Getting Help

Do you wonder if your child may be suffering from an alcohol or drug problem? Several factors need to be considered to evaluate whether a teens use of alcohol and drugs has crossed the line beyond recreational or experimental use to a more advanced stage of alcohol abuse or possible dependence. We do know that addiction is a disease that progresses over time from social drinking to alcohol abuse to alcohol dependence. Intervention can be made at any stage of its development. Key indicators of a problem include:

An increasingly significant relationship with alcohol
An inability to control the quantity, time or place a substance is used
Continued use, despite negative consequences affecting ones relationships, academic performance or health

Most families worry about their child's potential to use alcohol or drugs in a harmful manner. It is easy for parents, teachers and adults to rationalize or minimize substance use for teens, particularly where experimentation or risk taking is “ normal”. While you may be unsure of the depth of the problem, seek help as soon as you have a concern. This step gives a clear message to your child that underage alcohol use is dangerous.

Know that you are not alone with your concerns. Reaching out for help requires putting aside any fear or shame you may have in acknowledging the possibility of substance abuse. There are places you can go for support. In order for help to be effective it is essential that it be with someone who is knowledgeable and experienced in assessing and treating substance abuse issues. There are counselors, therapists, interventionists, educational consultants, physicians, outpatient and inpatient treatment centers that specialize in teen alcohol and drug treatment.

To find out where to go for help.

HBO special series on Addiction

What Is Addiction

Adolescent Addict

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Awareness is the first, and most important step
Recognizing that someone in your family might have a problem with alcohol is not easy, but awareness is the first, and most important step. Often it’s more than half the battle to acknowledge that life is unmanageable in some way due to alcohol. The next step is getting help. Rarely can someone face the issue of substance abuse without support. Most individuals who have the disease will tell you that it is impossible to recover alone. Initially, support consists of putting aside fear, embarrassment, and rationalization that the problem is “not really all that bad.” Some start on the road to help by confiding in a friend or neighbor who is in recovery for addiction.

Often when people seek help, a whole new world opens up to them, one that can be life transforming. Many people in recovery report improvement in their lives beyond their wildest dreams. Recovery is exciting and for most people brings rewards beyond that of just stopping drinking, such as hope, serenity, a sense of empowerment, confidence, healthier relationships and most importantly, a new sense of self.

Addiction is a family disease. Substance abuse is a problem that affects the whole family. Often family members fall into roles organized around the issues and problems alcohol dependency creates. Family members need help recognizing and changing unhealthy family systems and roles that unconsciously undermine or impede the progress, maturity, and autonomy of family members.

This is generally what is known as co-dependency. Effective ways to get support include professional counselors, psychotherapists, support groups (such as Twelve Step meetings), and intensive outpatient or residential treatment centers for addiction.

The person or agency you seek help from must have in-depth knowledge and experience with treating addiction.

Twenty Questions from Alcoholics Anonymous

Are you an alcoholic?
The following list of questions is used to help people find out where they stand with alcohol. However, you are the only one who can say if you have a problem or not. Even if you have been told that you do, it is important that you decide for yourself.

1. Did you lose time from work due to drinking?
2. Did drinking make your home life unhappy?
3. Did you drink because you were shy with people?
4. Has drinking effected your reputation?
5. Have you gotten into trouble because of your drinking?
6. Did you associate with people you didn’t respect and hang out in places you didn’t want to be in when drinking?
7. Did your drinking make you careless of your family’s welfare?
8. Has your drinking decreased your ambition?
9. Did you want a drink “the morning after?”
10. Did you have a hard time sleeping because of your drinking?
11. Has your ability to work decreased since drinking?
12. Did you get into trouble on the job or in business?
13. Did you drink to escape from problems or worries?
14. Did you drink alone?
15. Have you ever had a complete loss of memory as a result of drinking?
16. Has a Dr. ever treated you for drinking?
17. Did you drink to build up self-confidence?
18. Have you ever been arrested, locked up or hospitalized on account of drinking?
19. Have you ever felt guilty after drinking?
20. Did you have to have a drink at a certain time each day?

If you answered, “ yes” to three or more questions you may be alcoholic. Remember however that no one can force you to admit you are alcoholic.

