Tools for intervention in the treatment of youth users

Course Description: Addiction to various types of dangerous substances and activities is a widespread phenomenon in all walks of society in general, and among the youth population in particular. In fact, adolescence is the most vulnerable period to use and addiction than any other age period. In recent years, we have witnessed a worrying increase in the use of addictive objects and behaviors among youth, especially in the field of cannabis and screens. This worrying trend requires us, the therapists, to have tools and applied knowledge of intervention methods that are adapted to this age group and the spirit of the times. In a way that words cannot describe, the events of October 7 and the months that followed constitute an ongoing national trauma, which produces new traumas and awakens repressed traumas. One of the side effects of trauma in general, and ongoing trauma in particular, is addiction. Addiction is associated with obsessive and compulsive engagement in futile attempts to change past events and fill the existential void created by trauma. During adolescence, when teenagers are usually busy gradually transitioning from childhood to adulthood and developing their independence as adults, they may resort to using substances as a means of expressing various things, such as rebellion, social pressure, curiosity, and more. However, when trauma forces them to mature at an accelerated rate, drug use may take on a more significant and permanent part of their lives and turn from problematic use into addiction. The course will provide learners with knowledge about contemporary addiction, such as to cannabis and screens, among teenagers, and will provide practical intervention methods for treating this population. The sessions will provide knowledge, tools, and techniques - both in the field of parent guidance and in the field of treating the adolescent user. The sessions will be taught from an integrative therapeutic perspective that combines diverse approaches and tools, and is tailored to the motivation, readiness for change, and resources for change of the adolescent and his family. Course objectives: To provide therapists who work with adolescent users and guide their parents with tools and techniques for developing intervention methods that combine the therapists' existing knowledge and new and accumulated knowledge on the subject of adolescent addiction in the shadow of trauma. At the end of the course, participants will be able to: • Identify and diagnose abuse and addiction among adolescents. • Become familiar with the psychological theories and the mental needs and mechanisms that underlie use among adolescents. • Understand well the unique issues and characteristics of working with adolescent users in general and with cannabis and marijuana in particular. • Become familiar with the interrelationships between trauma and increased substance use and behavioral addictions in adolescents. • Apply tools and techniques in parent guidance. • Implement therapeutic intervention methods in addicted youth. Teaching method: • Lectures combined with experiential tools - exercises, videos, etc., experience through case studies. • Each session will be divided into two parts: theoretical study and practical practice. • In the practical part, course participants will be asked to submit case studies of therapeutic sessions, which we will analyze together based on the material learned and come up with possible solutions, with mutual assistance between the participants.