• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise

Milwaukee Community Journal

Wisconsin's Largest African American Newspaper

  • News
    • Local News
    • National
    • World
  • Entertainment
    • Sports
  • Community Podium
  • Health
    • Family
    • Relationships
  • Culture
    • Religion
  • Money
  • Jobs
    • Housing
  • Scholarship Fund
You are here: Home / Archives for teenager

teenager

3 Ways To Prepare For A Troubled Teen’s Return From A Treatment Center

March 13, 2018 By MKE Community Journal Leave a Comment

Raising a teenager can be a challenge under the best circumstances.

But when a teenager’s addictions, learning disabilities, or emotional and behavioral issues become more than parents can bear, the young people often are placed in residential or wilderness treatment programs where professionals help them work through their issues.

Success can quickly unravel when the child returns home, though, if parents aren’t ready with a game plan to help with the transition.

“Parents often fear that their son or daughter is going to relapse into old, unhealthy or dangerous patterns,” says Dr. Tim R. Thayne, a marriage and family therapist and author of Not by Chance: How Parents Boost Their Teen’s Success In and After Treatment(www.drtimthayne.com).

“They have fears about how their child will connect socially with other people and whether they will find the right friends. They fear their teen will fall further behind in academics.”

Thayne suggests a few ways to help parents ease the transition:

  • Identify natural mentors for your teen. A natural mentor – such as a neighbor, teacher, relative or coach – is typically more effective than an officially assigned mentor. “Studies suggest that most formal mentoring relationships last less than a year,” Thayne says. “In contrast, natural mentoring relationships, which come from the church, school, family and neighborhood, are far more durable, with the average lasting nine years.”
  • Know when and how to grant back privileges and freedoms. Don’t let your teen pressure you into promising the return of certain privileges. Long before they come home, teens in treatment often begin asking what they are going to be able to do and how soon. “They want back the freedoms they once had, such as cell phone and car use, sleepovers, computer time, dating, time with friends and so forth,” Thayne says. “If there is ever a time not to buckle under pressure from your teen, it’s now while they are still in the program. If your teen is going to be angry, let the program deal with the fallout.” When they do come home, don’t make a rule you aren’t willing to back up. Consistency is key. Over time, as your trust grows, be ready to hand out rewards before being asked, but this doesn’t have to be done all at once. “Things can be handed out for a weekend trial, or at a level of 50 percent of what your child initially pushed for,” Thayne says.
  • Find someone to talk with. “Parents should have someone they can open up to about their emotions,” Thayne says. He suggests finding a therapist or a coach who has experience working with parents in this situation. “That counselor will be better equipped to help you through this transition,” he says. “Nothing will surprise them; not your fears, not your questions, not your situation.” In addition to an expert coach, Thayne says, it also helps to have a trusted friend you can vent to as well.

 

“Long-term success doesn’t come about by chance, by hoping or simply because you shelled out a lot of money and sent your child away to get help,” Thayne says. “It requires work and changes on your part, and it takes a concrete plan.”

 

About Tim R. Thayne, Ph.D.

Dr. Tim R. Thayne, a marriage and family therapist, is author of Not By Chance: How Parents Boost Their Teen’s Success In and Out of Treatment (www.drtimthayne.com). He also is the founder and CEO of Homeward Bound, a leading program in early intervention and in-home transition from treatment services for families of troubled teens. He has a master’s degree from Brigham Young University and a doctoral degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Virginia Tech.

Filed Under: Family Time, Health Tagged With: addictions, Dr. Tim R. Thayne, emotional and behavioral issues, learning disabilities, marriage and family therapist, Not by Chance, teenager

Primary Sidebar

WEEKEND EDITION

WEEKEND EDITION

First Sunday

Habari Gani?

Habari Gani?

WEEKLY EDITION

WEEKLY EDITION

Go HERE for the Digital Archives

Mrs O’Bee’s Toy House

Signifyin’

Signifyin’

Start your work week with MKE Monday Juice!

Newsletter Signup

Recent Posts

  • Want to Perform at Summerfest?
  • Sheriff’s Deputies, Local Police Officers Volunteer for 13th Annual “Shop With A Cop”
  • Habari Gani Dec. 6, 2019
  • Milwaukee Urban League Equal Opportunity Day celebrates local leaders committed to diversity
  • Community event on south side to highlight business opportunities during DNC

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Tags

2016 election Alderman Khalif J. Rainey Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs america annual black owned businesses Boko Haram book campaign center city Dating Advice day debate Ebola entrepreneurship Eric Garner event exercise Ferguson Protests free healthy holiday HuffPost Live law Love & Sex Love and Relationships marriage national organization program programs prostate cancer relationship advice report residents Reuters school season service small business owners study support weight loss What Is Working: Small Businesses

Categories

Copyright © 2019 Milwaukee Community Journal