How to Find Effective Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment + How to Train Treatment Counselors

Here's four great resources for finding effective adolescent substance abuse treatment programs (emphasis on residential), plus one on how to train clinicians in evidence-based treatment:

1. How to Find the Best Drug Treatment for Teens: A Guide for Parents -- This guide from TIME magazine is excellent to pass on to parents struggling with their teens' drug and alcohol issues. Among other things, it includes a link to Time to Get Help, an excellent website developed and hosted by The Partnership at Drug-Free.org. (I'm glad TIME got the word about about this -- while Steve Pasierb, CEO of the Partnership, did a post for us about Time to Get Help way back in December, there's no denying that TIME gets a little more traffic than we do. And I was unaware of the next two resources before I read the TIME article.)
2. Questions for Parents to Ask Before Entering a Youth in a Residential Program - these questions were developed by the Federal Trade Commission and apply to all sorts of residential programs, not just alcohol and drug treatment programs.
    
3. Ten Important Questions to Ask Teen Substance Abuse Treatment Program. 
4. Questions for Youth to Ask When Entering a Treatment Program - Imagine a set of questions youth might ask themselves and others before agreeing to enter a residential program. Questions that could help them adjust to treatment faster.  Now, you don't have to imagine, thanks to the Building Bridges Initiative of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  You can see similar tip sheets for parents and recommendations for treatment providers and adolescent substance abuse policy officials at the state level on how to use and disseminate them here. 
5. Strategies for Training Counselors in Evidence-Based Treatments - What's the most effective way to insure that your clinicians learn to implement evidence-based treatments?  Learn the answer(s) in this article, authored by Steve Martino of Yale University School of Medicine, which appeared in the December 2010 issue of Addiction Science and Clnical Practice. (Hat tip to Paul Savery.)

 
NOTE: This is an updated  version of a post that appeared in February 2011. 

Photo: hometownzero.