• Parent's Section

• How to better understand kids
• How to Prevent Addiction at Every Age?
• How to identify tell-tale signs of addiction in your kids?
• How to prepare for conversation with your kids?
• What if the conversation makes me realize that my child needs outside help?

What if the conversation makes me realize that my child needs outside help?

If your child’s drug or alcohol use progresses, you may decide he/she needs more help and guidance than you personally can give her. This may be scary, but what many parents don’t realize is that “outside help” doesn’t necessarily come in the form of rehab. There are many people in your community who can serve as great resources for you and your kid – you just need to know who you can ask for support.

The following people can help your child:

• Teachers or School Counselor — can help your child pinpoint and discuss the underlying issues behind her smoking, drug or alcohol use. They can help identify whether the environment around the child is having a positive or negative effect on his overall development.
• Sports Coach — can speak to your child about how her drug use negatively affects her body, her health, her performance, and her team as a whole.
• Caring Adult (like a family friend, aunt, uncle) — may be able to lend the listening ear and shoulder to cry on that your child needs.

If you are still unsure of your child’s addiction level, then we do encourage him/her to take our free dependence test. If your child’s smoking, drug or alcohol use has started causing serious and recurring problems, it’s probably time to start looking into intensive treatment programs. This is where DFL steps in and connects you to a trained DFL doctor/counsellor who can talk authoritatively about the risks of smoking, drugs and alcohol and provide medical treatment to help give up the habit. Through the Treatment Locator tool on our website, you can register on behalf of your child and locate a doctor at a convenient location and help your child lead a Dependence Free Life !