Description
609: Parents and Their Besieged Young Adult and Adolescent Children: Where the Battle Rages
Adrian Hickmon, Ph.D.
Capstone Treatment Center
120 Meghan Ln.
Judsonia, AR 72081
Summary
Adolescents and young adults are under siege by a seemingly irresistible force that employs suicide, drugs and alcohol, pornography, empty sexual encounters, video gaming, social media, and isolation in an environment that is eroding the traditional family and Christianity. To say the battle is against addictions and counseling is the key to victory would be misguided. Research strongly demonstrates that emptiness, unhealed trauma, and low-effort/high-reward pleasure/escape experiences combine to make a potent self-destructive poison. However, a deeper picture shows that they thrive in a context of weakness that offers little resistance. This presentation examines the major puzzle pieces that synergistically create the exploited weaknesses and provides a thorough plan for building an immovable object of defense through an alliance made up of individuals, families, bands of brothers and sisters, churches, culture, and effective therapy.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
• Discuss the systemic factors that intensify susceptibility to these self-destructive behaviors
• Develop a plan to help an individual, family, or church defend against the destructive forces discussed, both in prevention and remediation
• Apply presentation metaphors and research in both the personal and licensed mental health professional environments
