living with an undiagnosed learning disability can mimic unintelligence and social awkwardness. These individuals may also suffer from low self-esteem due to feeling like they cannot measure up to the rest. All of these factors contribute to the higher percentage of teenagers who have learning disabilities and use drugs than that of those who don't have learning disabilities and use drugs. Drugs can offer them the social acceptance that they have been missing as well as helping them self-medicate depression.
Have you been told your Adolescent has Dual-Diagnosis?
The holidays are a difficult time for many individuals. Adolescents who have recently graduated form treatment for drug and alcohol abuse and addiction are at high risk for relapse. Individuals who have had a history of suicide attempts and or feelings and those dealing with feelings of self harm, anxiety or deal with distorted eating are also at high risk for relapse. The holidays may seem like lights, presents and family to most. Unfortunately for many, family celebrations create stress, fear and resentment.
It is important to make a concerted effort to take care of yourself during this time. www.safeusa.org/blues.htm
One size will not fit all. Starting November 1st, 2007 there is a women's symposium in Rancho Mirage California. The symposium is directed by the Betty Ford Center and Caron Treatment Centers. Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers are sponsoring this exceptional event as well.
Adolescent drug treatment differs from adult alcohol and drug treatment. Women's alcohol and drug treatment differs from male addiction treatment. Leading treatment centers such as The Betty Ford Center and Caron Treatment Centers have taken the lead in addressing need specific addiction treatment.
Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers provides counseling, groups, and activities addressing gender specific issues, body image, eating disorders, relapse prevention, family issues, art therapy, equine therapy and will provide individualized services when clinically directed.
If you are interested in this symposium please follow the link at the bottom.
VISIONS ADOLESCENT TREATMENT CENTERS Personalized programs dedicated to helping youth and their families recover from the destructive effects of substance and other behavior related problems. (866) 889-3665
