Adolescent and Teen Treatment
Teen & Adolescent Addiction Treatment
Through our affiliations, relationships, and research, DARS - Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services provides referrals and resources for drug and alcohol treatment, dual-diagnosis disorders, counseling and education at some of the finest adolescent treatment centers nationwide.
Drug statistics show that substance abuse among teens remains at alarmingly high rates. More than ever, teens need a reputable drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that call to their unique and special needs of today’s adolescents.
When your teenage son or daughter arrives at a treatment facility, an assessment will generally be conducted in order to establish a treatment program designed to examine behavioral and emotional issues that may have led to the substance abuse. In the field of addiction treatments, emotional issues are often called underlying conditions or co-occurring/dual-diagnosis disorders. For teens and adults alike there are numerous disorders that are masked by the abuse of substances.
For instance, depression may lead to attempted suicide or "cutting," a form of self-mutilation. Drug and alcohol abuse also affect both young women and men with body image and eating disorders, such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. Common underlying issues such as ADHD can also lead to substance abuse and should be addressed during treatment.
Equally important, drugs and alcohol may contribute to or mask anger issues. Adolescents may also try to self-medicate to quell the extreme mood swings caused by bi-polar disorder or in rare cases schizophrenia. Unfortunately, substance abuse often leads to erratic and reckless sexual, criminal, and associated deviant behaviors. Like their adult counterparts, addicted teens run a high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, such as Herpes, Syphilis, and other venereal diseases. If an adolescent is left untreated, prolonged using of intranasal and intravenous drugs could lead to the contraction HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis A, B or C viruses.
Our goal is to refer your adolescent son or daughter to an addiction treatment center that is reputable and a good match for your child’s needs.
Considering the variety of symptoms, the professionals at the treatment center you choose for your son or daughter may offer a variety of services that include psychiatry/ psychology, group therapy and counseling, family counseling, and other activities aimed at creating a pattern of acceptable behavior and positive decision making on the part of the adolescent. Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services is here to help you decipher all of the possibilities to make the right choice.
Studies of youth also reflect the connection between longer care and a greater chance of recovery. A 2001 UCLA study of 1,167 adolescents receiving substance-abuse treatment found that those in treatment for 90 days or more had significantly lower relapse rates than teens in programs of 21 days.
Addiction Treatment for Adults
Adult Addiction Treatment Needs
Depending on the callers needs, and based on information given to the DARS – Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services addiction hotline professional, there are several models of drug and alcohol rehabilitation settings that will be discussed. Our goal is to meet the individuals’ needs regardless of economic or social status.
Detox centers provide a safe place where the addicted individual can come off drugs/alcohol in a comfortable setting. In many cases, this is done in a hospital setting with a doctor and nurses on staff to administer medications and to ensure the client stays healthy during the detox process. There are Detox centers in social-model treatment centers that are also available to manage medications through consulting physicians and trained professionals that provide more of a home like setting during manageable detoxification needs. Discuss your health concerns with a Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services professional and the treatment facility before you commit to any treatment stay.
After the detox is complete the treatment process can begin. Often times, potential treatment clients try to detox on their own, which statistics show lead to a high relapse rate. It is recommend that the caller contacts the drug and alcohol rehab center he or she plans on entering treatment, for their recommendations regarding detox.
Residential Treatment in a drug and alcohol treatment center provides clients with counseling and/or therapy for addictions related alcohol, drugs, and other disorders. It is important for the treatment center to get to the underlying issues of each individual in order to offer the best treatment plan. Many adult addicts have been using for many years and the underlying issues that have been masked by their substance abuse. Other adult addicts have been diagnosed with disorders such as bipolar, depression or dual-diagnosis disorders that need to be effectively identified and treated while the addict is in treatment. It is almost always recommended that these individuals seek treatment stays as long-term as possible. 90-days or longer is considered better than 30-days, and continued aftercare promises to be more effective with a much less chance of relapse.
* Research published in 1999 by Bennett Fletcher, a senior research psychologist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has shown that though 90 days isn’t a magic number, anything less than that tends to increase the chances of relapse. One study, of 1,605 cocaine users, looked at weekly cocaine use in the year after treatment. It found that 35% of people who were in treatment for 90 days or fewer reported drug use the following year compared with 17% of people who were in treatment for 90 days or longer. The study was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
* Another study, part of an NIDA-funded project called Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies, followed 549 patients who had several problems in addition to their drug use and who entered a long-term residential program. Those who dropped out of treatment before 90 days had relapse rates similar to those who stayed in treatment only a day or two. After 90 days, however, relapse rates dropped steadily the longer a person stayed in treatment.
Regardless of the particular therapeutic setting, the counselor will attempt to assess and test to determine the root and triggers behind the client’s drug/alcohol usage. Treating the whole individual is the best method with any treatment methodology.
Feel free to visit our other information pages on this website. Please call with any questions and for a free confidential assessment. DARS - Drug and Alcohol Rehab Services will look at what you or your loved one needs over and above anything else. Call 800-515-3277 or contact us by clicking here.
