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Beach House Recovery Center » Blog » Tools for Connecting With a Teen in Recovery
As it is, connecting with a teenaged child can be challenging for even the most seasoned of parents … but how do you connect with a teen who’s just home from rehab and in early recovery? Get some helpful pointers here.
You want the best for your teen, especially now that he or she has returned home from alcohol or drug rehab and is entering the initial period of recovery. You wonder what you should say, what the best approach might be to foster a positive attitude and encourage goals your teen may have established while in treatment. You also know that the coming weeks and months may be difficult as your teen struggles to get used to living in sobriety, especially since addiction is a chronic relapsing disease. Connecting is more important than ever. Here are some tools that can help.
Normal adolescence is a time of emotional upheaval, driven by developmental changes and fluctuating levels of testosterone in boys and estrogen in girls. During this period, teens often experience bouts of discouragement, sadness, slight depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-rejection, aggression, stress, confusion, and dramatic shifts from feeling up to feeling down. Teens in recovery go through the same emotional turmoil, perhaps more exaggerated at times compared to their peers not in recovery, yet upsetting and tough to deal with just the same.
Faced with an emotional outburst from their teenaged son or daughter, any parent may begin to question their parenting skills, changing their approach to meet the challenges of the day. It’s important to remember that underneath it all is the same teen. He or she is attempting to deal with radical changes in lifestyle and behavior, a perceived loss of freedom and a mistaken belief that they are somehow being punished. They may harbor residual anger over being deprived of hanging out with drug-using friends or cut off from peers that want to party. Getting past normal teen angst, coupled with the additional strain of the teen’s coming to grips with newfound sobriety is quite an undertaking. It is, however, one well worth the effort to help your teen in recovery establish a firm foundation in sobriety.
Adhering to the type of structured routine your teen experienced during treatment is an important first step in making sure you’re able to connect with your recovering teen and deal with mood swings. This means tending to the basics, such as:
SLEEP: ensuring your teen gets sufficient sleep each night. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 8 to 10 hours of sleep for growing teens.
DIET: A well-balanced diet is another basic component of your teen’s recovery. Starting the day with a healthy breakfast primes your teen to have a more stable mood.
EXERCISE: Similarly, some form of vigorous exercise daily helps decrease stress and improve mood because of the endorphins that such activity releases in the brain.
While diet, exercise and sleep aren’t the only things to pay attention to for your teen’s recovery, they are crucial to continuing the healthy lifestyle changes encouraged during treatment.
Instead of worrying about mistakes you might make, stick with the experts’ tried-and-true recommendations on connecting with your teen in recovery. What’s next is likely to be a roller-coaster ride with some days an unqualified success and other times tinged with disappointment and perhaps a setback or two.
Sources:
Al-Anon Family Groups, “How Will Alateen Help Me?” Retrieved May 22, 2017
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, “Brain Development & Teen Behavior.” Retrieved May 22, 2017
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, “Continuing Care: Keeping Your Child Healthy Following Treatment.” Retrieved May 22, 2017
Psychology Today, “Adolescence and Emotion: Why there is more emotional intensity to manage during adolescence.” Retrieved May 22, 2017
Treatment Research Institute (TRI), Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, “Continuing Care, Section 2, Ensuring Follow-Through.” Retrieved May 22, 2017
Treatment Research Institute (TRI), Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, “Continuing Care, Section 3, Reinforcing the Message.” Retrieved May 22, 2017
Whether you’re researching for yourself or a loved one, Beach House can help. We understand that this is a serious time in your life and that the treatment center you choose matters. We want you to feel comfortable and empowered to make the right decision for yourself, a friend, or a family member. This is why a counselor is waiting and available to answer your questions and help put your mind at ease regarding the next steps. Many of the staff at Beach House have walked in your shoes. If you feel you’re ready or want more information about how to help a loved one, we can help today. You can also learn why we are voted the #1 rehab for addiction treatment in Florida.
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