Importance of Parental Involvement in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

Parental involvement is critical to successful treatment of adolescents with alcohol and other chemical dependency issues.  Research shows that family-based interventions can be very effective in reducing current alcohol and other drug problem behavior and future risk.  The quality of the adolescents’ environment in regards to family, school and peers is critical for success when he or she is in treatment.  Research shows that adolescents are often attracted to substance-using peers as a result of conflicted family and school environments.  Environmental conflicts, especially in the family, raise risk factors for drug abuse in adolescence.

Often, parents do not want to get involved in family therapy because they feel they have tried everything and they have become powerless in changing their child.  Some parents feel that their child has gotten in trouble and it is their responsibility to get themselves out of it.  This hands-off attitude is evidenced by parents who drop their kids off  for chemical dependency treatment and want the therapist to ‘fix’ the adolescent.  As therapists, we have to remember not to blame parents for their child’s problems but include them in the process of healing dysfunctional family dynamics.  The objective of the parents involvement is to help them understand the adolescent individuation process and for parents to understand the significant influence they have on their child, simply by being interested in their lives and being open and available to talk with them.

At Full Spectrum Recovery of Santa Barbara, we utilize an effective ‘team’ approach that incorporates the entire family in treatment.  One therapist will work with the adolescent while another therapist is supporting the parents.  If we choose to incorporate family therapy, both therapists are in the room to support the family unit.  We believe that this approach honors boundaries in the family.  We try to avoid family members feeling unsafe or violated by only one therapist working with different configurations of the family.  The idea behind this ‘team’ approach is that the adolescent feels enough safety to engage in the therapeutic process and begin to look at reducing his/her alcohol or other drug use.  Adolescents need to feel cared about, listened to and respected in order to engage completely in the therapy process.  It becomes less about what the parents want the adolescent to do and more about getting the adolescent the help that he/she needs in order to make better choices.

An essential part of the therapy process is helping parents realize that effective parenting means creating structure (i.e. rules and limits) that is healthy for the adolescent and the family.  We often see parents trying to create a conflict-free/pain-free atmosphere by indulging their children in whatever they ask for.  What adolescents are really doing is crying out for boundaries in order to feel safe and contained in the world.  As therapists, we are working to help the family create a new system that is supportive of the developmental needs of the adolescent and the family.  Effective change happens when each family member is involved and open to the process of change.  At Full Spectrum Recovery, we are honored to be invited into a family’s system and help them achieve a higher level of consciousness and health.