Aftercare Program For Substance Abuse - (Don't waste your money!)

So many parents make a crucial mistake when their kids getting ready to get out of treatment. So I'm going to start by telling you a story. So last week, a friend of mine, David, he's actually David McNeese, he's a good friend of mine, he owns this recovery house here in Greenville and they do excellent work. They're so good. If you're looking for a recovery house for a young adult male, this is place to go. But anyways, so David's in my office and he was telling me about a phone call he got from a parent. They were looking for some place to send their son after he got out of his treatment program. It's like a residential treatment program. He's talking to the parents and the parents said, well, he really their son, he really wants to come home. And David was trying to talk to them about different options and things he can do, but they were like, well, we really want it to be his decision. They this kid was coming out of a treatment center that probably cost about $60,000 or more. And he'd been there, I'm guessing about 60 days or so. That is a huge investment. And it's worth it. It's worth every penny because they love their kid, they're trying to get him off drugs and get his life back on track. And I would never tell a parent not to make that kind of investment. But what I would tell you is if you send your child who's a teenager or young adult, college age kid, off to a treatment center and then you bring them right back into your home, you have seriously just wasted your money and you're probably gonna have to do this again. The reason is it's not because you're bad parents or anything. It's because the treatment, although it works, learning to stay sober in your environment is a totally different beast than learning to stay sober in a treatment facility where you really don't have any access. So there's a whole new skill set that needs to be learned. That that skill set is typically learned in one of these intermediate programs. So in a program like David's where it's a recovery house and the guys there, they work up to different levels of freedom and that sort of thing. But ultimately they are working. They have girlfriends, they have their cell phone, they can drive, but they're still in a structured environment so that they have the support. You know, they're drug tested, there's accountability, there's rules, all that kind of thing. But that is what you need to learn how to make that transition I can't tell you how many times I see parents make this mistake. You know, your kid is a disaster, and you get it, and you send them away to treatment after a long time of struggle and heartache and pain. And then finally you get them to go away and they're there. And about a month or so in, or three weeks in, you're like, oh, my gosh, that's my kid. Like, he's back. He's so much better. They look great. You're so excited. They're so excited. Everybody feels so much better. And so you think, oh, my gosh, thank God we got this done. Well, guess what? It's not finished. That's the beginning. And that second stage is where most people fall through the cracks. So please do not neglect to look at appropriate aftercare plans for your child if you're sending them away to treatment. I'm telling you, if you don't do this, you're making a bad investment. I have only ever seen that work one time where a kid came straight home from treatment. And honestly, it was because he was a teenager and there really wasn't any recovery housing options for him other than to come home. And he made it and he did well, but it was by the skin of his teeth. I mean, we were counseling this kid every day, and it was difficult. He even went back to high school, which was super tough, but that was one time by the skin of his teeth. All the rest of the time, in all the years I've been doing this, that does not work. It ends in an ultimate fail. So you need to be planning for those transitions. So after someone's in rehab, then you may want to look at a recovery housing option. At bare minimum, you need to be looking at an intensive outpatient program for your child to transition to if you're going to bring them back home. If they're 18 or over and they're old enough that they don't have to come back home, I would really suggest that you send them or plan for them to go into a recovery housing situation, preferably not in your hometown where they grew up. The reason is because young adults, they really need to get away. It's a little different for adults. For young adults when they're, you know, they're in town and they stop at the, you know, the quick trip and they run in to get a big Hue Ice drink or something like that, and they're getting gas, and then they see their buddy, and then their buddy's like, hey, man, I haven't seen you in a while. Like, you wanna go smoke up. It's a lot of pressure. And I know that you can get drugs and alcohol anywhere, but it's different to say no or stay away from it from someone you don't know than it is to say no and stay away from it from people that you do know. Especially when you're young and it's super awkward and you're worried about what they think of you and all that kind of stuff. So plan for aftercare. If you're in this situation and you don't know what to do, feel free. You can give us a call. You can schedule a free phone consult and we'll help walk you through the situation about what kind of aftercare there is, no matter where you live, and help you figure it out. Because I really, really, really don't want to see you mess this up. The price is too high. Not just financially, but emotionally. You cannot go back through this again. Your kid does not need to go back through this again. I don't care how much they beg or plead and they say, I promise I'm gonna stay sober. I'm gonna go to meeting you every day. Let me come home. Don't. Don't do it. I'm serious. Listen to me. Don't do it. It's a major mistake. And if you need help figuring out how to have that conversation, I'm telling you, give us a call. We'll talk you through it. We'll help you figure it out. Don't make this mistake.