Life After Rehab
Before teenagers and young adults entered a drug or alcohol rehab, their lives had been permeated with their drug use. Usually, family relationships had become strained and riddled with conflicts. Drugs had crowded out all the activities that once gave these teenagers pleasure and often derailed their academic education. Grades had dropped, and this only served to push these teens further outside their former circle of friends and into the crowd where using drugs was a shared activity. The understanding of their identity and of the life they were living had become distorted by the influence of drugs and alcohol.
During their rehab programs, teenagers and young adult patients have been working to understand their feelings and related behaviors, and to reach the underlying reasons that led to their addiction. They have worked to change their behavior patterns and learned healthy ways of coping with difficult situations.
For the period of time a teenager is in rehab, they have been weaned off drugs and have practiced living without drugs. However, the outside world is as different as another planet compared to the structured, supportive world inside the rehab facility. Many times, when teenagers return home after a rehab program, they realize that sober life is very different from the life they led before drug rehab. This often results in depression, confusion, feelings of helplessness and fear. Additionally, family problems that impacted on a teenager's substance abuse problem may have not improved, even if the family had attended family therapy.
Teenagers have to work very hard to remain sober when returning to their old life. They will have to avoid all temptation to socialize with any friend or group of friends that were involved in their former drug use. However, new people they approach may still view them as they were before rehab, and your child may ultimately find he or she is alone and isolated in a group of one. Your teen may be lucky enough to find a substance abuse therapy group in his or her school or after-school center, and even luckier if he or she can make some healthy friends there. Teenagers trying to stay clean once they have left rehab may find there is strength in numbers.
Parents must let their teenagers know they are committed to helping them get through the recovery process. Anger and punishment is not appropriate at this point, and it will only cause your son or daughter to withdraw. Be prepared for your teenagers to express anger at his or her parents, and make an effort not to react, but to listen to what your child has to say - and then think about it. Communication breakdown happens when one or both parties stop listening to each other. This is often the result of frustration and anger, and if not worked through, it escalates and becomes more intense until any communication becomes impossible. Remember: it will most likely be a long process to repair the rift between you and your child. It may take your teenager a long time to trust you, just as it will take a long time for your teen to earn your trust and be forgiven for his or her past behavior. It will also take a long time for your teen to forgive himself or herself. Let your child know that you will continue to be supportive and that he or she can trust that.
It is extremely important to find the right therapist to work with your teen after rehab. Do research, get recommendations, and read anything you can find about a potential therapist. Find a therapist who is trained in substance abuse treatment, and be sure their approach is to work to find the causes behind the substance abuse rather than just treating the symptom, which is the addiction. Also, arrange for family therapy too, either with one therapist who is trained in both substance abuse and family counseling, or find two therapists trained in each specialty.
Often the most effective choice for teenagers after rehab is to enter a therapeutic boarding school where they can continue to learn the skills to lead sober, healthy lives within a community of students who have shared many of the same experiences. These schools are designed to treat the entire person, not just the substance abuse. Teenagers and young adults are taught in a small, focused program where teachers can customize their teaching methods and activities for each individual student. These schools also give teenagers extensive experience in living sober - within a supportive community where friendships are strong, they can rebuild their self-esteem, and learn to believe in their strengths and abilities.
Article written by Jillian Blume
