Types of Help Available
Sometimes the hardest thing for a parent to do is to ask for outside help. Once you have determined that your son has a problem that he needs to seek treatment for, you need to act confidently and swiftly to minimize the damage.
One of the first steps may be to find a local therapist who can help your son. It should be someone who has experience working with teens because this is a specialized area. There are many different types of practitioners available. The therapist you choose may be a psychiatrist, psychologist, a nurse practitioner with an advanced nursing degree, or a social worker.
Essential
Your insurance may dictate what practitioner you see. Be sure to check with both your insurance and the practitioner to review their policies. Some insurance requires special authorization for certain treatments for substance abuse.
If you don't know where to start in finding help for your son, turn to others you trust. This might be your son's health care provider, the school counselor, or even your own health care provider. You can also look at the list provided by your insurance company or by a teen agency in town. Armed with a list, you should interview each person. Questions should include:
Licensure or credentials
Areas of practice expertise
Experience with the topic and age group
Office policies including hours, payments, backup practitioners, and fees
Types of therapy used
If your son is in very bad medical shape or is at risk of hurting himself or others, hospitalization may be required. This may be at a medical facility, a psychiatric facility, or a center that specializes in drug and alcohol treatment. Once in the hospital he will receive individual and group therapy as well as any medical care or tests needed. Typically, hospitalization lasts only a week or two, until your son is stable. From there he may be referred to a partial hospital program or a day program.
Fact
Your son's practitioner may be obligated to keep certain matters confidential, which means not even you can have access to them. This should be explained ahead of time.
A day program is one where your son attends counseling and therapy in an intense program, but only during the day. This is not as severe as inpatient treatment, but it is still intense. He may have certain restrictions at home, for he will be there in the evenings and during the weekends.
When your son graduates from a day program, he will still require therapy for the long term. Consider having him continue the therapy through his teen years and into college. College is another big period of adjustment, and therapy is a protective mechanism to help him prevent reverting back to his old habits.
