For nine years, the Lubbock Stages of Recovery Addiction Services has been providing adults an outreach program to help them overcome addiction and substance abuse. Now, the outreach group wants to provide the same services for teens (13-17) who are also struggling with similar obstacles.
The program would be the first in its kind for the area.
The new program will start this fall and invites teens across the Hub City to the Stages of Recovery center after school and on the weekends to meet with other teens also dealing with substance abuse. In addition, they will also be able to meet one-on-one with counselors and a psychiatrist all while continuing their normal routine of going to school and staying involved in their extracurricular activities.
Stephen Medley, the CEO for the center, wanted to provide the program for Lubbock’s teens who may also be turning to substance abuse like he did when he was their age.
Medley began using drugs and drinking alcohol at age 15. He became sober at 19, and has been sober ever since and wants to be able to help other teens who may be finding themselves in a similar situation.
Medley said troubling statistics also inspired him. He shared that nationwide, 47% of teens or adolescents are using drugs or alcohol in an addictive manner.
“I think that being able to provide the service to the community will provide a safe place for people to find recovery,” said Medley on behalf of the Stage of Recovery Addiction Services. “It’s also provided me a safe place to maintain my recovery, and being blessed with the opportunity to give back and show people how we’ve done it. It’s just breathtaking to watch people grow.”
Cole Watts, co-owner and program director of the Stages of Recovery Addiction Services says the creation of the new teen program hits home for him as well: he began experimenting with drugs and alcohol at age 13. His substance abuse was something he kept hidden. He was able to graduate from his high school at the top of his class and even gave a commencement speech, but while everything looked fine on the outside, he was “unraveling” on the inside. Now, he’s 10 years sober and hopes that through the new program, that he will be able to help give teens a sense of belonging, safety and community.
“This [the new program] gives us a great opportunity for them to come hang out, get away from wherever, whatever friends, people that might be driving them down and they can get with new people with a different way of life,” said Watts. “It’s really life-giving to see these people do something completely different than they would have expected.”
Kayli Cross, a marriage and family therapist and chemical dependency counselor, says there was an urgent need for the program here in Lubbock.
“The need here in Lubbock is huge because teens don’t have positive peer groups that I’m finding that I work with. A lot of the influence that they’re getting on their behaviors or the drug abuse or the mental health issues are strongly influenced by their peer group or their lack of peer group.”
Cross says she believes the new program will provide a very helpful and welcoming resource for not only the teens, but as well as their parents who may have difficulty coming to terms that their child may be affected by substance abuse.
“That’s a hard realization to come to. If you are finding out that your kid is doing drugs, drinking, whatever it may be, it’s probably like an iceberg where you’re only seeing about 20% of what’s going on. There’s a lot underneath the surface that you might not have any idea about and that can be really terrifying for parents and I think what they need to realize is that’s ‘OK.’ We don’t expect parents to come in having it all together, if they did, they wouldn’t need us.”
Medley, Cross and and Watts say they are very excited to welcome the new program this fall and to continue working with their adult clients.
On Thursday, August 18, the program is inviting the public to attend their open house to welcome people into their new facility and provide them the opportunity to discuss the program’s history and all of their services.
The new facility is located at 4913 S. Loop 289. The open house will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
