The field of drug counseling and healing addiction has significantly improved over the years. This includes the exploration of psychological and emotional issues that are specific to women and female adolescents.
Girls Drug Treatment Center
For example, female teens are prone to concerns about self-image. If this becomes severe and if body image disturbances or an eating disorder develop, drug addiction can be a part of a larger psychological disorder. Women might use drugs or alcohol to self-medicate or help regulate intense or uncomfortable emotions that stem from a distorted and unhealthy sense of self. Furthermore, many women are attempting to achieve a certain body image that the media perpetually emphasizes as being ideal. As a result, in an attempt to lose weight, they use diet aids that contain amphetamine. And over time, they develop an addiction to amphetamines.
However, none of these may be true for female teens and yet, they still might develop an addiction. For instance, young girls who have been sexually or physically abused are more prone to developing an addiction. They might be unconsciously attempting to manage the intense feelings, such as powerlessness, that frequently accompany unresolved trauma. A female teen might find escape in drinking or drug use from feelings such as shame, anger, resentment, hurt, or unworthiness.
No Co-Dependency
Another frequent concern for female adolescents, particularly those who are co-dependent, is the influence of romantic relationships. When a teen is intimately involved with someone who is already using drugs, she can also easily develop an addiction. Furthermore, the co-dependency creates a dynamic in which she believes that both partners need each other in order to survive. When this pattern is playing a role, she might be unwilling to change or let go of her addiction in order to avoid losing the relationship.
She might also be more resistant to recovery. Even though she is participating in drug treatment, because the dynamics of co-dependency, enabling, and powerlessness are what she knows in family relationships. Healing from an addiction is really also healing from dysfunctional relationships. Which might require a kind of surrender that a female adolescent might not be willing to do.
Therapy
Lastly, female adolescents with addictions are often at risk for pregnancy. A female treatment center will typically have therapists, counselors, and a clinical team that are well versed in the issues a female teen typically faces. And they will know how to respond therapeutically. Also, a girls drug treatment center, which focuses on women’s issues, can address not only the physiological facet to an addiction, but also the emotional and psychological facets as well. This includes introducing female teens to the dynamics of healthy relationships. By encouraging their empowerment, providing them with appropriate coping mechanisms, and teaching them how to regulate their emotions on their own, without the use of drugs or alcohol.
Certainly, a girls drug treatment center will help heal the physical addiction. Yet the emotional and psychological aspects to an addiction are just as important to heal. In fact, if the underlying issues, such as co-dependency, unresolved trauma, feelings of powerlessness, or unworthiness are not addressed, chronic relapse is likely. As female teens graduate from a rehab center, it is critical that she continue with after-care. This includes addressing these psychological and emotional issues.
Conclusion
Finally, a girls drug treatment center focused on women’s issues can support a female teen’s growth in finding her unique identity. During the stage of adolescence, teens are reaching for their independence and a sense of self. They are going through a process of role confusion and discovering their unique sense of identity. Girls, in particular, tend to have strong issues of identity because of the social demands placed on them. By addressing the emotional and psychological issues during treatment, it could help a female teen discover who she is.
