It’s a general rule in substance abuse treatment that every patient should be treated in a personalized manner. Every victim of substance addiction has his or her own story, triggers, and what works for them. Experts agree that approaching treatments in a customized manner often yields better and more long-lasting results. One of the sets of criteria used in determining a personalized treatment program is often determined by age. Because of this reason, techniques, treatment, diagnosis, and results are different for adults than they are for teenagers.
Teenagers have a different physical, psychological, and emotional outlook towards life when compared to adults. For most teens, this is the period when most try out drugs and alcohol for the first time in their lives. This makes treatment for teens a little fine-tuned to help them get out of the hole for good. So, do adolescents need different drug treatment FL techniques than adults? Let’s find out.
Differences between adult and teen rehab programs
Firstly, to answer this question, adolescents need different drug treatment programs compared to their adult counterparts. Rehab programs for teens have to consider the unique traits in teens’ lives. For instance, teenagers depend on their guardians or parents wholly. Their brains are still developing, making them more vulnerable to continue relapsing and make similar mistakes. Here are a few differences between adolescent and adult rehab programs.
Teen rehab requires constant family involvement
It’s imperative that you involve your family as an adult in rehab. Family counseling and support are instrumental in helping your loved ones understand addiction, your triggers, and even prompt a unified healing process. It is particularly more important for teens to have a family by their side during substance abuse treatment. Addiction recovery covers more than just detox. Adolescents need a stable support system and an informed guidance team to help them enjoy long-term sobriety even when they become adults. They also need additional resources to get them through rehab. Most teens still depend on family for money, insurance coverage, and basic necessities. Involving family during treatment makes the process easier.
Outpatient programs for teenagers are the most ideal
Adults are already accustomed to living life on their own and even have the luxury of not involving anyone during treatment. Individuals with critical addiction levels are most advised to enroll for adult inpatient rehab programs. This is different for teens. The idea of being admitted to a residential facility is undoubtedly frightening to teenagers. A majority of adolescents will view it more as a punishment given their developing minds.
For teens, most rehab programs recommend intensive outpatient treatment plans that allow them to reside at home with family and faithfully avail themselves to the rehab facility daily. Seeing that this is a period when most teens go to school, outpatient rehab arrangements allow them to attend to their daily activities as usual without interrupting their lives.
Comfort and familiarity
This applies to both adults and teens. Adults go through different situations in life compared to teens. Mixing these different age groups together in a group session can be catastrophic. Recovering teenagers need to be surrounded by people of the same age group to help them open up, feel a sense of belonging and familiarity. Teenagers tend to see adults as authority figures whom they find it difficult to relate to. They are likely to hold back their feelings and experiences for fear of being judged. Rehab programs for teens like to put the adolescents together and offer them a safe space in which they can open up and feel comfortable throughout the treatment journeys.
Strategies vary
You wouldn’t relay a message to an adult the same way you deliver it to a teenager, right? Rehab programs understand that the teenage brain requires certain information to be relayed in a particular way for them to understand. Adolescents are bound to make irrational, illogical, and quick decisions because they are still growing mentally and physically. Therapists working in teen rehab programs are trained to deal with teenagers and present information in ways that teenagers will be more accommodating and receptive to.
Teens need to be nurtured delicately for the treatment to work. These fine-tunes do not have the same effect on adults. For these reasons discussed above, it’s important to enroll your teens in rehabs specifically designed to accommodate their age groups. If your teenage child has been struggling with substance addiction in Florida, call us now to book an appointment and begin treatment immediately. We are here for you. Call us now at 833-846-5669.