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Quote of the Week
"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way" ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
In March 2016, as part of wider Administration efforts to
expand access to treatment for people with mental health and substance use
disorders, President Obama authorized creation of the Mental Health and Substance
Use Disorder Parity Task Force. The Task Force will focus key Federal agencies
on the work of ensuring that Americans receive the coverage and treatment that
they need. More information on the task
force can be found here.
The Task Force wants to hear from patients, families,
consumer advocates, health care providers, insurers, and other stakeholders on
their experiences and/or difficulties with accessing mental health and
substance use services and coverage. Share your comments, experiences, and
recommendations with the Task Force. Or, submit your comments by
sending an email to parity@hhs.gov. The Task Force will present its findings and
recommendations in a report to the President by October 31, 2016.
Read More......
The National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) reports the following:
- People who began using addictive substances before
age 15 are nearly 7 times likelier to develop a substance problem than
those who delay first use until age 21 or older
- Every year that substance use is delayed during the
period of adolescent brain development, the risk of addiction and
substance abuse decreases
Can making a
pact with your child encourage him/her to stay off drugs? Jim Huger, founder of Parents and Children
Together (PACT), believes that it can.
Click here to read about his proactive rewards-based approach to keeping children off
drugs.
This post is
not intended to be a recommendation for subscribing to the service that Jim
Huger created, since at this time I am not personally aware of anyone using it. Instead, it presents a concept that could be
of interest to many parents of pre-teens and teens.
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Due to scheduling conflicts, there will NOT be a PSST meeting on Saturday, May 21st in Greentree.
Please consider joining us for our next meeting on Saturday, June 4 in Wilkinsburg!
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The cake says it all . . .
Thanks for your support, wisdom and guidance over the years!
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Good Luck, Abby!
Posted by:Jenn--Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Come join us at the next PSST meeting, to wish Abby success in whatever her future brings her - she is moving to Colorado!!
Our meeting will be on Saturday, April 16, at the usual location for that date (Sts Simon and Jude Church on Greentree Road).
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Click here to read an article by Cathy Taughinbaugh about
the common mistakes that parents make when they realize their child is using
drugs. This is not a list meant to “shame”
parents! They are called “common”
mistakes because they are the kind of things that parents instinctively do, often
with the best of intentions, but sometimes unknowingly. So let’s start by identifying those actions/thoughts. By perusing this list, parents (and other
loved ones) may realize that they need to start (or stop) doing certain things,
because those actions may be hurting themselves, as well as their relationship
with their child.
Here are a few examples from the list:
- Feeling
that your child’s drug use is a teen rite of passage that they will grow out
of.
- Continuing
to worry constantly about things you can’t control and making yourself
miserable.
- Feeling
guilty for something you didn’t cause.
- Never
praising or rewarding for what your child does right, because after all, he is
using drugs.
- Not
allowing your child to take responsibility for the consequences of their use.
- Waiting too
long to get outside help, because you think you can handle it.
Read More......
It's Only Pot
Posted by:Jenn--Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Today’s parents may have mixed thoughts about their teenagers' use of marijuana. They may have personal
memories of smoking pot when they were growing up, or they may have had friends
who smoked, yet all of them (well, most of them) grew up to be responsible
adults. So why don’t their children deserve
this same rite of passage, while their parents “look the other way”?
To add to this dilemma that parents face, the legalization
of medical and recreational marijuana in various states raises even more questions
about what behavior is acceptable.
Click here for an article by Dr. Jim Mastrich, who discusses the significantly increased
potency of today’s marijuana, and the implications of that for the teenagers
who are using it. Below is a quote from
the article:
High school kids who are “experimenting” with today’s
marijuana are much less likely to know how to manage the effects of such a
powerful substance and are likely to bite off more than they can chew.
Click here for an article that discusses the impact of the decriminalization of marijuana
on current attitudes about the drug. Many
experts believe that use of marijuana will increase significantly if people believe
that it’s safe for anyone to use. A
quote from the article:
People forget that marijuana can be addictive. It actually
changes the physical chemistry within your brain.
