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Healing Springs offers new support group for teens facing substance abuse in Saratoga
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Teens in Saratoga Springs struggling with any type of addiction have a new support group to turn to for help. Healing Springs, a community recovery support center located at 125 High Rock Ave., is starting the first group of its kind in the county.
Lillian McCarthy, the director of Healing Springs, explained the need for the new group. “We are finding that youth are using more and more and at a younger and younger age, but there are no services available for youth in this community that has to do with treatment and recovery.”
McCarthy set out to change that for teens in Saratoga Springs facing challenges with substance abuse. She explained the group is for teens with any type of addiction. “Whether it is marijuana, whether it’s alcohol, whether it’s their vape that they can’t get off of. Whatever their substance is.”
She enlisted the help of Shayne Richardson, a certified peer advocate, who knows the challenge all too well. His struggle with substance abuse started at age 16. In his teen years, he had experimented with marijuana and alcohol to cocaine and opioids. His addiction eventually landed him in prison. Richardson told NEWS10, “I am a person in recovery myself. I struggled with addiction for years. I struggled with incarceration.”
While serving his sentence for selling drugs, Richardson had a life changing meeting with a peer advocate from Healing Springs. “It gave me hope that there is a different life I can live. I’ve lived the same lifestyle these kids are living now. To give them that same hope I got would be amazing,” he said.
Amy McBride, the Executive Director of Prevention Council, which oversees Healing Springs added, “When you can have an open discussion with someone who understands your struggle without holding back, when you can just be honest and share that openly with a peer, it makes a big difference.”
That’s why the newly formed group, which comes together every Thursday, is exclusive to the teens who attend and peer advocates like Richardson who lead the discussion. “They need to be able to trust the process. They need to be able to open up and share what they are feeling. What they are using,” added McCarthy. “It is very confidential. Parents will not know what is happening in that room. What’s said in the room stays in the room.”
Life looks a lot different for Richardson these days as a father to a 10-month-old baby, living a clean and sober life, he hopes to be that confidante and lead troubled teens trying to turn their own lives around.
If you are interested in taking part in the support group, they meet every Thursday at 125 High Rock Ave. in Saratoga Springs. Organizers say you don’t have to register ahead of time. The group is for teens ages 14-17 and completely confidential.
Family members will have access to family support navigator to learn ways to talk to their teen about addiction and help support them.