Achieving Success Guiding Teens Through Mental Health and Addiction Recovery

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Welcome to the next episode of grandparents raising grandchildren.

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I'm your host, Laura Brazan, and today we're diving deep into the critical issues of teen mental health and addiction with Austin Davis, a seasoned counselor and advocate who's making waves in the field. In this episode, Austin shares his remarkable journey from aspiring youth pastor to founder of the Clear Fork Academy.

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He reveals how his early experiences in pastoral ministry ignited a passion for helping teens navigate life's toughest challenges through specialized counseling and substance use treatment. We'll discuss the alarming rise of mental health issues and addiction among teens in today's complex world. Compounded by the impacts of social media, the pandemic, and the increasing prevalence of dangerous substances like fentanyl, Austin provides insight into the innovative methodologies his team employs, merging clinical expertise with relational, value based approaches to foster holistic healing. You'll hear heartfelt success stories from the trenches, highlighting the transformative power of faith in clinical intervention. Plus, Austin opens up about his own family life, offering advice on balancing a demanding career and treatment with raising his own children. This episode is not just an eye opener, it's a call to action for all of us who care for the next generation. Whether you're a grandparent raising your grandchild, a concerned parent, or someone interested in teen advocacy, you won't want to miss this conversation. Tune in to episode 36, achieving success guiding teens through mental health and addiction recovery, for an enlightening and empowering discussion with Austin Davis. It's time to make a difference, one life at a time.

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Welcome to grandparents raising grandchildren nurturing through adversity in this podcast, we will delve deep into the challenges and triumphs of grandparents raising grandchildren as we navigate the complexities of legal, financial, and emotional support. I invite you to join us on a journey of exploring thoughts, feelings, and beliefs surrounding this growing segment of our society. Drawing from real stories and expert advice, we will explore the nuances of child rearing for children who have experienced trauma and offer valuable resources to guide you through the intricate journey of kinship care.

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We'll discuss how we can change the course of history by rewriting our grandchildren's future, all within a supportive community that understands the unique joys and struggles. This podcast was made especially for you.

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Welcome to a community where your voice is heard, your experiences are valued, and your journey is honored.

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At one time, I served as the fundraising coordinator for a girls treatment program, and what I witnessed was nothing short of staggering. The epidemic of mental illness and addiction is not just a statistic, it's a harrowing reality that touches families every day.

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Recently, my own grandson spent three months in a drug treatment program, a financial burden that my daughter will be grappling with for years. I've lost a child to mental illness, so I'm no stranger to teen trauma.

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As a parent and grandparent, I think we do anything to save our children and protect our grandchildren from the painful paths that have ensnared so many of their parents.

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In this episode, we'll dive into the impactful story of Austin Davis, a man dedicated to breaking this devastating cycle. Get ready to explore what it truly takes to be the one fighting in the shadows, advocating for our youth, and igniting hope in the hearts of families facing these challenges.

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Austin, why don't you begin by telling us about your journey from pastoral ministry to counseling and to advocacy and the driving force behind your mission to help troubled teens. So I really thought I was going to be a youth pastor. Back in my late teens, early twenties, my undergrad was in pastoral ministries and then started attending seminary. Just really thinking that was going to be my trajectory, was to work inside the four walls of a church. But after doing that for about four years, kind of through that education journey, when a kid catches the house on fire, runs away or gets pregnant or one of those things, we're not exegeting things out of romans where I'm sitting down with a kid who's crying and using the counseling skills that I had sort of developed through my elective classes and things like that. So I went to my dean and was like, hey, I think there's a fork in the road here for me to use this counseling stuff in a more professional way. And that really just kind of lit a fire of like, man, this is who I am and how I want to affect change in the world with these kiddos and things like that. And so it just kind of blossomed into a full on career after that, working in rural mental health facilities, psych hospitals, and then that's where we kind of landed in substance use treatment. I was working with adults, and that was very eye opening. Know, sitting with 30, 40 and 50 year olds, and we're doing group, and all of a sudden everybody's talking about their 14 year old self and all the things that happened to them as a kid and how those things had laid the foundation for a heroin addiction or a bottle of vodka every night, so forth and so on. And so, again, sort of a entrepreneurial spark or epiphany of man. What if we could catch these men at 14 and have a fork in the road for their lives? And somebody to walk alongside of them so that these things can, can heal earlier in life. So that's kind of the 40,000 foot view. Right then you began the program that you're doing now yourself at Clear Fork Academy. So sitting in that group room working with adults, was that impetus to that in 2016, took the leap to do that, really trying to combine, really that first career of youth pastor, and that was my calling, to work with kids. And then all the clinical expertise for about ten years, kind of smashed those together. And that's what we do at Cliff work, is that we're relational as a youth camp, but clinical as a hospital together. Let's talk about the statistics, because we both know that when you started in 2016, and here we are now in 2024, what have you seen happen in that time period? What's your insight into what the changes have been? Kids in themselves haven't changed. Man's search for meaning hasn't changed, but definitely our world has changed in terms of the pandemic and social media and socio political landscapes. And as those things kind of evolve, there's sort of a churning out of more symptomology, more depression, more anxiety.

