1. Young people and concerned parents
Stacey Child
Manager
Alcohol and Drug Support Service
Parent and Family Drug Support
Stacey Child is the Manager of the Alcohol and Drug Support Service (ADSS).
ADSS is a multi-channel state-wide, 24/7/365 counselling, support, referral and information service for the community of Western Australia.
Parent and Family Drug Support is a program area of ADSS and provides family sensitive practice via telephone support line, Parent Peer Support Network, facilitated groups and support at Drug Court.

2. Introduction
This 15 minute powerpoint will help you understand some of the issues involved when a concerned parent sees you about their adolescent who is taking illicit drugs.
This powerpoint can also be used as a group education activity.

3. Learning objectives
Describe the issues for parents when they discover that their child is using drugs
Identify reasons that an adolescent may use drugs
Outline strategies and resources for helping the concerned parent

4. Scenario
Mrs Johnson has come to see you about her teenage daughter Tammy.
She found a few pills hidden in Tammy’s wardrobe when she was tidying her room.
Mrs Johnson is picking Tammy up from school later and is not sure what to say or do.
What are the issues that Mrs Johnson may be dealing with?

5. Scenario What are the issues that Mrs Johnson may be dealing with?
Before moving to the next slide, write down a few issues.

6. The parent
Parents often present to the GP, concerned about a child’s alcohol and/or other drug use
Families/siblings are experiencing heightened levels of stress, worry and anxiety
Families/siblings feel alone and isolated
Everyone feels shame and stigma

7. The GP
What are the issues that you may have to deal with in this consultation?
Write down a few that come to mind.

8. Issues for the GP Busy practice and little time to “unpick” the issues
Parents want a quick fix – “fix my child!”
You want to help but may not be sure of where to start

9. The adolescent Think of the adolescent patients that you see.
What are the common health problems that present in this group?
What risk assessment tools do you use?
Write down some answers.

10. Young people and drugs Adolescence is a time of change Experimenting
Pushing/Pulling away from family norms
Hanging out with new friends
Testing limits
Inexperience with alcohol and other drugs
Peer influences
Risk taking
Adolescence is a time of rapid neurological and physical change.
With changes comes experimenting with new ideas, friends, hobbies, likes and dislikes
There is a necessary push/pull away from family norms as a developmental milestone of adolescence

11. Adolescents and drugs
What do you think are some reasons for adolescents to use drugs? Can you think of 5?

12. Why do young people use drugs?
Have fun with their friends - belong
Drugs are available and affordable
Curiosity and experimentation
They want to rebel
They want to feel confident/ ↑self-esteem
Mum and Dad do it!
Use to relax
Self-medicating – depression? anxiety? Social phobia?
Most young people use drugs intermittently and contextually (i.e. at a party or gathering) Most young people do not go onto get habits on drugs.
Peer group is important to young people but fundamentally the most powerful role model often for young people is parental behaviour and modelling.
Now a days with increased access to social media there is increasingly problems associated with cyber-bullying and body shaming. These factors need to be flagged as reasons young people may use substances.

13. Scenario continued Mrs Johnson looks very upset.
Where do you start with this consultation?
Think of some different approaches to this situation.

14. Where to Start?
Listen Take a few minutes to allow your patient to vent about what is troubling them and how it is a problem for them! Assess Impact of the problem on your patient. Anxiety, depression, physical, psychological, emotional, grief, fear, panic
Listening can be very helpful to a parent who may be sharing this information for the first time. Take a few minutes for the parent to tell you how they feel, what their concerns are, what else may be worrying them about what is happening for their child. Try and see how this is a problem for them as they have agency of what changes they can make for themselves as opposed to making changes for the young person in the first instance.
Stigma and shame are often associated with disclosing this type of information and it will assist the parent greatly for the GP to have a non-judgemental stance in relation to the parent and the young person.
How is this impacting on the parent. If they are speaking to the GP about it, they are worried.
Has this increased other issues for the parent. Are they more anxious, depressed, displaying physical symptoms, impacting on their mental health.

15. Where to start cont’d Discuss A plan of Action (short and medium term)
Ways to bring up the subject with their child
Follow-up with you
Refer
Parent and Family Drug Support
Support Line (metro), (country)
Raising the issue can be difficult. Choose a time where there is space to listen. Most often parents do better in raising the issue if they remain as silent as possible whilst the young person is telling their story. There will always be time for questions and consequences.
Parents can expect when raising the issue of finding drugs –
Deflection/anger
“not mine – holding them for a friend”
“Why were you snooping in my room!”
“What did you do with them?!”
“fessing up”
“I’m sorry”
“I will never do it again”
“I just wanted to fit in with the rest of the bunch”
“someone said that they were ok and not harmful”
Consequences may be light or tough depending on the family and parental view of drug use.
Grounding, internet access limited, decrease in pocket money (if have $$ to buy drugs then don’t need as much pocket money).

16. Red Flags: Stress/Strain/Coping
Stress – associated with a child’s AOD use
Strain – dealing with the issue leads to physical and psychological ill health
The strain is influenced/mediated by
Coping
Methods of coping
Level and quality of social support

17. Parent and Family Drug Support
Support line – Professional, Trained, family-sensitive practitioners
Parent Peer Support Network – parents with a lived experience provide telephone support to callers to the Support line
Peer Parent Facilitated Support Groups
Open support group
BeSmart educational group
Face to face support in Drug Court to family members
Parent and Family Drug Support provides a 24-hour telephone counselling, support referral and information service staffed by highly experienced and professionally trained counsellors for people who are concerned about a child’s/sibling’s alcohol and drug use.
Parents who contact the Support Line have an opportunity to talk to and get support from a trained Parent Peer Volunteer (PPV).
The Parent Peer Volunteers have the lived experience of dealing with concerns around their own child’s alcohol and drug use. Parent callers find it beneficial to obtain support from someone with a lived experience.
The PPV’s are available from 8am to 10pm 7 days a week.
Parent Peer Volunteers also provide face to face support to parents in the Perth Drug Court and facilitate parent courses and support groups in the Metro Area.
Contact Number: Country Callers (Rural landline toll free, mobiles at provider costs):

18. Click to Refer Parent and Family Drug Support (PFDS)
PFDS Call-back Support Referral Form
These hyperlinks will only work if the person views the powerpoint in Slide Show

19. Being there for parents…
GPs can often be helpful by just being there for the parents at this difficult time.
Sometimes there are no easy solutions, and listening, supporting, pointing people in the right direction and helping look after the health of the parents may be all you can do.

20. We hope you have found this TADPole activity helpful
We hope you have found this TADPole activity helpful. Please look at the other AOD resources on the website.