Guide for Parents

A guide for parents on ASAP assessment and treatment.

Parents seeking assessment or treatment for their teens often have questions about the process. This guide for parents includes information that parents have told us helped them to make a treatment decision.

Before bringing your teen for an assessment, you may feel:

• Surprised
• Confused
• Fearful
• Hopeless
• Overwhelmed
• Alone
• All or any combination of these emotions

Step 1: Call ASAP to Get Started

• Our intake specialists will collect the pertinent information, including insurance information, and schedule your teen for an assessment appointment with a member of our clinical staff.
• We will check your insurance benefits, and then call you back to discuss the quoted benefits available to your family for all levels of treatment offered at ASAP. You should also call your insurance provider to verify benefits for the services ASAP provides.
• With your permission, you will receive an email from ASAP confirming your teen’s appointment and detailing important information about what to expect at the assessment.

Step 2: Attend a Formal Assessment

• Please plan two hours for your teen’s assessment.
• A parent or guardian is required to attend the assessment.  This is another way to encourage familial involvement in the recovery process.  Parents or guardians will fill out a Parent Assessment during the assessment that will cover family history as well as specific information about your teen.  We use the parental view as one component in making a recommendation.
• Recommendations will be made at the end of your assessment.

Remember, ASAP is a partner, working to assist you in helping your child.

Step 3: Make a treatment decision

ASAP is committed to providing you and your teen with the most comprehensive evaluation available. At the conclusion of the ASAP assessment, your counselor will invite you to describe how you plan to follow through with the recommendations made for you and your child.  If the recommendation is for a service that ASAP does not provide (like partial hospitalization, in-patient hospitalization, or detox), we are happy to help you find the appropriate doctor or facility to get your teen on the way to a healthy, sober life.

Step 4: Talk to your teen about treatment

We understand that this is a confusing and scary time for many families. Parents have told our staff that they have limited knowledge about the dangerous interaction between mental distress, substance use and social media on adolescents. Some have worried that they aren’t able to appropriately guide the discussions they have with their teens. We hope that by providing you with the following information, you will feel more informed and better able to guide your child through this difficult time.

ASAP can help you and your family return to a healthy place.

ASAP is the only treatment facility in the region that focuses solely on adolescents. We utilize ASAM guidelines for best treatment of adolescents with substance use disorders.

Key points to remember if  the TRIP Program is recommended for your teen:

• ASAP has multiple treatment professionals who will be engaged in your child’s treatment
• ASAP offers gender-specific treatment groups, when possible
• We host on-site mutual support groups (NA, Nar-Anon, SMART Recovery, and SMART Friends and Family)
• Access to direct, individual treatment with doctoral-level staff
• Rolling admission so you don’t have to wait to get the help your family needs
• Minimal disruption to your family schedule
• Family Medical Leave forms are completed at no charge to support family involvement.

Your child may say, “I want to maintain my drug or alcohol use and continue living my current ‘lifestyle,’ regardless of the consequences.”

Your child may feel, “There is no solution for the mental distress I am experiencing.”

Your child may believe, “There is no problem except you or other authority figures.”

Teenagers often struggle to accept help or to make changes that are consistent with their long-term goals. It is ASAP’s experience that even the most angry, resentful, and resistant teens make significant strides during and after treatment, even when it takes longer than many parents wish.

You know your child better than anyone and have the right and responsibility to lead your family. It is not your responsibility to follow a child’s wishes.  Substance use and mental health disorders are illnesses, similar to diabetes or obesity. These illnesses affect teens and their families in many destabilizing ways.  ASAP can help restore health to your child and your family through the development and renewal of positive and practical behaviors. It is our hope that your child will ultimately recognize the sacrifice, commitment, and resolve you exhibit by providing the needed care, support and unwavering commitment to their health.