Having Fun in Recovery with Guest Blogger Patt Ochoa

Teens Having Fun in Recovery
 
As children become teenagers, they begin to step away from the influence of their parents and into the influence of their peers.  Sometimes this can be a drastic shift in the child’s behaviors.  As parents, we have taught morals and responsibility. As the teen's attitude changes, they live more and more in a “if it is not fun then why do it?” modality.  To many teenager’s fun becomes hanging out with friends, listening to music, and going to parties.  For some of the pressures of doing well in school, family responsibilities, fitting in with peers and an increase in the importance of body issues lead to coping by cutting, drug use and restricting food. 

Some teens will resort to negative behaviors such as running away from home, breaking things, often items with sentimental value, in the home, isolating and perhaps not eating.  Teens will hang out with their friends more and more because, in their mind, it is the only thing that makes them feel happy.  Parents may begin to see a lack of respect at home and grades dropping at school.  Parents are often frustrated and not sure how to successfully parent their teenager. Reaching out to a professional for an intervention is one solution.  The interventionist begins to manage the family situation and take an honest look at the self-destructive behaviors and the parent's struggles. There may be a need for the child to leave the home and participate in a structured recovery process. The interventionist should be armed with appropriate resources to present to the family. Ultimately the entire family will participate in a recovery process and the healing will begin when the teen comes home with tools to apply at home.

How A Sober Coach Helps Your Teen
 
A sober coach acts as an advocate for the teen who is returning home from treatment with their newfound recovery.  Everything from daily living skills, meeting new sober friends, school life, getting connected in 12 step meetings, job search and having fun in recovery are areas supported by a sober mentor. The mentor will walk with the teen through scenarios exploring which of the recovery tools are best suited for each situation. When a newly sober teen is asked what they like to do, the answer is usually “I don’t know”.  A sober mentor will expose the sober teen to new things to do such as surfing, rock climbing, movies, hiking, kayaking and dances, to help the teen engage in fun activities.  A teen may say “How am I going to go to live music shows sober?"  A sober mentor may take them to Consciousness Group which is a clean and sober tent at Insomniac music festivals.  Being an example of what sober looks like and having fun doing what they love to do is a critical element to the teen’s success in early recovery.  This looks like a friend, but a sober mentor is much more. The mentor is in contact with the family to see how the teen is behaving at home, in order to coach the teen through any perceived conflict at home.  A sober mentor is an advocate for the whole family.
 
To learn more visit my website www.pattochoa.com