Teen Rehab: A Parent Guide to Effective Support and Recovery
Guiding Your Teen Through Rehab: A Parental Support Handbook This quote rings especially true for parents with a teenage child undergoing alcohol or drug rehabilitation. The emotions you feel as a parent are deeply intertwined with your child’s experiences and actions. “The road to recovery is a bumpy path with lots of twists and turns, […]
Back to School Advice: How to Deal with Teen Angst, Depression, or Anxiety
If it seems to you that your teen is in constant emotional turmoil, that’s because they are. Parents can think of teenage emotions as a rollercoaster ride for everybody involved. Understanding the Rollercoaster of Emotions The Climb: The ride begins with a slow but steady climb up a steep hill. You can do nothing […]
When the Identified Patient Turns Into a Scapegoat
The so-called “identified patient is a proverbial scapegoat,” wrote Annie Wright, LMFT, on Psychology Today in 2022. “Identified patients are often the first people in the room to nod their heads when the term ‘black sheep’ is said. You say ‘scapegoat,’ and they say ‘yes.’ They know what it is to feel lonely, unsupported, and […]
Healing the Teenage Brain
For the parents of a teenager, adolescence is often a fairly challenging time. For experts on the human brain, it’s a fascinating period. “I want people to understand that adolescence is not a disease, that adolescence is an amazing time of development,” Beatriz Luna, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh recently […]
Fentanyl Deaths Increasing Among US Teens
Drug overdose deaths in the United States have spiked to record highs in recent years, primarily due to the increased use of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. The rate of deaths from fentanyl drug overdoses increased by nearly a quarter in 2021 […]
Finding Help For Your Troubled Teen
One of the hardest calls a parent can make is to seek help for a child in trouble. Their families are usually in crisis mode and are unsure what the best course of action might be. “Understandably, it’s not a call any family really wants to make,” says Turning Winds admissions director Eric Loesch. “In […]
Helping America’s Traumatized Youth
“The inexorable rise of teen anxiety ought to be a national crisis,” wrote Derek Thompson in The Atlantic in February. In a previous article, he had offered four possible explanations for this crisis: “the prevalence of social media use; the decline of time spent with friends; a more stressful world of mass-shooting events and existential […]
When Your Family Needs to Be Rescued
You may know that your troubled child needs help, but it’s not easy to figure out what type of treatment will deliver the greatest benefit. And it’s not only your child who needs help; frequently the entire family is in disarray and unsure of how to achieve a rescue. Different options abound: wilderness programs, residential […]
Where Can I Send My Troubled Teen?
In today’s age of easy access to information, you might think it would be easier to find the right help for your teen’s needs. But, sometimes, even knowing exactly what those needs are is difficult. There are so many options available – boarding schools, boot camps, wilderness programs and therapeutic boarding schools – which one […]
When Will I know When It is the Right Time to Send My Teenage Daughter to Treatment?
Making the decision to send your daughter to treatment for her mental health concerns is never easy. The nature of mental illness is that it will seemingly get better for a while, only to turn sour again, seemingly with no warning. So how can you know when it’s time to make this decision? Here is […]
