Teen Substance Use: Do Residential Treatment Centers Work?

As a parent, you watch your child grow and experience different phases in their life. They may take up new interests, such as playing a sport or joining a club at their school. You meet friends who walk in and out of your front door. Teenagers are curious and may experiment with their identity as they start to discover who they are. However, if your child begins to withdraw into a secret life, experience sudden and negative behavioral shifts, and show symptoms of substance use, it is time to seek professional help. At Lotus Behavioral Health, our behavioral health center is here to renew and restore wholeness to families impacted by substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders.

Following COVID-19, we have begun to see the way the pandemic affected our youth. According to the CDC, a third of high school students experienced a deteriorating mental health condition. Teenagers are faced with pressures in their life that they are unable to manage on their own. Because of this, they may resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms and reach for substances because they struggle to ask for help themselves. As a family, you may feel overwhelmed by not knowing what to do in this situation. Lotus Behavioral Health is here to provide you and your child with the intensive care and support necessary for the addiction recovery process.

The Lotus Behavioral Health Experience

Our 20,000 square foot facility is designed to create a structured routine for your child to heal with the guidance of licensed behavioral health professionals. Our Center of Behavioral Health Excellence is available for both male and female adolescents aged 12-17 years old. The length of stay ranges from 30-90 days based on treatment recommendations. The minimal length of residential treatment depends on the type and extent of the adolescent’s challenges and their willingness to make a change. Here, at Lotus Behavioral Health, our family works together with your family to find hope and love in the healing process. You can find more information on specific programming and services for your child at our website.

We know that our residential treatment center works because we have the stories to prove it. Before entering our program, we had a patient who was participating in risk-aversion behavior, running away from home and insisting that everyone else was the problem. Showing signs of substance use, the parents became worried for their teenager’s future. They brought their child to Lotus Behavioral Health wanting a safe and nurturing environment for them to heal.
Upon arriving, the patient was ready to receive help as well. Enacting change begins with acceptance. Throughout their time at our residential treatment center for teenagers, they saw first-hand how our specialized addiction treatment helped them overcome their substance use struggles. Our clinical team teaches them skills and tools in order to manage triggers and resist any urges in order to maintain their sobriety. Once the patient graduated from the residential treatment program, they told their therapist, “Coming to Lotus was the best decision I made in my life.”

In the transition back to their life back at home, the patient sought the support of their therapist at Lotus to stay strong in their recovery journey. During the holidays, a vulnerable time for the teenager, the therapist was available to the patient for virtual sessions where they reviewed the relapse prevention plan together. With the correct coping skills, the patient was able to navigate real-time situations and make healthy decisions for themselves to remain sober. The work commences at Lotus, but the tools, habits and support you and your child find in our residential treatment center, you can keep forever.

Hope. Love. Heal.

When your teenager starts to act differently and distance themselves from you, it is a warning sign that they need support and love. Parents may not know what to say or do in these situations, but counseling is the first step. Lotus Behavioral Health is equipped to bridge the gap of communication between the parent and the child. To receive more information, contact us for an intake consultation at (833) 884-7246 or visit our website.