The following resources are available for help:

Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS)
Adolescent Counseling Services provides individual, group and family therapy for teens, teen substance abuse treatment, assessment and prevention education and community education in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. ACS administers a group home for at-risk teen girls, and offers on-campus teen counseling in Palo Alto and Menlo Park middle schools and high schools, where teens can get advice and support on drugs and alcohol abuse, relationships and family problems.
Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) 445 Sherman Street, Palo Alto, CA.

Private Counseling and Psychotherapy:

Addictions Institute
The Addictions Institute is an outpatient clinic offering comprehensive treatment for all addiction problems. They deal with active addiction and those in the process of recovery. They also offer workshops, small seminars and consultation to mental health and addiction professionals regarding the developmental model of addiction and recovery. All therapists are seasoned, licensed practioners with specialty training and experience in treating addictions of all kinds.
Addictions Institute, 455 Burgess Avenue, Menlo Park, CA. (650) 322-0943

12 Step Programs:

12 Step Programs are a fellowship of men, women, and teens who share their experience, strength and hope, to recover from the disease of alcoholism. There are many different kinds of 12 Step meetings for individuals and their families struggling with substance abuse.
The following websites will direct you to meeting locations and times:

Alcoholics Anonymous
Marijuana Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous
Cocaine Anonymous
Codependence Anonymous
Adult Children of Alcoholics
Al-Anon
Al-Anon helps families and friends of alcoholics recover from the effects of living with the problem drinking of a relative or friend. Highly recommended Al-Anon Meeting for parents in the Palo Alto/Redwood City area.
Alateen
Alateen is a similar program to Al-Anon but is specifically for teens. Highly recommended Alateen and NA meetings in the Palo Alto/Redwood City area.

Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Palo Alto Medical Foundation has a drop-in group open to the community for anyone questioning whether they or a loved one has an alcohol problem. The group meets every Tuesday at 5:30 pm in the department of Psychiatry at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA.

Local Treatment Centers (Inpatient and Outpatient):

ACS - Adolescent Counseling Services - Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program
Adolescent Counseling Services - Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program (ASAT) provides local "treatment" for adolescents. ACS ASAT is Treatment State Certified.
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment (ASAT)
Address: 445 Sherman Avenue, Suite J, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Tel: 650-329.9410
Fax: 650-329.9630

Women’s Recovery Association
Women have special needs when it comes to treatment programs. The Women's Recovery Association provides gender specific outpatient and residential substance abuse treatment for women and adolescent girls in six distinct programs. Their mission is to assist women, girls and their families in recovering from chemical dependency and its secondary affects. It treats the whole person and facilitates healing with dignity and respect.
Women's Recovery Association, 1450 Chapin Avenue, Burlingame, CA. (650) 348-6603

Sequoia Center
The Sequoia Center is a freestanding adult alcohol and drug recovery center that interfaces the 12-Step Recovery philosophy with principles from cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic models. Sequoia Center works closely with The Behavioral Medicine Clinic of the Peninsula which provides state of the art, addiction, psychiatric and chronic pain consultation, detoxification and on-going medical management of patients with all levels of complexity. With 30 years of experience in the recovery field, they provide both inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Sequoia Center, 650 Main Street, Redwood City, CA. (800) 997-5504

Mayflower Center
The Mayflower Center founded in 2005, is a unique treatment center dedicated to the treatment of adult men who have either, been unable to stay sober and achieve recovery in their lives, or who are a high risk for relapse. Mayflower Center’s Relapse Recovery Program™ (RRP) is an open-ended treatment program with a minimum stay of 16 weeks. If an individual has completed at least 28 days of treatment elsewhere the minimum length of stay may be 12 weeks.
Mayflower Center, 523 4th St # 100, San Rafael, CA. (800) 376-0033

Support at school: Counselors-Palo Alto Unified School District

Paly High School
Susan Shultz
Selene Singares
Paige Johnson

Gunn High School
William Christensen
Myesha Comptom
Pat Conway
Monica Espinoza
Jovi Johnston
Lisa Kaye
Linda Kirsch

JLS Middle School
Ryan Ealy
Arvind Arya
Linda Howard

Jordan Middle School
Marty Jacobs
Betty Krumboltz
Kerry Smith

Terman Middle School
Bhavna Narula
Michelle Chin
Nancy Smith

Additional Resources

American Medical Association
The website for the American Medical Association is a good way to find a physician specializing in addiction medicine.

Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers a 'treatment locator' listing more than eleven thousand addiction treatment programs for both adolescents and adults.

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