Thanks to $600,000 from the U.S. government, the Martinsville City Schools in Virginia will be starting an Alcohol Abuse Reduction Program. The federal grant will help fund increased prevention and counseling services in city schools.

"After three years of the Alcohol Reduction Program in Martinsville schools, officials aim for a 37 percent overall decrease in substance abuse, reductions in negative attitudes and behaviors, and increased decision-making and resistance skills."

The grant money will also fund two new positions in the schools and several new programs. One of the programs, Positive Action, has been used in other districts, which have reported drops of up to 71 percent in drug, alcohol and tobacco use as a result of the initiative. Source: Martinsville Bulletin

Labels: prevention, schools, counseling

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Teens do better in anti-drug counseling programs led by other teenagers than those led by adults, according to a new study from the University Of Southern California Keck School Of Medicine.

Researchers asked 550 high school students to take part in surveys before and after they completed drug counseling for tobacco, alcohol, marijuana or cocaine use. Those who took part in peer-led programs reduced their abuse by 15% compared to those in traditional programs.

Professor Thomas Valente said, "We found that social-network-tailored prevention curricula can be very successful in achieving long-term behavioral changes in teenagers."

Labels: influences, peers, counseling

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As of 2005, approximately 1.8 million people annually were seeking treatment for substance and/or alcohol abuse. Any one of those people can attest to how difficult it is to recovery from an addiction. A substance abuse counselor can play a vital role in a person's recovery.

"The substance abuse counselor is there to help you get through the period of coming off the substance and getting better... Many people are reluctant to talk to a counselor because it makes them feel weak or that the counselor is there to make too much out of nothing."

On the contrary, substance abuse counselors are there to listen, and to help people discover the reasons behind their addictions  a necessary step on the road to recovery. Read more at SubstanceAbuseSupport.com.

Labels: treatment, therapy, counseling

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