How Parents Can Help Their Underage Kids Resist Alcohol

Reported By: Aimee Cunningham, NPR Health News    “Parental monitoring and warmth are a protective device against kids’ binge drinking.”   While a sense of inevitability often surrounds the topic of teen drinking, adults can play an important role in preventing underage alcohol use. Two recent studies provide guidance for parents. One finds that parents […]

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Trust: A Two-Way Street

Written By: Laura Cole, ACS Clinical Intern, Community Counseling and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Programs In relationships trust is an essential component.  But, what is this sometimes seemingly “intangible” thing we call trust among parents and teens?  How is it built and maintained on this two-way street?  How does one repair when a breach occurs? […]

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Drunk Driving: Know the Real Costs

  Author: Monica Ippolito, Marriage & Family Therapist Intern, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program   As we leave Alcohol Awareness Month (April), it is fitting to review and clarify California’s laws on Driving Under the Influence (DUI). When a police officer pulls you over or you drive through a DUI checkpoint, you will be asked several questions and are […]

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National trends for substance use among adolescents parallels local youth opinions

image: Shay “Cigarettes and Alcohol” By: Monica Ippolito ACS Outpatient Counseling Services Intern Recently the National Institute on Drug Abuse released a study that the University of Michigan conducted in their Monitoring the Future Study on what trends are popular among middle and high school students across the country. The study looked at usage of […]

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Co-Occurring Disorders: Treatment

By: JoAnn Kukulus, M.S. Clinical Psychology BBS Registered Intern at Adolescent Counseling Services Part II of blog series on Co-Occurring Disorders Read Part I: Co-Occurring Disorders: Diagnosis Regardless of which issue presented first, mental health or alcohol/substance abuse, recovery depends on acknowledging and treating both the alcohol/substance abuse and the mental health issue. The most […]

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Co-Occurring Disorders: Diagnosis

By: JoAnn Kukulus, M.S. Clinical Psychology BBS Registered Intern at Adolescent Counseling Services Increasingly at Adolescent Counseling Services, we are encountering clients who are struggling with both alcohol or substance use/abuse and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, and the effects of trauma (PTSD). The intersection of these conditions is rapidly gaining […]

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Teens and Parties

By: JoAnn Kukulus, MS, MFTI ACS Intern When our children were young, we parents had a hand in just about everything they did. We took on the responsibility of organizing and structuring their time in such a way that we knew what they were doing each minute of each day. If we couldn’t actually oversee the […]

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Solvent Abuse-What is It?

In ACS’ Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program (ASAT) it is common to hear teens share about the different substances they use to get “high”. Top among these substances are items that can easily be found around the house- solvents/inhalants. Household solvents can be very dangerous if used to get high and the highest risk group […]

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Studys Show Substance Abuse Use Higher in Teens with Mental Health Issues

Two studies have recently come out showing a higher prevalence of substance abuse and cigarette use amongst adolescents with mental health disorders. The first study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry revealed a significantly higher prevalence of substance abuse and cigarette use by adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity […]

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“Medicine Abuse Project”-New Campaign to fight Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse in America is becoming increasingly alarming by the minute. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), there were approximately 7 million people in the U.S. who reported nonmedical use of psychotherapeutic drugs in 2010. Pain relievers remain as the most widely abused medications, followed by tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. Among […]

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