Bring Your Teen Back From The Brink: Get Educated, Get Tough, and Get Help to Save Your Teen from Drugs

Teens in every community and school environment are increasingly exposed to drugs – ever more powerful drugs – at younger and younger ages. They are bombarded with messages via television, the Internet, social media, and music that glorify a superficial lifestyle where drugs are not just accepted, but encouraged as a key element of popularity, success, and fame. The media provide a steady stream of subtle, inside jokes involving drug use that create an “everybody who’s cool does it” attitude. And today’s media, especially the Internet, is an endless source of information about how to obtain, use, and mask the use of drugs. No neighborhood, school, or income level is immune. In fact, upscale communities are sometimes more prone to the problem because where there’s money, the drug dealers will follow. The drugs in those upper middle and wealthy communities are just more expensive. Sadly, drug counseling is a growth business. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 34% increase in the demand for Substance Abuse Counselors between 2006 and 2016, a much faster growth rate than the average for all other occupations. But who is the first drug counselor to your kids? That projected new stream of professional counselors is great. But when it comes to teenagers, who are the people who have to provide the first round of “drug counseling”? Who has to discover the abuse and lay down first-time consequences as a result? Who is the first to try to educate teens on the dangers of drugs and persuade them to stop? It’s you the parent. And most of us who’ve raised a family never anticipated the role of drug counselor as part of our parenting life. We are uneducated and unprepared to deal with it. We come from an emotional, loving standpoint that serves many aspects of parenting well, but can lead to enabling and failure in our role as teen drug counselor. Even for those adults who used drugs in their own youth, the current drug trends and channels of communication among today’s teens leave you way behind the curve in what you think you may know on the subject. This book is designed to be the first step for parents to get educated and increase their effectiveness in being counselors to their teens and dealing with teen drug use. You will learn what you need to know to avoid emotional pitfalls, identify the behavior of teen drug users, find factual information on drugs, get tough, and begin the process of saving your teen. Of course, should drug use progress, you must turn the process over to a professional. This book will also guide you in how to assess your situation, gauge the level of their teen’s problem, and find the best professional help to take over when it’s required. One of the key benefits of this book is the Stories from Parents Like You and Stories from Those in Recovery. These firsthand testimonials will help you avoid the mistakes of others and cut short the road to recovery.