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The rise of fentanyl we've seen in the last four to five years has significantly changed how we do detox, how we do treatment, how we do education. There's one model of change that says relapse is a part of recovery, and then that can. Not that you want it to be a part of. But a lot of folks experience a relapse two years out, and then they have a ten year stretch. Right? So some models out there will say that relapse is part of recovery. Well, with fentanyl, you may not get a second chance. Right? So the relapses are way more lethal.

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And so education in that component has changed. And prevention, treatment in some ways have changed.

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How has that affected the methodologies that you've developed for treatment and addiction? I've written our program. We really try to think in three levels, and one is very systemic and value based. So we think of, like, rose colored glasses. If we can get a teenager to put on a pair of rose colored glasses and think about what does it mean to honor himself or herself or another person, or is there a higher power or God that there is relationship and honor to. So we have seven values that we expose our kids to in hopes that their worldview is shaped by one of them. It's honor, unity, sacrifice, transparency, legacy, excellence, and fun. And if we can get them just to see life. We say fun, right? It's not just being jovial. It's about enjoying the process. Being in treatment stinks. Nobody wants to be in treatment.

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But if you enjoy the process, your brain sees that struggle differently. If you go to the gym, I mean, you hate the gym, but you change your thinking. You say, I'm going to enjoy this process.

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Your body responds differently to the weights in the gym and things like that. And so that's kind of the first tier. The second tier is clinical intervention. We want to try best practice. I've got a master's degree.

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We have 20 people on our team that have clinical master's degrees.

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And so we want to use those things that are in our textbooks, that are best practice. Narrative therapy, CBT, rebt. We'll do some EMDR. There's a lot of acronyms, but that's kind of the world we live in in terms of best practice, clinical intervention. And then as a third layer, just basic life skills. How do we do communication? There's a certain rhythm and process to communication, and our teenagers don't have that. They have their thumbs, usually, to communicate now, right? And it's 144 characters or less, so they don't know really how to express a felt need. So we're going to do anger management and stress management and communication skills and conflict resolution.

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And those things help gird the interventions and the. The values that they go through. So we really try to, in this landscape, have a holistic approach to our kiddos. It's not just mental health or substance abuse. There's a whole other thing that we can't see that we're trying to uncover. We're talking about issues that go back generations sometimes, right? Absolutely. Addiction passed on from one generation to another, or mental illness that's passed on from one generation to another, or ideas or gaps in the information that these kids are getting from an early age that's been passed down from family to family. Where do you see the biggest gaps that these children are picking up through the methodologies that you're sharing with them?

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So I was trained in family systems. I was family systems, and addiction was my master's degree. So I can't see just the kiddo. I have to see the whole family system. And so that's how we've designed our program. And, you know, they say a picture's worth a thousand words. And that's what the genogram does for us, is you put mom and dad, we draw it on the wall, and then where did they come from? Well, they came from a mom and daddy, we go two levels up and two levels down to really kind of see. And when we begin to overlay, oh, well, great grandpa was an alcoholic, and then Grandpa was an absolute control freak because he saw his dad be an alcoholic, so he didn't want to do that, but he was a control freak. But now son or grandson is the alcoholic. So we kind of see it skipping a generation between this pendulum. And I don't have hard date on here. It's just 15 years of working with families. That pendulum swings back and it kind of skips a generation.

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Seemingly. You have a problem, you have a control freak, you have a problem, and then you have a control freak. And so it swings back and forth between those. And so we just try to really educate our families on what we see in terms of symptomology.

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Mom, do you realize every time you do this, there's a reaction and a ripple effect with probably dad and son or daughter and really just trying to cue those things up for awareness? And then that's where you overlay the skills. Mom's got to be able to communicate, and she's got to be able to deal with her anger, and then dad's got to understand conflict resolution and how to manage his stress without alcohol or without kicking the dog. Proverbially, it's a myriad of problems and symptoms that we've vet out through bowenian family therapy theory and things like that. But I would imagine that your main focus is teaching the kids themselves that no matter what mom and dad do, no matter what your grandparents do, that you need to take responsibility for your life.

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Nothing works if there's no autonomy. And a lot of times, that's what our kids are fighting for because you have that generational control. The helicopter mom mentality is we want our children to break away. If we look, hundred years ago, 14 year olds had jobs, and they were at 16 having families and really, really living autonomous lives still maybe in close proximity to the patriarch of the family or something like that, but there was a level of autonomy that our generations aren't experiencing until 21, 25 years old now. So it's almost a decade late versus a prior century ago. And it seems like we've devolved technology has disabled us in some ways to be able to prolong that maturation period.