Drug Treatment Program Methods
Therapeutic interventions include individual or
group counseling and psychotherapy, and treatment services are usually
provided by trained, certified professional therapists. Most therapeutic
intervention programs rely on cognitive-based therapy which addresses
irrational thinking and attempts to restructure thought processes.
Support groups are usually conducted by a member
of a recovery group with the assistance of prepared materials by
a national organization. The most well known support groups are
Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Most support groups
are modeled on the Twelve Steps of AA and rely on faith in a "higher
power" to assist in achieving goals.
Drug and Alcohol Detoxification - Detox programs
are treatment programs of planned withdrawal which may or may not
include medication to assist in withdrawal. Length of detoxification
depends on the substance ingested and the methods used for detoxification.
Detoxification without other treatment has not been found to be
effective in maintaining sobriety.
Treatment and Detoxification Protocols
OxyContin® is a powerful drug that contains
a much larger amount of the active ingredient, oxycodone, than other
prescription opiate pain relievers. While most people who take OxyContin
as prescribed do not become addicted, those who abuse their pain
medication or obtain it illegally may find themselves becoming rapidly
dependent on, if not addicted to, the drug. Two types of treatment
have been documented as effective for opioid addiction. One is a
long-term, residential, therapeutic community type of treatment
and the other is long-term, medication-assisted outpatient treatment.
Clinical trials using medications to treat opioid addiction have
generally included subjects addicted to diverted pharmaceutical
opioids as well as to illicit heroin. Therefore, there is no medical
reason to suppose that the patient
addicted to diverted pharmaceutical opioids will be any less likely
to benefit from medication-assisted treatment than the patient addicted
to heroin. Some opioid-addicted patients with very good social supports
may occasionally be able to benefit from antagonist maintenance
with naltrexone. This treatment works best if the patient is highly
motivated to participate in treatment and has been adequately detoxed
from the opioid of abuse. Most opioid-addicted patients in outpatient
therapy, however, will do best with medication that is either an
agonist or a partial agonist. Methadone and levo alpha acetyl methadol
(LAAM) are the two agonist medications currently approved for addiction
treatment in this country. Presently there is no partial agonist
approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in narcotic
treatment, although buprenorphine holds great promise. The guidelines
for treating OxyContin addiction or dependency are basically no
different than the guidelines the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
(CSAT) uses for treating addiction or dependency to ANY opioid..
Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment
For further information or to request information about the CSAT
Advisory, please
contact Edwin M. Craft, Editor, at ecraft@samhsa.gov.
Equine-assisted therapy combines the use of horses
and experiential therapy. Horses, with their intuitive and sensitive
nature, mirror what they receive from people, providing powerful
insights and learning experiences in a therapeutic setting. Through
one's relationship with the horse and the use of metaphors, equine
therapists will facilitate the process of awareness and change for
each individual.
Acupuncture is gaining in popularity as a treatment
for addiction. In addition to its use in community-based treatment
programs, more than 500 inmates are taking acupuncture treatments
around the country each day. For substance abusers, the process
involves inserting three to five needles into precise points of
the outer ear just beneath the skin for about 45 minutes while the
patient sits in a chair. The needles signal neurotransmitters that
release natural pain relieving endorphines which reduce cravings
for drugs or alcohol and help calm the patient. Some programs use
acupuncture in combination with other traditional forms of addiction
treatment.
Anger Management Treatment - A Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy helps counselors teach anger management
techniques in a group setting through a 12-week cognitive behavioral
intervention. The treatment addresses the anger cycle, conflict
resolution, assertiveness skills, and anger control plans.
Treatment Programs and Treatment Plans - Individualized
The best treatment program for one client may differ from the treatment
intervention for another. The type of drug, the client's background,
length of abuse, motivation for treatment, environment and social
support play a part in determining the most appropriate treatment
intervention. It’s important to receive one on one treatment
with a trained certified counselor or therapist as well as group
and education treatment when receiving alcohol or drug treatment.
Effectiveness of Treatment
Studies conducted in the last fifteen years show that drug treatment
is effective in reducing drug abuse, increasing employment, improving
psychological adjustment, and decreasing crime. The most persuasive
evidence of the effectiveness of treatment is found in the results
of the Treatment Outcome Prospective Study (TOPS). See Robert L.
Hubbard, et.al., Drug Abuse Treatment: A National Study of Effectiveness
(Chapel Hill, NC: U of North Carolina Press, 1989).
TOPS studied 10,000 individuals admitted to 37 programs in 10 cities.
They found that "drug abuse treatment has been notably effective
in reducing drug abuse up to five years after a single treatment
episode." The study also reported, "By serving as an alternative
to incarceration, treatment can be particularly beneficial for drug
abusers identified in jails or prisons, and it can play a central
role in combating the spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS) by reducing the intravenous use of heroin and other drugs."
The TOPS study also found that legal pressure tended to keep people
in treatment for longer periods and that this coercion did not interfere
with treatment goals.
The potential for reducing criminal behavior is one of the most
compelling reasons in favor of drug treatment. The TOPS study found
that "three to five years after leaving treatment, the proportion
of clients who were involved in predatory crimes was one-third to
one-half of the pretreatment proportion."
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