Adolescent Substance Abuse Program

Our thirteen to twenty-four week Adolescent Substance Abuse Program is designed to motivate adolescents to commit to abstinence from drugs and alcohol, to determine individual reinforcement systems for non-using behaviors, and develop more effective interpersonal skills in interacting with others.

We use a broad spectrum behavioral treatment approaching in providing:

• Individualized assessments to identify unique reinforcers and triggers for using and non-using behaviors;
• Individualized treatment planning;
• Behavioral life skills
• Interpersonal skills training;
• HIV education;
• Social/recreational counseling;
• Relationship/family counseling;
• Relapse prevention/aftercare; and
• Peer support.

For the parents of our youth clients we offer:

• Behavioral and interpersonal tools that they, themselves, may lack;
• Training in problem solving strategies to replace attempts at control of the client; and
• Parent support groups to provide the opportunity for peer feedback and help parents define their own limitations and skill deficits.

For families of our youth clients we offer:

• A model for functional interpersonal and interpersonal behavior;
• Training on making the family a consistent and primary reinforcer for the adolescent’s behavior and shifting that role from unhealthy peers
• Participation in treatment planning as well as in the treatment process.

To be eligible for this program an individual must be chemically dependent or substance abusing, age seventeen or younger, and be willing to cooperate with the treatment process.  Funding for this program may be available through the Texas Department of State Health Services for those meeting certain financial criteria or for adolescents seeking to enter the program without the support of a parent or guardian.