103. Sobriety: What Does It Mean and Is It Really That Important?

Parenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment

You want your teen to be sober, don’t you? But aren’t you focusing on the wrong goal by expecting your teen not to drink any alcohol or take any substances? And what does being sober actually mean? Does it mean the same thing to you as it does to your teen?
“Progress, navigation, experimentation, these are normal parts of teenage and young-adult life” - Seth Gottlieb
Sobriety is a complex topic and I’m grateful to be having a deep discussion with Seth today, who has some interesting takes while sharing about his own thoughts and feelings from his path to sobriety.
Here’s one big takeaway from today’s episode: We have to remember the goal. Is the goal to check a box, out of fear and insecurity? Or is the goal a happy and healthy teen?
“There’s this one little piece, [sobriety] and if we focus on that piece, … you’re missing the entire context of other things that they’re accomplishing and other progress they’re making in their lives” - Beth
As parents, we often go black and white. Sober or addict. I get that. First of all, I’ve been there. Second of all, we’re often dealing with very young brains and it feels like there’s so much at stake!
But what if they need this experimentation to figure out whether or not this is something that can be a part of their life?
Join us today in this discussion about what sobriety means, to you and to your struggling teen, and whether it should be a goal to strive for or not.
In this episode on what it means to be sober and whether it’s really that important, we discuss:

• A multiple pathways approach versus a one-shoe-fits-all, abstinence policy;
• Focussing on the root cause versus the symptom of drinking or using drugs;
• Creating a safe space for your teen to confide in you;
• What does sobriety mean to you? And what does it mean to your teen?;
• Is sobriety a good goal to strive for or should we be focusing on something else?;
• And much more!

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