Helping a young person track and explore their use

All drug use has a function and reason even if it’s not always clear. The student themselves may not be conscious of the reason. It’s empowering for a young person to understand their use and it is crucial if they want to begin to make changes.

If you are in a position where a young person can be honest with you about their use, it is important to help the young person understand their own use.

There are two aspects to this:

• Explore what the young person is aware of. For instance, they may explain that they use drugs to help with shyness. 
• Ask the young person to keep a diary of their use. When they have completed the diary such as this one, have them work with you on making some links – when were they most likely to use? What was happening on that day? Is there a time of the day when use is the heaviest? Why do you think that might be?

Doing this helps the young person make their own link as to why they are using drugs.  

Where a young person is able to be honest with you about their use, it is important to help the young person explore why they use. 

From there you can help a young person to establish if there are alternatives and ways of managing key times and triggers where drug use is at its highest. 

Remember this will not be possible with all young people or you may not even feel comfortable that this is something you could do.