Drugs & Alcohol

Additional Support for Parents when Adolescents Lie about Drug Use

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Parent Tips / Parent-Teen Communication / Parenting / Prevention / Recent Trends / Treatment  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Written By: Mayra Vargas, MFTI, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program Parental instinct is key to supporting their teens with their drug use/abuse. Parents sometimes ignore their “gut instinct” that lets them know something is happening with their adolescent.  Often a parent will tentatively ask about these issues, and the teen will say ‘everything is fine’ — […]

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Anatomy Of Addiction: How Heroin And Opioids Hijack The Brain

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Prescription Drugs / Recent Trends  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

By:  Jack Rodolico, NPR Health News   “I ended up sniffing a whole one, and I blacked out… it ruined me that time. But I loved it.” When Jack O’Connor was 19, he was so desperate to beat his addictions to alcohol and opioids that he took a really rash step. He joined the Marines. […]

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Substance Abuse in the LGBTQQ+ Community

in Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Gender identity / LGBTQ Issues / Outlet  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Written By: Dafne Luna, Outlet Program Coordinator The use of recreational drugs and alcohol in this community is incredibly widespread and, unfortunately, is sometimes encouraged as a cultural norm. For many queer and trans* youth, drinking is almost a rite of passage into Queer culture. There are very few places, meetups, and activities where large […]

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ACS Practices Mindfulness!

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Co-Occuring Disorders / Community Counseling / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Mental Health / Parent Tips / Prevention / Recovery / Treatment  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Written By: JoAnn Kukulus, MFTI   |  ACS’ Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program & Community Counseling Program Recently I had the opportunity to become trained and certified to implement a group and individual curriculum called “Mindfulness-Based Substance Abuse Treatment for Adolescents,” which the ACS programs are beginning to utilize.  This relatively new evidence-based curriculum, founded by Sam Himelstein […]

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The H.O.P.E. on the “Road to Recovery”

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Prevention / Recovery  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Written By:  Laura Cole, Clinical Intern, ACS Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program and Community Counseling Program There are few people who enter recovery with feelings of exuberance.  Generally, pain and consequences are the catalysts for seeking help; and those experiences do not tend to generate warm and fuzzy feelings of hope.  Hence, the ‘road to […]

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Saving Jake: A Family Memoir of Opioid Addiction

in Co-Occuring Disorders / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Mental Health / Upcoming Events  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

* Author D’Anne Burwell will be a featured speaker at an ACS Educational Symposium March 5th, 2016 covering Substance Abuse Issues and Treatment.  D’Anne is a local Bay Area author, speaker and mentor; frequenting addiction recovery meetings and working tirelessly in the community to raise awareness about drug crises. Below is a review of her newly […]

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Teens’ overall substance use declining, but marijuana use rising

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Drinking / Drugs & Alcohol / E-News / Marijuana / Smoking / Substance Abuse  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

Image: Torbin Hansen, Marijuana Joint Reported by: EurekAlert!, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)   Marijuana use in teenagers is on the rise, while cigarette and alcohol use are stable or declining, according to health statistics researchers. In particular, black teens are using more marijuana than in recent decades. “Our analysis shows […]

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Drunk Driving: Know the Real Costs

in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment / Drinking / E-News  by Adolescent Counseling Services 0 comments

  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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Concentrates: When Marijuana Doesn’t Look Like Marijuana

in Cannabis Concentrates / Drugs & Alcohol / Marijuana / Uncategorized  by Lindsey Leason 0 comments

Image: Brad Bethell  By Evan Sahn ACS’ Outpatient Counseling Intern As a substance abuse counselor, one of my many responsibilities is to assist adolescents and families in achieving reduction in substance use, resolve internal family conflicts, resolve psychological issues that drive substance use, and eventually achieve sobriety.  That being said, we do spend some of […]

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Conference on adolescent mental health & addiction – Menlo Park, 2/28, 9am-3:30pm

in Depression / Drugs & Alcohol / Mental Health / mental illness / Parent Education Session / Parent Tips / Sexuality / Upcoming Events  by Aarika Riddle 0 comments

Adolescent Counseling Services‘ Executive Director, Philippe Rey, Psy.D., will be a keynote speaker at Parenting Teens Through the Challenges of Life: A conference on adolescent health and addiction. This conference will help you understand what adolescents deal with and provide information on helpful resources. The keynotes and afternoon workshops, led by experts in their fields, will discuss […]

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