Help for Parents of Struggling Teens

Looking for a teen help program?

Call (866) 845-1390


Fat Camp
Learn about why fat camps don’t work and why the new healthy weight loss camps are so much more effective. more >>


Featured Programs

EXCEL ACADEMYEXCEL ACADEMY is an alternative to military schools in Texas. EXCEL ACADEMY boasts a compelling history of success with students who have had previous school or therapeutic failures. EXCEL ACADEMY offers an intensely effective milieu without the look and feel of traditional programs and places a heavy emphasis on ensuring that all students feel safe and part of "the family" regardless of past environment, behavior, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or history of abuse or trauma.

Alcohol-Abusers Wait Eight Years to Be Treated

A new government study found that the vast majority of people who abuse alcohol do not get treatment. Those who do get treatment wait an average of eight years.

Researchers at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that only 24% of those who abuse alcohol seek treatment – a percentage that has declined since 1997. The average person who abuses alcohol begins drinking before age 22, but does not seek treatment until age 30.

The definition of alcohol abuse is drinking-related failure to perform at school, work or home; social or legal problems related to drinking and drinking in at-risk situations. Alcoholism means compulsive drinking, being preoccupied with thoughts of drinking, and having withdrawal symptoms. About 4.7% Americans abuse alcohol; 3.8% are alcoholics.

Bridget Grant and other authors of this study believe that people do not seek treatment because many people, including doctors, do not believe that treatment works. However, Dr. Mark Willenbring, director of the institutes Division of Treatment and Recovery Research, said that treatment for alcohol abuse is more effective that most treatments for other medical conditions. It usually involves counseling, 12-Step programs, behavioral therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, and drugs.

Return to the Teen Help Directory >>