Read More......
Remember when synthetic marijuana, also called K2 or Spice, was all the
rage? And it turned out to be a hallucinogen
that was eventually banned under federal law?
There’s a new kid on the block called kratom, an herbal supplement that may
be brewed and served in drinks, or purchased as a powder in convenience stores
or on the internet. Click here to read an article from the New York Times that describes the emergence of this
new drug. Below is a quote from this article:
“Some users embrace kratom as a natural
painkiller and benign substitute for more dangerous substances that, in most
states, is legal. But its growing popularity and easy availability are raising
concerns among substance abuse experts and government officials who say it is
being furtively marketed as a way out of addiction, even though it is itself
addictive. Worse, some of those experts say, kratom can lead some addicts back
to heroin, which is cheaper and stronger.”
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AA warns the alcoholic about the stinkin’ thinkin’ that
can lead a person to relapse. But this
type of negative self-talk is not reserved exclusively for alcoholics or drug addicts. Negative thought patterns can lead the
average person to self-pitying, self- destructive behaviors. How can we escape the downward spiral? Click here to read an excellent article about
how to tame your inner critic.
The author of the article suggests an approach to achieving Learned Optimism, "where you dispute and refuse to allow negative self-appraisals to influence your decisions and actions. You, instead, will come to expect positive outcomes."
What a
wonderful message to start us out on the right path for the new year!
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Feeling
stressed out as the holidays approach?
You haven’t finished buying gifts for your family, the store didn’t have
that perfect sweater in your spouse’s size, you dropped your phone and the
screen broke, the garbage disposal ground to a halt, you already got a credit
card bill that was twice what you were expecting, you just had a big fight with your mother-in-law, and the big project you are working on at work is giving you
major headaches . . . what else could go wrong?
First
of all, just breathe.
Now,
consider the following tips, from the Positivity Blog:
1. Slow
down.
2.
Appreciate the little things instead of focusing on perfection.
3.
Give a bit of joy to someone else.
4.
Focus on what is most valuable.
5.
Just accept how you feel right now.
For
more detail about these tips, please click here.
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Good News!!
Pittsburgh's Parkway East will now be OPEN during the weekend of Dec 4-6. The closure is now slated for the following weekend (to prepare for the Greenfield Bridge implosion).
It is likely that Penn DOT delayed the closure so that it would not interfere with our PSST annual holiday celebration at the Wilkinsburg location. Thank you, Penn DOT!
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The PSST 12th Anniversary / Holiday Celebration will be held on Saturday, Dec 5, 2015 at our Wilkinsburg meeting. Invitees include all PSST parents (both current attendees and alumni), in addition to all Wesley Spectrum therapists and Juvenile Probation staff who have been part of the PSST family.
Please put the date on your calendar, and plan to join us! Feel free to bring a food item to share - in the past, attendees have brought holiday goodies, pastries, a hot breakfast/brunch item, fruit, crackers & cheese, chips & dips, etc.
Read More......
Opioid Overdose Myths
Posted by:Jenn--Thursday, November 12, 2015
What
should you do when someone overdoses after using opioids (e.g. heroin)?
Sometimes figuring out what NOT to do can be as important as what TO do. Below
are a few of the common myths regarding opioid overdoses. For more myths, along with explanations of
why they are bad ideas, click here.
- Let them sleep it off? Never!
- Put them in the shower or bath?
No!
- Once they are breathing again, don't worry, they’ll be OK? No!
The same
website gives the following recommendations for what you SHOULD do if you think
that someone is overdosing on opioids.
- Call 911
- Give rescue breathing
- Give Narcan/naloxone, if available
- Never leave the person – wait for help
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Earlier this month, our own Allegheny County parents of the year were honored at the Juvenile Justice Week awards ceremony in Pittsburgh. It was heart-warming to see them accompanied by their son, as well as by several of their supportive family members.
Click on "Read more . . ." (below) to read their well-received speech and to see more photos from the event.
