* Treatment options can vary. Brief interventions, which involve screening, anticipatory guidance, and psych educational interventions, are primarily appropriate for adolescents in the low-to-middle range of the severity continuum. Brief interventions may also occur in primary care settings as part of a routine medical exam. Variations of brief interventions have been found effective for helping alcohol-abusing adults, but research is needed to evaluate its effectiveness with adolescents.14
* Treatment may also include various intensities of outpatient treatment, as well as 24-hour intensive inpatient care for adolescents requiring a high level of supervision. Inpatient care generally includes detoxification—a 3- to 5-day program with intensive medical monitoring and management of withdrawal symptoms. Residential treatment is a long-term model that includes psychosocial rehabilitation among its goals. The duration for residential treatment can range from 30 days to 1 year and is especially beneficial for adolescents with coexisting personality and substance abuse disorders.15
* Therapeutic communities are intensive and comprehensive treatment models. Although originally developed for adults, they have been modified successfully to treat adolescents with the most severe alcohol or substance use disorders for whom long-term care is indicated. The community itself is both therapist and teacher in the treatment process. The core goal is to promote a holistic lifestyle and identify behaviors that can lead to alcohol and substance abuse that need to be changed. The community provides a safe and nurturing environment within which adolescents can begin to experience healthy living. Duration within the community is typically 12 to 18 months.16
* Self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and A lateen are valuable adjuncts to outpatient services and residential programs for teenagers during the recovery process, both during and after primary treatment. Self-help groups offer positive role models, new friends who are learning to enjoy life free from substance use, people celebrating sober living, and a place to learn how to cope with stress and other relapse triggers. Many adolescents involved with these 12 step programs have a fellow member serve as a sponsor to provide guidance and help in times of crisis or when the urge to return to drinking becomes overwhelming.
Treatment programs can also include family therapy to bring about positive changes in the way family members relate to each other by examining the underlying causes of dysfunctional interactions. This type of therapy may help decrease family conflict and improve effectiveness of communication. Family members, both parents and youth, can learn how to listen to one another and solve problems through negotiation and compromise.
It is extremely important that adolescents are assessed for coexisting mental disorders, because progress in alcohol treatment may be stalled until coexisting conditions are addressed. Treatment providers use that information to develop a treatment plan that may include such services as individual, group, and family therapy. Since problem drinking often occurs along with other behavior disorders, many providers offer skills training in impulse control, anger management, problem solving, assertiveness, time management, and stress management.
Quick Tip
If you would like additional information or need help finding treatment please call the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800- 729-6686
During the final phase of treatment, providers work with adolescents to develop an aftercare plan to make sure they don't start drinking again. Continuing care programs are structured and time-limited outpatient care that helps the adolescent reduce his or her risk for relapse Self-help groups may be valuable adjuncts to the treatment program during the recovery process.
Treatment and Adolescents arrangements with different levels of specificity of treatment planning and staff supervision may also provide an environment for successful recovery.
About SAMHSA
SAMHSA, a public health agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government’s lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States
* Treatment may also include various intensities of outpatient treatment, as well as 24-hour intensive inpatient care for adolescents requiring a high level of supervision. Inpatient care generally includes detoxification—a 3- to 5-day program with intensive medical monitoring and management of withdrawal symptoms. Residential treatment is a long-term model that includes psychosocial rehabilitation among its goals. The duration for residential treatment can range from 30 days to 1 year and is especially beneficial for adolescents with coexisting personality and substance abuse disorders.15
* Therapeutic communities are intensive and comprehensive treatment models. Although originally developed for adults, they have been modified successfully to treat adolescents with the most severe alcohol or substance use disorders for whom long-term care is indicated. The community itself is both therapist and teacher in the treatment process. The core goal is to promote a holistic lifestyle and identify behaviors that can lead to alcohol and substance abuse that need to be changed. The community provides a safe and nurturing environment within which adolescents can begin to experience healthy living. Duration within the community is typically 12 to 18 months.16
* Self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and A lateen are valuable adjuncts to outpatient services and residential programs for teenagers during the recovery process, both during and after primary treatment. Self-help groups offer positive role models, new friends who are learning to enjoy life free from substance use, people celebrating sober living, and a place to learn how to cope with stress and other relapse triggers. Many adolescents involved with these 12 step programs have a fellow member serve as a sponsor to provide guidance and help in times of crisis or when the urge to return to drinking becomes overwhelming.
Treatment programs can also include family therapy to bring about positive changes in the way family members relate to each other by examining the underlying causes of dysfunctional interactions. This type of therapy may help decrease family conflict and improve effectiveness of communication. Family members, both parents and youth, can learn how to listen to one another and solve problems through negotiation and compromise.
It is extremely important that adolescents are assessed for coexisting mental disorders, because progress in alcohol treatment may be stalled until coexisting conditions are addressed. Treatment providers use that information to develop a treatment plan that may include such services as individual, group, and family therapy. Since problem drinking often occurs along with other behavior disorders, many providers offer skills training in impulse control, anger management, problem solving, assertiveness, time management, and stress management.
Quick Tip
If you would like additional information or need help finding treatment please call the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800- 729-6686
During the final phase of treatment, providers work with adolescents to develop an aftercare plan to make sure they don't start drinking again. Continuing care programs are structured and time-limited outpatient care that helps the adolescent reduce his or her risk for relapse Self-help groups may be valuable adjuncts to the treatment program during the recovery process.
Treatment and Adolescents arrangements with different levels of specificity of treatment planning and staff supervision may also provide an environment for successful recovery.
About SAMHSA
SAMHSA, a public health agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government’s lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States