Our eBooks
Prevention starts at home. The New York Center for Living is committed to providing parents with the tools that they need to face the complex issues of substance abuse and mental health disorders in their young adult or adolescent children. Through a series of eBooks, parents are given the resources to educate and inform themselves about important, and often difficult, subject matters.
We have expertly written and designed e-books dedicated to specific subjects, such as vaping and dual diagnosis, as well as books that can help parents navigate uncomfortable and highly stressful situations that may arise.
So You Think Your Child Is Using Drugs or Alcohol: What’s Next?
Are you worried that your child is drinking or using drugs? Is their behavior leaving you concerned for their health and anxious about what the future hold for them? Childhood substance use needs to be addressed quickly and effectively. Get the information you need
to identify the symptoms and take the next steps.
Your child and your family can find healing — help works.
How to Support your Adolescent Child through Dual-Diagnosis Treatment
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one-third of people who have a mental illness also have a substance use disorder. As a parent, supporting your child through dual-diagnosis treatment is vital to their success. What should you expect for your child in dual-diagnosis treatment?
How can you support their recovery throughout treatment and once they return home? And what should you do in case of a relapse?
The Dangers of Vaping
E-cigarettes hit the market in 2007 and have skyrocketed in popularity without much concern for possible risks. Sometimes used as a tool for quitting smoking, many believe that the dangers of vaping are safer than the dangers of smoking cigarettes, but what evidence is there for this belief?
Why is vaping a growing trend? And what is attracting teens and young adults to this activity?
Adolescent Mental Health
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, half of all mental health issues begin by age 14. As a parent, the changes that occur during the teenage years can be challenging. How do you know if your child is developing normally?
When is their behavior a sign of mental illness?
Articles Published by Our Staff
The Implications of Female Risk Factors for Substance Abuse Prevention in Adolescent Girls
Trends in substance abuse prevention have not adequately addressed the needs of girls and female adolescents. The precursors to substance use and abuse in adolescence are analyzed specifically from a gender-specific perspective. Female drug use as both a maladaptive and adaptive pattern of coping behavior is examined within a socio-cultural context. This new understanding points to the need for alternative models of prevention with particular attention to risk, resiliency and protective factors. The expanded role of the family therapist as “Family Life Cycle Specialist” within a prevention model will be highlighted.
Audrey Freshman & Cindy Leinwand (2000) The Implications of Female Risk Factors for Substance Abuse Prevention in Adolescent Girls, Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 21:1, 29-51, DOI: 10.1300/J005v21n01_03
“The Chemically Dependent ‘Child’ Script: Will Peter Pan Ever Grow Up?”
Dealing with a chemically dependent child is difficult for families. Understanding that treatment and recovery is a process requiring years of change as an adolescent matures to adulthood can help families put their own challenges into perspective. This chapter offers a case study of a family going through the process, examining sociocultural aspects of the process as part of the definition of the typical “script” that guides treatment and recovery for chemical dependence. While each individual experience is unique, guideposts in the case study provide recognizable points in chemical dependence that help families recognize critical behaviors and a range of potential responses. By covering different ages at which chemical dependence is encountered, this chapter provides insights on responding to a loved one in different life stages dealing with treatment and recovery.
“The Chemically Dependent ‘Child’ Script: Will Peter Pan Ever Grow Up?” by Audrey Freshman, Chapter 7, pages 179-210 in Atwood, J. D. (1996). Family scripts. Washington, DC: Accelerated Development.