If you’re a therapist, school counselor, or behavioral health professional working with adolescents in the Central Valley, you’re likely noticing a pattern: teens are coming in with more complex presentations than they were a few years ago. More frequent crisis episodes. More families are stretched thin. More clinical pictures that feel like they’ve outgrown what a weekly or even twice-weekly session can safely hold.
At the same time, the Central Valley has historically been underserved when it comes to adolescent mental health treatment infrastructure. That has meant fewer options to point families toward, and harder conversations when outpatient alone isn’t working.
Though it may seem like a joke, a movie ploy or an outdated practice, random strangers purchasing alcohol for teenagers is not a rare event. In fact, undercover cops regularly bust adults who give into the pleas of teens who beg strangers to buy beer for them. In doing this, the hope is that the […]
Energy drinks may not be as innocuous as they seem, according to a new study published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. Though drinks like Red Bull are legally purchased by all ages and readily available, the study found that teenagers who regularly drink these highly caffeinated beverages are more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink […]
By Ben Spencer, Teacher and Academic Director (Google+) At the end of last week, I had a chance to sit down with Jason Lechner, Muir Wood’s Program Director of the Intensive Outpatient Program. Jason also acts as the Primary Therapist for the Residential Program. During our conversation, I filled Jason in on the academic program […]
Unshaven. Skinny. Desperate. Wild-eyed. Usually depicted as homeless, a criminal, in jail or on his way to being arrested, the stereotypical junkie has always been defined by popular media as an urban outcast, a down-on-his-luck middle-aged white male. For years, this mythical villain was one of the many reasons that parents fled the cities and […]
Tracking drug and alcohol use among teens is the purpose of a number of different surveys and research studies each year. This year, the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland at College Park released a study that looked at the changes in drug and alcohol use among teens from the 1970s […]
Talking to your teen about substance abuse doesn’t just mean lecturing him on the risks of getting high or driving while intoxicated. Though it is important to share this kind of information with your children from a relatively early age, monologues will do little to sway your son’s choices in behavior. Instead of talking at […]
Summer is coming, and with it comes a ton of risks for teens. One of the most significant risks is underage drinking, an issue that is always a problem but one that increases exponentially during the summer months. In fact, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s NSDUH Report found that first-time use of […]
Over the past couple years, there has been much debate about mandatory drug testing among adolescents and teens in public schools. Some have attempted to require that all would-be athletes be tested for drugs prior to trying out for different teams while others have implemented random drug testing for all students. Many parents have rebelled, […]
Why is it that your son is excited by dangerous situations while you – and even him, when he was younger – shied away from anything fear-inducing? According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, it may be a biological issue. A recent study supports the idea that teens react more impulsively when […]
Changes are normal for kids of all ages, and during the teen years, the changes experienced by your son can be abrupt and disconcerting. Unfortunately, these changes can be as overwhelming and difficult to understand for your son as they are for you, and your child may not know how to handle the waves of […]
The US Department of Health and Human Services reports that about one in ten teenagers say that they’ve abused a sedative or a prescription painkiller (e.g., OxyContin, Percocet, Lorcet) without a prescription and for non-medical use. These data are based on information culled through a survey of 2,100+ young people under the age of 20 […]
By Lisa Frederiksen, Group Facilitator (Google+) Until the turn of the 21st century, there was little understanding of the inner workings of the teen brain—I mean the inner workings, the science that shows how the brain develops and what influences that development (childhood trauma, mental illness, social environment, genetics, and puberty), let alone the profound […]
Muir Wood Publishing/
April 30, 2014
Learn why summer is an ideal time to get help for your teen!
