Abstract
More services are being set up to provide help for young substance users, but, currently, there is little to guide professionals in this field. The aim of this paper is to explore some of the issues concerning the assessment of young persons who use substances, and to illustrate the difficulties involved in providing a package of care which would be effective with this group, including a model representing the author's practice. It demonstrates how young people can make effective changes with respect to their substance use, and is also a demonstration of how small-scale research can help develop practitioners' work in the field.