Written By: Connor Freeh, Clinical Trainee at ACS, Adolescent Substance Addiction Treatment Program WHAT IS HARM REDUCTION?Harm reduction in substance addiction treatment is primarily focused on keeping young adults alive. This is achieved through various means that also include abstinence as the ultimate goal. The pathway toward recovery can be long, with several different routes, […]
Written By: Wen Soon, Clinical Intern at ACS, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program EVERY YEAR, people wait until January 1st to make important resolutions and commitments to change their bad habits. People erroneously believe the new year will somehow give them the motivation to finally change. However, U.S. News and World Report (2015) shared that […]
Reported By: Aimee Cunningham, NPR Health News “Parental monitoring and warmth are a protective device against kids’ binge drinking.” While a sense of inevitability often surrounds the topic of teen drinking, adults can play an important role in preventing underage alcohol use. Two recent studies provide guidance for parents. One finds that parents […]
By: Sam Levin, The Guardian Rates of adolescent marijuana use and abuse have declined across the US, according to an unprecedented study that casts doubts on one of the central arguments against legalizing weed. Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis surveyed 216,852 teenagers from all 50 states and found that […]
Written By: Laura Cole, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Community Counseling Programs ACS’ Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program depends on the participation of not only the teen struggling with substance abuse, but the family or guardian as well. Addiction affects the entire family, and each family member has a personal responsibility to the […]
Written By: Christine Miller, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Community Counseling Programs Too often teens feel like they are constantly being told “No” by their parents, teachers, coaches, or other adults, and that they do not hear “Great Job!” enough. Being a teen is hard enough. But, being a teen that has […]
Written By: JoAnn Kukulus, MFTI | ACS’ Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program & Community Counseling Program Recently I had the opportunity to become trained and certified to implement a group and individual curriculum called “Mindfulness-Based Substance Abuse Treatment for Adolescents,” which the ACS programs are beginning to utilize. This relatively new evidence-based curriculum, founded by Sam Himelstein […]
Written By: Laura Cole, Clinical Intern, ACS Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program and Community Counseling Program There are few people who enter recovery with feelings of exuberance. Generally, pain and consequences are the catalysts for seeking help; and those experiences do not tend to generate warm and fuzzy feelings of hope. Hence, the ‘road to […]
By: JoAnn Kukulus, M.S. Clinical Psychology BBS Registered Intern at Adolescent Counseling Services Part II of blog series on Co-Occurring Disorders Read Part I: Co-Occurring Disorders: Diagnosis Regardless of which issue presented first, mental health or alcohol/substance abuse, recovery depends on acknowledging and treating both the alcohol/substance abuse and the mental health issue. The most […]
By: JoAnn Kukulus, M.S. Clinical Psychology BBS Registered Intern at Adolescent Counseling Services Increasingly at Adolescent Counseling Services, we are encountering clients who are struggling with both alcohol or substance use/abuse and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, and the effects of trauma (PTSD). The intersection of these conditions is rapidly gaining […]
