Where should you turn, once you conclude that you need some clinical help with your child?  There are thousands of treatment programs and options, with various levels of intensity.  How do you know which one is right for your child?  In this podcast, Guy Hardcastle joins Jeff as they discuss different treatment options.   From outpatient counseling to in-patient treatment, the pros and cons of the most common treatment strategies are discussed.  As mentioned in the podcast, parents who need further assistance can call West Ridge Academy admissions at 1-800-262-2697.  Even if your child doesn’t fit the West Ridge Academy treatment setting, the admissions team will assist you in creating a short list of treatment options for your child.

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Not every teen that uses drugs uses them at the same level. Some are heavy into addiction and yet some are merely curious about the effects of drugs. Specialist Carrie Carter joins us again to talk about the continuum of drug use. In this initial discussion she introduces us to the different levels of drug use that teenagers are involved in. This episode touches on all four of the levels but focuses mostly on Natural Curiosity and Experimenting.

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Jeff is healthy once again and he is here in this podcast to introduce the next series of podcasts. As we have hinted earlier the next series of podcasts is going to be about addiction. This series will deal with primarily drug addiction. We will have a few guests on the future podcasts that you have not heard before and we are excited to introduce them to you next week.

Today’s podcast will deal mostly with statistics. Drug use among adolescents is a difficult issue that we face in our communities.  Jeff brings in statistics about the prevalence of the use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. He also touches briefly on perscription drug abuse. The next few podcasts will focus on how you can help prevent your children from using drugs, how to recognize when your child is using drugs and how to help those who are using.

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In today’s podcast Mat speaks with Chris Woods, head of the music department of West Ridge Academy. The topic is Teens and Music. Chris gives his answers, as a music professional, to why music is so important to teenagers. He also gives parents some ideas of what they can do when conflicts arise between parents and their child over music.

Chris has worked with a lot of teens over the years and is able to relate to them through their love of music. He has produced 3 professional CD’s that have showcased the musical talent that has come through West Ridge. The songs on the albums were performed by the students at West Ridge.

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This is the podcast that we put together everything that we have been discussing over the last few months. Part of our discussion focuses on what kind of problems a child could have if their parents neglect or overemphasize any of the four tasks that we have been talking about.

It is important for parents to understand that most parents don’t do everything well. It can be helpful to find another person that can teach your child the piece that you are missing.

Whenever we start a new activity or try to form a new habit we meet resistance. This is especially true when you try to change the your parenting style and technique. Stick with it. There will be resistance from your children. If you persist, however, you will develop new habits for your family and the new parenting style will become normal for your family.

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Today Jeff and Mat finish up their discussion on the last parenting task, Accountability. Part of the task of teaching your children to choose to be accountable is helping them to find their talents and abilities and helping them do something worthwhile with those talents and abilities. The accountability part in that process is helping kids learn to follow through is critical to their development. You have to earn your own way in this world and many youth today have an attitude of entitlement. Teaching kids accountability teaches them that privilidges in life are earned.

The last piece of accountability is giving and getting feedback. Jeff talks about the importance of creating feedback loops with your children. He also discusses the importance of balancing feedback with the other 3 parenting tasks, Connecting, Empowering, and Creating Order.

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