Guiding and caring for a teenage child that's recovering from addiction can be a testing time. Even then, you must help the child have a smooth transition by providing the right environment and social settings.
This guide explores the best approaches to helping the kid rediscover their old self.
Understand how addiction affects the child
Addiction alters how the brain functions. Besides this, addiction can also stir up feelings of anger, self-hate, and shame.
The first step to helping the teen recover is to mastering their situation. This entails understanding their mental fortitude, health situation, and how they relate with other family members. This helps you draw up a plan of action that will support the child to overcome this challenging stage in their life.
Create a plan for active management
Recovering from addiction isn't just about protecting the teen from exposure to triggers or substances. It incorporates other elements such as reinforcing their social skills, encouraging them to participate in other activities that will draw their mind from the addiction issue, and constant monitoring of their health and wellbeing.
For this phase to work out smoothly, you must create an action plan that highlights the activities to undertake at different stages of the recovery. You should collaborate with a professional to ensure the action plan is attainable and balanced. Key areas that should appear in the plan include outpatient counseling, the treatment schedule, recreational activities, and frequent evaluation by probation officers.
Develop rules and goals for the teen
It's important to discuss your expectations with your child to develop a mutual understanding.
The conversation should center on new interests that the teen should start pursuing, their education goals, how they interact with other people, and how they can stay sober. This simple act of involving the child can help stem rebellion as the teen feels they are a part of the process.
Develop a positive, supportive attitude
Keeping up with what the teenager does or who they associate with is a grueling task. To safeguard the child, it's paramount that you invoke a positive attitude from the child.
This way, they can share freely their struggles with feeling tempted to fall back to their old ways for consolation. A good way to bring the teen closer is to congratulate them every time they achieve a goal while avoiding harsh criticism where they falter.
It's also important to keep a close eye on their behavior and performance in school. Any observable changes in their grades or behavior might be a red flag that they may have experienced a relapse and require immediate action.
Always involve a professional
While you'll spend more time with the teen after being released from the rehab, it's vital to seek the support and guidance of an addiction specialist. The specialist advises on resources that will make the recovery process a success, outline the expectations for each phase, and provide any other vital information.
Addiction can arrest a teen's emotional and social development to make them lose their life along the way. To help rescue a teen's fragile life, you should support them during the recovery phase can lower the chances of a relapse. This not only helps them to get out of the addiction, but it also makes them feel valued and cared for. If you don’t know how to do this, the guidelines we’ve discusses above might show you the way. But it’s critical that you consult a professional psychiatrist to guide both of you.
Author, Freelance writer