Congratulations on your child graduating from the Intensive Outpatient Program!  Becoming clean and sober is a lengthy process. It took a long time before most of the teens in ASAP to become regular users. It will take a long time for them to be able to change their lives enough to remain sober permanently.

For most of our teens, the hardest part of early recovery is combating boredom and letting go of the old using friends. This early recovery phase can last for long as 6 months. Until TRIP, many of our clients spent hours almost each day thinking about drugs, getting/stealing money to buy the drugs, using the drugs,  and ‘hanging out’ with peers who are using drugs. In addition, they work hard to keep parents, school officials, and legal authorities from realizing they are using. We are now asking these teens to stop associating with people, places, and things they associate with drug use. There are a lot of empty hours in their days!

Filling the void in early recovery with new sober activities increases the chances of continuing sobriety

In order to stop drugs and alcohol from creeping back into their lives, teens must stay motivated to be sober. Continuing Care, SMART recovery and 12-step meetings help fill the void, give a new outlet for time and energy, and introduce new-to-recovery teens to others in recovery.

Successfully recovering addicts often attend multiple meetings each week to help fill the time and stay motivated.

They may do this for many years, and even if they stop attending frequent meetings for some time, many return to more meetings during times of stress. People who move to a new city also experience boredom at first. Teens who are new in recovery experience the same emotions. Eventually they find new activities and friends to fill the void.

Parents and family members can help support a person in recovery by attending meetings themselves, including our first Continuing Care meeting of the month. This meeting is designed for parents to attend along with their child.

Attending Continuing Care regularly will help your child remain connected to the recovery community.

This is especially during this time of transition.Volunteering and reengaging in school activities can also have a positive effect. As your relationship with your child improves, you will find fun family activities to be enjoyable once again.