Knocking Out Drug & Alcohol Addiction

Better Decisions Gives Youth a Fighting Chance

By Bob Cox

Imagine the level of chaos and outrage we would have in our country if five large passenger jets full of people crashed to the earth every week, killing everyone aboard. The public would simply not tolerate this extreme amount of death and destruction and surely our best and brightest would rally together to find a way to make our skies safer.

Tragically, that number represents approximately the same number of kids (50,000) who die in the United States every year from alcohol related incidents, according to Alex Noriega, the Program Manager for Better Decisions Counseling Services in Rancho Cordova, CA. “If five jet liners fell out of the sky every week, the world would be crying to change that and yet, five jet liners worth of kids die every week and very few are doing anything about it”, said Alex.

Janina Guarino, the founder and owner of Better Decisions understands the urgency of helping young people and believes that the key to helping them knock out drug and alcohol addiction begins by establishing a foundation of trust and respect. “We genuinely listen to them and ask them what the problem is. Many teens think the importance of having money in their pocket is the number one thing they need. So, we’ll offer to help them find work and create a steady source of income after we’ve helped them get clean and sober”, Janina explained.

At the root of drug and alcohol addiction is a person who feels completely incapable of dealing with intense emotional stress without the aid of their favorite mind altering substance. “The alcohol or drug will take the pain away in about 20 minutes, but what we really need to do is to change our thought patterns by asking ourselves, ‘What is the next right thing to do’? A high percentage (97%) of the population deals with stress in a dysfunction way, so the next logical step along the road to recovery is helping people make healthier choices”, Janina said.

The key to encouraging kids of all ages make a healthier choice is helping them replace the drugs and alcohol with the things they enjoy doing. “A child struggling with addiction has gotten away from their true loves, like baseball, martial arts, cooking and exploring new places. Those kinds of activities will fill the void, relieve the pain and release the serotonin that makes us all feel euphoric”, explained Janina.

Janina and Alex both struggled with addiction as young adults, so they have a very real understanding of the despair and helplessness their clients feel. Because they’ve conquered their addictions with many years of hard work and self reflection, they are in a very unique position to help others do the same. Their desire and empathy for helping others succeed has resulted in an extraordinarily high success rate.

Before working at Job Corp. two years ago, just 30% of their clients managed to stay clean and sober. With Alex’s inspiring background and boundless enthusiasm, their success rate nearly tripled (86%)! Alex believes that helping kids paint a brighter picture by activating their imagination is crucial to a successful recovery. “What will you do for a living and how can we get you there now that you are clean? We don’t just get them clean and leave them there. We help our clients continue on the path towards a complete transformation”, explained Alex.

Janina and Alex believe that another key to their high success rate for rehabilitation is offering their clients flexible and customized counseling sessions. “In conventional 12 step programs, the client must acknowledge a higher power and a lot of kids and adults don’t share that belief. They don’t like to be forced into those kinds of programs and there’s a lot of forcing going on. We are not like that, which is another reason why our clients love being here”, Janina said.

If you have a child who is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, or you would like to make a charitable contribution, pick up the phone and call Better Decisions today at (916) 368-0700. They offer both individual and group counseling sessions and they have a vast network of crucial resources to help the entire family.