Elmore Academy offers a seven week substance abuse program. Our program is based on an outpatient treatment model designed to treat adolescent males and females, ages 13-19, for substance abuse, and in some cases, co-morbidity issues. Any adolescent who has suffered negative consequences as a direct, or indirect, result of their substance abuse qualifies for this program.
    

Upon admission to our program all clients are given the SASSI (Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory) and FAMHA (Functional Assessment of Mental Health and Addiction) in order to determine the severity of their chemical abuse and potential co-morbidity issues. Also, upon request any, or all, of your referred clients will be given a more comprehensive diagnostic assessment.
    

This assessment can include the administration of the SCL-90-R (Symptoms Check List-90R), the MMPI-A (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent), the TAT (Thematic Apperception Test), the CPS (Carlson Psychological Survey), a six dimensional substance abuse/chemical health assessment, and/or a full psychological evaluation based on the DSM IV-TR five axes.
    

Unlike many substance abuse programs two separate models for males; SMART RECOVERY (Self-Management and Recovery Training) and females: DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) are used in all group sessions. These models will outline the various complexities their addiction(s) and/or associations with chemical substances have had externally (Socially) and internally (Psychologically) within their lives
    

The most important goal in this seven week time frame is to help adolescents understand how substance abuse/recovery is ever evolving directly around their interpersonal and family issues. These Group Sessions will either be directly, or indirectly, related to substance abuse and/or co-morbidity issues.


Girl’s Substance Abuse Group Counseling Model:
                                             

     Elmore Academy is now proud to offer a fully integrated Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Adolescent Female Substance Abuse Group. During our seven weeks together we will follow Dr. Linehan's four skills module: Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance. The purpose of all four skill modules is to help the female adolescents continuously utilize a state of mind referred to in DBT as wise mind within the realm of chemical addiction.
    

Wise mind is the middle ground in the dialectic between rational mind and emotional mind. To be too far on the side of rational mind would mean focusing only on things such as facts and figures; ignoring and suppressing emotion.
    

To be too far on the side of emotional mind would mean being so blinded by strong emotions that one would not be able to consider the facts. In each module the adolescents
will receive tools that help them learn how to effectively deal with their chemical dependency issues and issues surrounding their chemical abuse.
For substance-dependent individuals, substance abuse is the highest order DBT target within the category of behaviors that interfere with quality of life. DBT’s substance- abuse–specific behavioral targets include:

• Decreasing abuse of substances, including illicit drugs and legally prescribed drugs taken in a manner not prescribed;

• Alleviating physical discomfort associated with abstinence and/or withdrawal;

• Diminishing urges, cravings, and temptations to abuse; 

• Avoiding opportunities and cues to abuse, for example by burning bridges to persons, places, and things associated with drug abuse and by destroying the telephone numbers of drug contacts, getting a new telephone number, and throwing away drug paraphernalia; 

• Reducing behaviors conducive to drug abuse, such as momentarily giving up the goal to get off drugs and instead functioning as if the use of drugs cannot be avoided; and

• Increasing community reinforcement of healthy behaviors, such as fostering the development of new friends, rekindling old friendships, pursuing social/vocational activities, and seeking environments that support abstinence and punish behaviors related to drug abuse.

The empirical evidence and data that has been gathered on DBT clients shows that this theoretical construct is more successful, with adolescent females, than the standard treatment individuals and groups have received over the past years.


Boy’s Substance Abuse Group Counseling Model:

Elmore Academy is now proud to offer an Adolescent Male SMART Recovery program. The foundation of this program is based on Dr. Albert Ellis’s REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy). During our seven weeks together the SMART Recovery program covers four areas:

1. Motivation to Abstain
      Enhancing and maintaining motivation to abstain from addictive behavior

2. Coping with Urges
      Learning how to cope with urges and cravings


3. Problem Solving
      Using rational ways to manage thoughts, feelings and behaviors

4. Lifestyle Balance
      Balancing short-term and long-term pleasures and satisfactions in life.

SMART Recovery employs a variety of tools and techniques to help adolescent males gain independence from addictive behaviors. Participants are encouraged to learn how to use each tool and to practice the tools and techniques in their everyday life.
These tools include:

• Stages of Change
• Change Plan Worksheet
• Cost/Benefit Analysis (Decision Making Worksheet)
• ABCs of REBT for Urge Coping
• ABCs of REBT for Emotional Upsets
• DISARM (Destructive Irrational Self-Talk Awareness and Refusal Method)
• Brainstorming

The clients are encouraged, and guided into learning how to achieve a healthy lifestyle balance, and how to lead a fulfilling and healthy life. Our programs main goal is to help individuals gain independence from addictive behaviors (substances or activities).

The empirical research and data on the SMART Recovery program strongly indicates that this theoretical construct is often times, specifically with adolescents, more effective than the traditional twelve step model that is often used in correctional based settings.