Recovery is more than just stopping the use of substances—it’s about rediscovering who you are without them. For many teens and young adults, substance use may have been tied to social identity, emotional survival, self-expression, or numbing pain

When a young person enters recovery for substance use, it’s not just their journey—it’s the beginning of a family transformation. For parents, this path is often filled with hope, fear, and a deep desire to help. One of the most powerful and loving things a parent can do during this time is to learn how to set healthy boundaries while staying emotionally connected.

One of the hardest things about choosing to stop or reduce substance use—especially as a teen or young adult—is that your friends might not be making the same choice.

When it comes to teen and young adult substance use, many people focus only on the behavior: the vaping, the drinking, the pills, the weed. But what if those choices aren’t the whole story? What if substance use is often a symptom, not the root cause?

It’s no secret that adolescence is a time of major transformation—emotionally, socially, and neurologically. What many people don’t realize, though, is just how much the brain is still under construction during the teen and young adult years. This matters a lot when we talk about substance use.

In today's digital age, social media platforms have become integral to our daily lives, offering avenues for communication, entertainment, and information sharing. However, alongside these benefits lies a concerning trend: the exposure of teens to marijuana advertisements through these very platforms.