Parenting Newsletter Aspen Education Group

In this issue:
Common Parenting Pitfalls to Avoid

Teens Enticed by Herbal Substances

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Aspen has wilderness programs in:

Idaho - SUWS
North Carolina - Phoenix Outdoor

Since 1981, SUWS has been giving children and their families hope for a positive and productive future. Combining the wilderness environment with experiential learning helps students learn to value themselves, access their own abilities and build upon their strengths.

Phoenix Outdoor is a licensed wilderness-based substance abuse and chemical dependency treatment program for teenagers ages 13-17. At Phoenix Outdoor, a supportive peer group and trained instructors help the adolescent reflect and consider how life may be different without substances. Phoenix Outdoor offers the adolescent and their family hope, support, knowledge and a process to create a substance-free life.

Call (866) 845-1391 to learn more about Aspen's programs for children, teens, and young adults.

Common Parenting Pitfalls to Avoid
Perspectives on Parenting from Dayna Rust, LMFT

Parenting is a task that is easier said than done. Most parents understand the fundamentals of raising healthy, well-adjusted children, but teenagers have a way of throwing off even the most prepared, well-intentioned adults.

Parenting Teens

Sometimes it helps to enlist the support of a trained outside observer, who can get to know both parent and child to understand their patterns and interactions on a level that families in the midst of conflict cannot always see. At Turn-About Ranch, an adolescent residential treatment center on a real, working ranch in southern Utah, clinical director and licensed marriage and family therapist Dayna Rust addresses these issues at a mid-term workshop for parents of troubled teens attending the program.

At the workshop, Dayna asks parents to evaluate their relationships with themselves, each other, and their child in order to make adjustments before their child returns home from Turn-About Ranch. Her goal is to point out parenting patterns that may contribute to defiant, underachieving, rebellious teen behaviors, as well as alternative approaches and techniques that will strengthen family bonds and promote honesty, cooperation, and respect.

Below are a few of the common parenting pitfalls Dayna has observed as well as suggestions for alternative ways to approach raising teenagers.

Learn how to avoid common parenting pitfalls >>

SunHawk's substance abuse program offers intense treatment for teens experiencing emotional and alcohol or drug related problems in their lives. The 12-step based program is designed to provide a holistic approach to treatment. The ultimate goal of the long term, structured program is to teach adolescents and their families the tools to live an addiction-free, happy, healthy life.
Call (866) 845-1391 to learn more about SunHawk.

Teens Enticed by Herbal Substances

In today's high-tech world, consumers who are wary of purchasing overly processed, chemical-enhanced products often look for certain words that they believe indicate increased levels of safety and healthfulness - words like natural, organic, eco-friendly, and herbal.

When it comes to medications and supplements, though, equating herbal with harmless can be a dangerous thing to do.

Enticing to Teens
Teens may be attracted to herbal supplements for a variety of reasons. The drugs can be relatively easy to acquire, they are not illegal, and they appear to promise significant (and safe) results. Hundreds of retail outlets (both online and traditional "brick and mortar" versions) promote herbal supplements as means of strengthening one's immune system, enhancing concentration, easing stress, boosting energy levels, and improving heart health.

Of course, not every teen who uses herbal drugs is doing so for health-based reasons. In some cases, the substances may offer a "high" that rivals the impact of illegal substances such as LSD or Ecstasy. But even in these cases, ease of acquisition, supposed safety, and legality can be persuasive enticements. One website that sells herbal supplements informs potential customers on its main page that "our objective is to decrease the use of illicit drugs by providing you a safe herbal high ... as well as preventing you from any altercation with the law."

Find out what to do if you suspect your teen is experimenting with herbal supplements >>

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