Adolescent Drug Addiction Treatment in Our Utah Center
Addiction does not just lie within adults, it can affect anyone, including adolescents. Even as a teenager, one may have developed limiting behaviors that have led to unhealthy habits that harm the body, mental health, and even those around you.
Pathways Real Life Recovery is here to help your adolescent overcome their addiction and lead the whole family down the path to self-discovery and healing. We have many years of experience working with dual diagnosis cases – drug, alcohol, or mental health-related. In addition, we offer various forms of treatment and testing in which your family is involved, and we are with you every step of the way.
Adolescent Substance Abuse Evidence-based Treatment Methods
Addicted teens need treatment for their specific addiction, and for any contributing issues. Their bodies and minds both need treatment, and a good treatment program addresses addiction from several angles. We offer outpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs that allow teens to live at home and go to school or work, allowing them to continue with their lives while attending treatment. The road to recovery starts with thorough medical and psychiatric evaluations. Doctors and specialists determine what medical complications and mental health issues to address in a personalized treatment plan. People recovering from addiction should understand their treatment, so we sit down and discuss treatment options and processes with our teens.
We firmly believe in an overall rehabilitation that takes into account addiction and the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of addicted teens and their families.
- One-on-One Counseling: Addicts need therapy to teach them the skills needed to maintain a sober life. Our main form of treatment is counseling, during which therapists work with teens to identify problems such as addiction triggers. By working with counselors on a steady basis, they learn to understand and fight addiction.
- Core Belief Restructuring: Core beliefs started shaping at a very young age and guide our lives. For addicts, it is important to make changes to these core beliefs if they are contributing to addiction problems. Addicts may believe, for example, that they don't deserve help because they aren't worthy. Addressing this belief and changing it is a key to success.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Teens should understand their own thinking and the behaviors that stem from this thinking. Counselors help teens understand their addiction, and teach them to engage in healthy responses rather than turning to addictive substances.
- Family Therapy: Family problems can lead drug or alcohol abuse, thus addressing the entire family in therapy is a key part of recovery. Family members learn in therapy how to create a healthy environment, so everyone can thrive.
- Detox Services: Physical symptoms of drug withdrawal range from mild to severe. We partner with several highly rated detox centers in Utah to ensure patients get help throughout detoxification. This process allows dangerous toxins to leave the body, so addicts can physically deal with moving forward.
- Motivational Interviewing: Counselors using motivational interviewing ask questions that get to the core of the attitudes that lead to a positive and successful recovery. The process of answering these questions helps teens understand themselves and resolves harmful internal conflicts.
- Genetic Testing for Medication Management: It is important to understand how one's body responds to medications so that doctors can determine what works best and in what dosages. Genetic testing can determine, for example, if a teen with anxiety issues that lead to drug abuse will respond better to one drug rather than another. Everyone is unique, and our genetic testing at Pathways helps us give you the personalized treatment you deserve.
Teen Prescription Drug Abuse
Both teenagers and adults may think that prescription drugs are not as harmful as illegal drugs. Abusing prescription drugs, especially those prescribed for someone else, can lead to serious health and behavior problems. Prescription drugs are not only extremely dangerous, their abuse often acts as a gateway to further addictions. We treat teen prescription drug abuse with the same commitment as we do for street drugs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Teen Drug Addiction
Initially, young people may take drugs simply out of curiosity and not because they are "bad kids". Drug use is portrayed on television and glamorized in pop and urban music as being hip and popular. But, these young people rarely see the devastating effects that result from teen addiction. Other reasons your adolescent child may start using drugs include peer pressure, boredom, low self-esteem, and stress.
The most commonly used drugs by adolescents are alcohol and tobacco. But, marijuana is considered a gateway drug that is accepted among teens but will often lead to experimentation with other drugs including cocaine and designer drugs such as Ecstasy. Even when young people don't have access to street drugs, they may have access to prescription drugs that are stored within the home such as sedatives and pain killers.
Adolescents become addicted to drugs by repeated use of the same class of substances such as uppers, downers, or hallucinogens. Eventually, the brain makes a transition from voluntary drug use to impulsive and compulsive use. Some factors that increase the risk of teen drug addiction in young people include traumatic experiences, physical or sexual abuse, environmental influences, lack of parental supervision, and having a genetic predisposition towards addictive behavior.
Abuse of prescription medications can be just as dangerous and just as lethal as illegal drug use. Teen addiction and fatal overdoses from opioid pain relievers that are crushed, snorted, or injected are on the rise in all populations. But, trends show young people are misusing prescribed drugs for conditions such as ADHD for the stimulant effect they have on the body. Parents should beware of any prescribed medications that offer a euphoric effect that can be misused for purposes other than prescribed.
Research has not shown a connection between adult substance abuse and the treatment of attention disorders in children and adolescents. Children that have taken stimulant medications for ADHD are no more or less likely to develop teen drug addictions when compared to those that were prescribed these medications. The real concern is the fact that children who do have ADHD symptoms are more likely to use illegal drugs to cope with the symptoms of the disorder and can go on to develop serious alcohol or drug abuse issues.
During the treatment and recovery process, parents can actively support their children by providing a good home structure and additional emotional support. It is also important for parents to provide the needed supervision as the adolescent moves through the early days of recovery and enforce household rules, discipline, and healthy boundaries. The family structure may temporarily change until a level of trust is developed with the recovering child. Also, parents should participate in all family therapy activities offered by the drug addiction rehab center.
It is crucial that all your child's medical professionals are made aware, so they can properly prescribe alternative medications with less potential for abuse. This can be accomplished at the point of care with proper medical screening and assessments. It may be a medical professional who spots the signs of drug addiction or relapse, and it is incumbent upon them to take the right steps for intervention. Finally, if your child needs a referral for drug addiction rehab, your primary care doctor can provide the necessary referral for an assessment and proper care
Yes, teen addiction to tobacco is no different from addiction to other substances. Nicotine is a drug that affects brain chemistry and will elicit a physical effect on the body. Common treatment approaches are similar to quitting other drugs, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and group counseling. Tobacco abuse has the added problem of being a widely available substance, and it can also be accompanied by other drug use.
When a child is assessed by a drug addiction rehab counselor, they may notice underlying mental, emotional, or physical impairments due to the use of heavy drugs and/or alcohol. These co-occurring disorders are typically handled by a professional. While there are medications to assist in the withdrawal from nicotine and other drugs, the decision on the best path forward is typically base on individual assessments.
