Halfway Houses
Patients living in a substance abuse rehab facility have been working hard to achieve sobriety, and it's important to acknowledge their courage and tenacity. It is a great accomplishment when your teenager successfully completes the program - but it doesn't mean that your son or daughter is ready to return home. The most effective way for a teenager to avoid relapses is to change the factors that have served as substance abuse triggers, including altering living environments.
Maintaining sobriety is the most difficult goal of a recovering addict. It is extremely important that the recovering addict avoid old 'drugging and drinking' friends. It's also imperative to the recovery process that teenagers and young adults develop new friends and a new support system.
Halfway Houses are homes for people who have successfully completed a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program but are not yet ready to return to unstructured living on their own. Recovering addicts are extremely fragile, and their environment will play a large part in a successful recovery or a rapid relapse. Teenagers and young adults will especially need help in restructuring and adjusting to life again - without getting high or drunk. In a Halfway House, recovering substance abusers live together so that they can develop the necessary skills to remain sober within a social community.
A Halfway House that specializes in teenagers and young adults will provide a sober, supportive environment where addicts can work with other addicts to develop self-confidence, esteem, and sober-living skills. These residences may offer individual and group therapy, family therapy, life skills education, arts classes, sports programs, equine therapy, outdoor activities, and 12-step workshops. Teenagers participating can relearn how to have fun without the use of drugs or alcohol and how to productively handle the stresses of school, relationships, jobs, and family.
There is more freedom in a Halfway House than there is in a residential drug rehabilitation program, but a good Halfway House must have rules and regulations and a properly trained staff to be truly effective. When researching potential Halfway Houses for your teenager, find out what the rules are and how they are enforced. Appropriate rules include:
- Residents cannot be under the influence of any drug or alcohol
- Residents will have to take random drug tests
- Prescription medicine and over-the-counter medicines (including aspirin, cold pills, allergy pills, cough syrup, etc.) are locked up, and medication will be dispensed by the staff
- Residents cannot have possession of any weapons, including pocket knives
- No physical violence of any kind is allowed
- No lying, stealing, or vandalism is allowed
- Residents must attend therapy and 12-Step programs
- Residents must be able to account for all time off premises
- No visitors are allowed except those that are approved and scheduled
- Residents are not allowed to visit in each other's rooms
- Rooms are subject to inspection at any time
Parents should visit the Halfway House before making a decision to send their child there, and they should check out the staff qualifications thoroughly. Staff should be trained in both the recovery and substance abuse fields, and each individual resident should have a treatment program tailored to his or her specific needs. Additional staff for teenager and young adult programs should include or have access to sexual abuse counselors; career counselors; relationship counselors; education advisors; teachers; case managers; substance abuse counselors; family, group, and individual therapists; and properly trained residential counselors. There should also be staff available to help parents learn how to effectively set rules and limitations that will foster continued sobriety in the home.
Article written by Jillian Blume
