Effective Teen and Young Adult Addiction Interventions
In This Article
This article first appeared on Aspen Intervention Wellness Center
Teen and Young Adult Addiction Interventions
Teen and Young Adult Addiction Interventions at Aspen Intervention Wellness Center help individuals and families seeking addiction treatment, recovery, and a better quality of life.
The purpose of the intervention is to get your teen or young adult to the point where he or she will accept help and enter into a treatment program. An addiction intervention is a powerful tool in guiding loved ones into recovery.
Usually, families are simply at the end of their rope and desperate to get back loved ones they are losing to addiction. While the family sees the signs, the person who is abusing alcohol or substances is not usually ready to admit they have a problem. That is where an intervention can help to remove barriers to treatment and give families a concrete plan for moving forward.
Our experience has taught us that each family and intervention is unique. We work very closely with the family providing pre-intervention counseling and planning for the intervention. Interventions for adolescents are designed with their developmental stage in mind and include tailored support that resonates with their unique challenges. We emphasize skill-building, resilience, and peer support to forge a path away from addiction.
At the heart of the Aspen Intervention Wellness Center interventions is giving families strategic techniques and short-term treatment methods to guide behavior change. We provide support and direction. This positive approach has proven to be effective in creating long-lasting change.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
Aspen Intervention Wellness Center Family Program for Recovery
Navigating the complexities of mental health within a family setting can be challenging. At the beginning of the recovery journey, Teen and Young Adult Addiction Interventions are critically important.
After intervention – equally important is the Aspen Intervention Wellness Center Family Program and Recovery Coaching. We provide a refreshing approach to psychoeducation and change that is both innovative and supportive. Focusing on the unique needs of families – we support dealing with a range of issues from adolescent substance abuse to family emotional health and wellness.
The Aspen Intervention Wellness Center Family Program creates a foundation for long-term well-being and harmony within families. We prepare families for a future of thriving together – not just coexisting.
Stages of Change in Addiction Recovery
An important part of our Family Program with Teen and Young Adults Addiction Interventions is understanding the Stages of Recovery and Change. We equip families with tools to identify where they are in their recovery journey – and how to leverage this understanding to move forward in recovery.
- Pre-contemplation
- Contemplation
- Preparation
- Action
- Maintenance
Creating personalized treatment plans, Aspen Intervention Wellness Center recovery coaches help families set realistic and achievable milestones. In our family program, recovery coaching emphasizes the practical application of skills acquired during coaching sessions.
Recovery skills enable families to integrate positive interactions into their daily lives. Recovery coaches in our Family Program work to assess and support the recovery of the family. With the guidance of our recovery coaches, families have a personalized roadmap to maintain recovery – and the support to face those challenges with resilience.
The path to sobriety is challenging – and with the right support – it is a journey that leads to lasting well-being.
Going Beyond Intergenerational Trauma
Those affected by intergenerational trauma might experience symptoms similar to that of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including hypervigilance, anxiety, and mood dysregulation.
However, because the individual did not directly experience the trauma themselves, they will not experience flashbacks or intrusive memories. They experience trauma symptoms and trauma responses from events that did not occur to them; rather, the response is inherited genetically. Because stress responses are linked to more physical health issues, intergenerational trauma can also manifest as medical issues including heart disease, stroke, or early death.
What Is Intergenerational Trauma?
Another important aspect of Teen and Young Adult Addiction Interventions is examining and resolving instances of Intergenerational Trauma.
Intergenerational Trauma refers to learned behavior within families that causes stress and negative outcomes. Living with chronic stress (or a traumatic event) creates certain responses for survival. These are known as trauma responses.
Although trauma responses are helpful in the beginning – being in “survival mode” is harmful to both physical and mental health as a long-term strategy. When family members learn an adaptive behavior necessary to keep safe, these learned behaviors may be passed on to future generations and can be challenging to identify and change.
For example, someone may have grown up in a household where there were generations of yelling and shouting at their children in anger, stemming from a place of unresolved trauma and pain.
The impact of intergenerational trauma would be descendants continuing to shout and scream at their own children – coming from a place of unresolved intergenerational trauma and stress. At Aspen Intervention Wellness Center, we focus on Addiction Wellness and Understanding Trauma.
Cognitive Reframing
The essential idea behind reframing is that the frame through which a person views a situation determines their point of view. When that frame is shifted, the meaning changes, and thinking and behavior often change along with it…Using cognitive reframing can help you become more positive and resilient in the face of life’s challenges.
How Cognitive Reframing Works
An essential and effective tool we use in Family Therapy is Cognitive Reframing.
It works on the principle that many individuals get stuck in negative and self-defeating thinking and habits. Reframing incorporates elements of CBT Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and DBT Dialectical Behavior Therapy.
Reframing can change the automatic habitual response to challenging situations. This enables individuals to deal with situations in more productive and positive ways.
- When a new event happens, think about new opportunities the change might present (instead of focusing on what could go wrong).
- When experiencing a setback, look for ways to turn the situation around (instead of catastrophizing).
- Look for humor in difficult situations. Find ways to laugh at what is absurd while working to make the best of a difficult time.
- Instead of feeling defeated and hopeless, think about where positive action can be taken. Even a small positive step can begin to make a situation better.
- When thinking about a challenge – try to avoid words like “can’t” and “impossible”. Recognize that while it may be difficult, assume that you “can.”
- Think of the natural stress involved in change as a form of invigorating and exciting energy – rather than seeing it as being a draining and debilitating event.
Art Therapy for Adolescents and Families
The power of the arts has always been with us, but deeper understanding of its impact on the brain is relatively new. Research now makes clear that experiencing or creating art sparks a dynamic interplay among brain cells that spearheads billions of changes affecting our thoughts, emotions, and actions. This knowledge elevates the arts to a superpower in its potential for healing and empowerment. Indeed, if we were to design a tool from scratch to improve learning, health, and overall well-being, it would look like the arts.
Your Brain on Art: The Case for Neuroaesthetics
One of the Family Program tools used at Aspen Intervention Wellness Center is Art Therapy. It can assist teens and families in moving into more positive interactions.
Art Therapy is an instrument that can help guide and promote psychological health and wellness. The art therapy approach involves the creative processes of art to identify and change limiting beliefs.
Children, teens, and adults receive benefits from the flow of nonverbal expressions found in creating art. Personal empowerment occurs when individuals have the opportunity to express their troubles, concerns, and challenges in a creative and therapeutic activity.
While talk therapy provides an avenue for verbal communication – art therapy is capable of providing an outlet for the verbal and nonverbal spectrums of life.
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
