How to Make Sure Young People Never Get Drug Counseling

Tell them they are powerless, tell them you trust them but conduct drug tests, be an alarmist and other effective ways to get your kids to avoid getting help.

Because so many young people have been mandated into drug treatment, counselors and counseling agencies have taken client participation for granted. They now face the challenge of trying to make their services more appealing to clients, an effort that they have not had much experience in. One exception has been The Seven Challenges program, created 25 years ago by Dr. Robert Schwebel as a way of engaging young people in a discussion about their relationship with drugs so as to empower them to consider self-directed change in their patterns of substance use. His methods are in contrast to the majority of programs that continue to use coercion and enforced abstinence as strategic pillars. Here, Dr. Schwebel begins by lightheartedly depicting the folly of the current dominant treatment models before discussing how to design a treatment program that could engage young people in ways that promote hope and optimism…Richard Juman, PsyD

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