Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Facility Question and Answers

What does work?

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AdviseAMom:
My son has been using marajauna for about a year.  He's 14.  Six months ago he started huffing and he was snorting something but I don't know what because whatever it is isn't showing up in a screen.  He's been seeing a counselor, psychologist, and psychiatrist for roughly 2 - 3 years.  He's attended school roughly 50% of the time this year and will have to repeat next year if he isn't expelled.  We go to court at the end of the month (more larceny from breaking in to neighbor's homes) and I'm told we may be given the choice between juvie and a residential program.  We've been "sentenced" to outpatient drug rehab before.  He told his friends he wants to live at juvie because he can't get drugs at home.  

I'm a single mom and I've been keeping him when he is out of school etc. but my job is on the line now because I've missed so much this year too.  I started looking at residential programs because even though we've eaten up all our savings on these (legal issues, doctors, emergency rooms (suicide attempt), and short term stabilization), I can take out a loan against my retirement and get him into something if it would help him.

I've read the forums and you tell people to work with them, and I have endlessly but I'm pretty sure I can't do anything that is going to work because he doesn't want me to help him.  Whenever I try to do anything with him at all, he runs away and gets high.

Isn't there any good and caring program out there?  Isn't there anything or anyone that can help a child who is unhappy?  I don't want to lose my son.  I don't want him to go to prison/juvie.  I don't want him to die.  I don't want us to become homeless.  What do we do?

Thanks.

blombrowski:
In some states there are alternative to incarceration programs that are evidence-based treatments in that they have been shown to reduce recidivism as compared to juvenile corrections or residential treatment.  These programs are Mulit-Systemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy.

They are particularly designed for the kinds of behaviors you are reporting your son to have, truancy, substance use, and minor criminal involvement.

Just because your Family Court Judge hasn't offered it as an option yet, does not mean such an option doesn't exist in your community.  Though it isn't a resource yet that exists in every community.  I wouldn't call it a magic bullet, but it has a better chance of working than any kind of out-of-home care.

These programs may be different than what you've experienced so far, because they are ecological in nature, in that they work with your son in his school and in his home.  If you don't mind the question, what community are you from?

AdviseAMom:
We are in the Raleigh area.  I would love to know if there is anything like that in our area. Thank you.

Edited to say that I've found a functional family therapy program for Durham County residents.  I'm in Wake, but I'll call them anyway and maybe they will have a suggestion.  Apparently no multi=systemic therapy programs that I could find.

I will be checking this website for anyone's suggestions regularly.

Ursus:

--- Quote from: "blombrowski" ---I wouldn't call it a magic bullet...
--- End quote ---
I think our culture's expectation of such is a huge part of the supportive understructure of this industry...

Pile of Dead Kids:
Oh, I don't know, Ursus. Seems to me that bullets and these places have some things in common.

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