Recovery Support Meetings for Youths: Considerations When Referring Young People to 12-Step and Alternative Groups

ABSTRACT

Participation of young people in recovery support meetings is a promising yet largely understudied area. This article reviews the history of youth involvement in meetings, summarizes current research, and discusses issues to consider when making referrals. Professionals may want to research local meetings, help young people structure time before and after meetings, become familiar with group customs, investigate a variety of support groups, interact with support group service structures, develop a list of reliable group members to connect youths to the recovering community, and implement assertive referral strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Recovery support groups
• 12-step
• adolescent
• iatrogenic

Acknowledgments

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by funding from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services through the Strengthening Communities-Youth project (grant no. TI13356) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health (grant no. 1 RO1 DA 018183 and fellowship no. 5 F31 DA17406 03). The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services or the National Institutes of Health. The authors wish to acknowledge helpful feedback from Susan Godley on drafts of this manuscript.