Written By: Alex Basche, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment & Community Counseling Programs Through my work in ACS’ Substance Abuse Treatment program, it is not uncommon to see co-occurring behavioral disorders in youth struggling with substance abuse. Anxiety, mood and behavioral disorders top the list of the most common adolescent mental health diagnoses, so […]
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: Laura Cole, ACS Clinical Intern, Community Counseling and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Programs In relationships trust is an essential component. But, what is this sometimes seemingly “intangible” thing we call trust among parents and teens? How is it built and maintained on this two-way street? How does one repair when a breach occurs? […]
Written By: Kyle Yamasaki, MFT, ACS Site Supervisor Wellness has been around for millennia, but it feels like a refreshing approach to helping teens with social-emotional problems in our schools. As the site supervisor for ACS at Redwood Continuation High School (RHS) in the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD), I can share some of […]
Written By: Monica Ippolito, ACS Clinical Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Community Counseling Programs If any parents of teenagers happen to be of Generation X, then you can reminisce with me about the cartoons we grew up watching. Cartoons like G.I. Joe, She-Ra, He-Man, The Care Bears, The Smurfs, and Inspector Gadget all had […]
Written By: Charlotte Villemoes, ACS Site Supervisor, On-Campus Counseling Program I have the privilege and the pleasure of listening to teens every day. They tell me stories about their lives, stories that often move and inspire me. Many of them describe hardship that seems close to unbearable, yet the vast majority somehow perseveres and moves forward. […]
Written By: Mayra Vargas, MFTI, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program Parental instinct is key to supporting their teens with their drug use/abuse. Parents sometimes ignore their “gut instinct” that lets them know something is happening with their adolescent. Often a parent will tentatively ask about these issues, and the teen will say ‘everything is fine’ — […]
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: Alex Basche, ACS Clinical Intern, Community Counseling Program and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program Love: it can make your heart skip a beat, spawn butterflies in your stomach and has been called by some as the “ultimate drug”. We’ve seen it on TV, heard it lauded in songs and read about it […]
Written By: Dafne Luna, Outlet Program Coordinator and Group Facilitator We live in this society where the second part of the December is intended to be spent in a happy coexistence with family, friends, and everyone else in the world. However, this time of the year can be really hard for a lot […]