HOPE is here.
The Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre’s evidence-based program provides long-term treatment for youth and young adults aged 12-21 struggling with alcohol/drug use, and their impacted family members.
Is your family struggling with addiction?
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Adolescent addiction presents a challenging journey for families, affecting every member, and is often shrouded in confusion and pain.
Family involvement is crucial throughout the addiction journey, fostering compassionate support systems. Collaborative coping strategies empower both caregivers and youth, enhancing recovery outcomes.
Recognized medically as a mental health disorder, addiction is experienced as uncontrollable substance use despite negative outcomes.
Rapid and significant brain changes during adolescence increase vulnerability to substance use, underlining the importance of early treatment and support.
Like other diseases such as diabetes, addiction is chronic and progressive, requiring ongoing treatment. Despite its irreversible impact on brain chemistry, research-based programs, such as AARC, offer hope for recovery.
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Acknowledging addiction as a chronic mental health condition, AARC’s approach integrates specialized care specific to youth to address concurrent mental health disorders. Our comprehensive treatment program encompasses therapeutic interventions, youth-focused clinical counselling, peer support, medical support from AARC’s nursing team, as well as consulting psychiatry and psychology professionals.
“We treat the mind, body, and spirit to help restore self-worth, rebuild relationships with families, and lead a successful life in recovery.”
Dr. Dean Vause, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor, AARC
Get connected with our team.
We understand that addiction can impact all loved ones. We're here to listen.
Early Indicators
of Addiction
Adolescents are extremely unlikely to admit that they have an addiction problem. If they do admit it to themselves, they seldom ask for help. So how can parents or siblings identify addictive behaviour rather than a teenager simply ‘acting out’?
Change a life with your donation
Every donation can be life-changing at AARC. We’re helping young people and their families at their lowest ebb — often, we’re the last chance for recovery. Your donation is a gift of hope.
Land Acknowledgement
With gratitude, and deep respect, and in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation, AARC, located in the heart of Southern Alberta, would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to the traditional territories of Treaty 7, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy consisting of the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai Nations, as well as the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Stoney Nakota including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Goodstoney First Nations. We also recognize the Otipemisiwak Métis Government (Region 3), including Nose Hill Métis District 5 and Elbow Métis District 6, who can call this region home. With gratitude and respect, we honour the caretakers of the land who remind us of the ongoing histories that precede us where AARC families find Recovery.