My name is Tracey
and this is Scott and we are here tonight to humbly accept the award for
Allegheny County parents of the year.
When Lloyd
Woodward, my son’s probation officer and head of the parenting group that we go
to - PSST (parent survival skills training) - told us on a conference call that
we had been nominated, we had polar opposite reactions. His was, Oh, no no no
no no and I said “Yes”!.
He said no,
because we are surrounded by a team of incredible people; Lloyd, Kathie, Abby,
Justin and every parent from our PSST group that laughed, cried, supported,
advised and empowered us from our first meeting until tonight.
I said, “yes”! because I am grateful for the
gifts that this group has given to us and what we have become thru this
program.
With their
help, we gained the knowledge, confidence and skills to enable us to learn
enough to help our son to become a man that he - and we - can be proud of.
When your
child chooses the wrong path, you feel many things: hopelessness, failure,
fear, anger and guilt. You look for help and if you are fortunate enough in an
unfortunate situation, you are paired with people that rally around you in a
way that takes some of those feelings away.
You are no
longer alone. If I had been lucky enough to meet these people earlier on, I
don’t feel that our situation would’ve spiraled so far out of control for my
family, because the knowledge that we have gained has changed us so much.
My son first
got into trouble at 15. If I knew then what I know now, he would still be
chained in my basement with just enough slack to do laundry. At that point, it
was just the two of us living together with his dad living close by. We were
newly divorced and couldn’t put our own feelings aside to help our son. We both
blamed each other for our “polar opposite” parenting styles. We were so wrong. Do you know how I now know that? Our son
continued to get into more trouble. It became more than “call an attorney”
trouble. It became “find a direct line to Jesus trouble”.
Wesley
Spectrum, Lloyd Woodward, Michael Santicola, and Judge Tranquili stepped, or
should I say, “jumped in”. That is when we started with meetings with Wesley
Spectrum and what led us to PSST.
Our son was
placed in Shuman (where he learned to value clothes that fit and shoes that
cover all of your feet). From there he went to Abraxas (where he learned that
whichever way you choose to run in any direction, you will get nowhere). And
then to Liberty Station (where he learned that maybe my mom’s cooking isn’t so
bad) to Glen Mills schools (where he learned that it can be beneficial to tuck
your shirt in and keep your pants pulled up). Please know that this is an
attempt at humor of what Jake has learned throughout his multiple placements.
You don’t take a tour from Shuman to Glen Mills without making more mistakes
though and without learning where you do not want to be.
Time will
tell for all of us. Is our son perfect yet? The answer is no. Are we? His
parents? Well, we are getting this award. J I do know that he continues to learn and so do
we, with every meeting, every text, and every email that we share with “Team
Jake”, as Kathie penned us at the very beginning. Team Jake consists of others
of whom I have to mention; my sister Pam, who has loved my son as her own since
he was born and throughout his time in facilities has provided him with
letters, love, support and enough books to fill a library. And my Mother Jean,
who has loved him so fiercely and who would never let me give up on my son.
I guess I
should also thank my son’s father for what he has become throughout these last
few years. He has shown a level of commitment and love to our son that I have
not seen duplicated. It took a lot of work to get us to this point
and I am lucky to have him as the one to have walked this tightrope with me and
as the father of my children.
I could not
have done this without the support of those 3 either.
If I may go
back, 5 minutes after that congratulatory call from Lloyd, I called my sister
Jennifer to tell her and of course I downplayed “parent of the year” because to
me that said that I had done an exemplary job at parenting and that could not
be further from the truth, but Jen, who is a social worker in Cleveland, said
to me, “Hey, it’s easy to parent a good kid.” And that said to me that
sometimes, you just need to do the best that you can with what has been given
to you and created by you, and to recognize when what you have previously done
that hasn’t worked and that has led to your situation needs to be fixed.
Hopefully, this is now the path that we are all on.
In closing,
an old African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child”. All of
you are my village and I am forever grateful.
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