191: Drug Alcohol Prevention and Intervention for Teens with Kim Bemis

Stress and peer pressure are big issues with teens which could result in feelings of anxiety and depression, or worse, substance or alcohol abuse. School is complicated with all the peer pressure involved. And so, as parents, we need to give them the support they need as they walk their way through life. 

Oftentimes, parents are very focused on getting their kids better, but they're not doing anything to support themselves. What if there was a program that provides holistic support to both parents and teens? Well, the good news is there is – and it doesn’t cost anything to get the resources that you and your kids need. 

On today’s episode, Duane speaks with Kim Bemis of Gobi, a comprehensive educational platform that provides the first online drug and alcohol prevention and early intervention programs for parents and their teenagers that you do together. Gobi is dedicated to helping middle and high school teens and their families rethink their relationship with drugs and alcohol. 

Gobi is a platform for teens and parents to navigate difficult conversations about substance misuse. It helps teens get the skills needed to handle stress, peer pressure, and substance abuse, and it helps parents support their teenagers who might be struggling with it or are experimenting with it. 

In this episode, you will hear:

• Providing support to parents and teens
• What the 21-day program entails
• Why parents and teens are required to take walks together
• A focus on building skills to handle stress and peer pressure
• Common challenges of kids who walk through their program
• Motivational listening and interviewing with parents
• Prevention vs. intervention

Key Quotes:

[11:33] - "We all think that we should let our teenagers go and grow up, but we actually need to pay a little more attention to them."

[13:35] - "We don't talk about how evil substance use is; we focus on building skills."

[16:20] - "What I really hope is that we can disrupt the cycle for some of these kids and give them a different way of handling some of these pressures and ideas so that they don't end up being addicted."

[18:29] - "Of the 65% of the kids who complete the program, 70% say they're willing to consider reducing or eliminating their substance use."

[19:29] - "The hard part is getting the teen to talk to you." 

[21:04] - "Oftentimes, parents are very focused on getting their kid better, but they're not doing anything to support themselves."

[24:25] - "We encourage parents to have a conversation with their kid about rules and consequences… The clearer you are about that messaging upfront, the less likely your kid is going to use.”

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If you really enjoyed this episode, we’ve created a PDF that has all of the key information for you from the episode. Just go to the episode page at www.theaddictedmind.com to download it.

Supporting Resources:

NovusMindfulLife.com

www.gobi.support

Episode Credits

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