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Interesting. How young do you feel that you can talk to a child about those issues? I mean, just speaking from a dad's perspective here, you know, my eight year old is my youngest right now. And so since day one, I guess with all three kids. Since day one, there's been this undertone of, man, I just have you for a few short years. You have to learn to live on your own. When we talk about cleaning her room, hey, you're gonna have to clean a room sometime when you're disrespectful to me, you have to learn how to deal with authority outside of our home. And so you can't be disrespectful to your boss. You can't be disrespectful to your teacher. You can't be, you know, to your coaches and things like that. So, as a dad, those conversations are every day focused on the next 75 years of their lives.

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And as a therapist or treatment center owner, I think it's the same way our 13 year olds, there's this idea of.

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I call it calling out. I'm calling this interhumanization out of this person. Maybe a 13 year old, small, never done anything in life, but inside of that person is this strong willed, entrepreneurial person who just hasn't been found yet. And so it's our job to excavate that thing, peel away the layers, and try to just invest and fan that flame that's inside of that, kiddo. I have noticed, especially with my grandchildren, because of what they've experienced, that talking about these tough issues are important.

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There's a way of speaking to them as children, but I also feel that because they've seen what they've seen, it has to be talked about. They have to talk about the fact that they've seen their parents draw knives or guns on each other. We need to talk about the sexual abuse that they've seen, but it has to be done from the perspective or the innocent perspective of a child.

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But if we don't talk about it, where do they put all that they've seen? It's a shame that they've had to deal with that so early on. Same with myself. I came from an abuse background, and I did abuse drugs in my life. These tough conversations are things that we need to talk about. And grandparents that have watched their own children be incarcerated or in many cases, it's suicide or abuse that we're talking about. Things that we don't think we're going to have conversations with people at our age, we're retiring. People think time in our life is for if we're talking about beautiful places and laying on beaches and having cocktails in the sun or something like that, but this community that we're in requires us to talk about tough things. We have the wisdom of having lived as long as we have. And in some ways, I don't really care what people think about what we're talking about, but it has to be talked about. And if it isn't, and then we're not going to help these kids and we're not going to have generational healing.

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I've done surveys with grandparents raising grandchildren, and the number one priority isn't money, it isn't friendship, it isn't a lot of things. You might think it's leaving a greater legacy for their grandchildren. And in order to do that, there has to be generational healing. That's super important. I know that faith plays obviously an important part in the methodologies that you use for healing. Can you talk a little bit about the role of faith in recovery? They were kind of birthed out of a Methodist basement with a couple of guys in a small group. They studied the book of James, and that became what we have is the twelve steps. We use that same idea and concept, but just really identify God of our own understanding in a judeo christian way, using thoughts from the Bible. And so it's a lot of people ask, you know, well, you're faith based. And I kind of wince a little bit because I got a master's degree in counseling. We have doctors, we have nurses, we have nurse practitioners, we're clinical based as the foundation or the of what we do. Yet at the same time, faith is interwoven in that process. And so we have this duty to do no harm. Right. We want to meet the client where they are every single time. And my sort of assumption is God is somewhere far down in the distance, and there are things that are probably preventing that person from seeing whoever God is to them.

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And our job is to really work through those events, those traumatic events, those parental discomforts. Right. Like, I don't want to be told what to do. That's just kind of a discomfort. It's not abuse, it's just something against your will at the time. So it's very relational how we approach it. At some point, somebody's going to go, tell me about that thing, and we just want to be available to tell them about that thing. You've had a pretty big impact on teens in Texas, but your children are from all over the rest of the country. Yeah, 75% or so are from Texas, and the other 25% can come from anywhere. I mean, we've had New York and Seattle at the same time. You're doing a lot to raise awareness about these issues along with the work you're doing there at the center. What are you doing with your advocacy work and raising awareness about mental illness and addiction in teens? It's really like the discussion we're having now. How many discussions like this can I have per day, per week, per month? And if that's with a parent on the phone or on a stage at a conference, I'll talk to anybody who will listen about doing intervention with teenagers, because that's the next generation. That's the legacy that we're leaving behind. Not just my three kiddos, but the thousands that we get to treat every year. Those folks are going to run the world. At some point, at some zip code, some area, some community, they're going to go back and begin to live lives that change the landscape of our country. I used to work at a treatment center for young girls. I was the fundraiser for that facility for four years. Oftentimes, the kids that I would talk to would say, well, you don't know the life I've had. And I said, well, let me tell you, I clean up pretty well. And I was a kid once, too.

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Stories that we have to share with them are powerful. I tell the kids that your story of success is one that a kid who's going through the same thing will believe far over someone that has not been through these experiences. Do the kids get that at the center?

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Yeah, absolutely. And when I show up, you know, I've got long hair, and if I'm at a gas station in some random town, somebody may or may not ask me if I have drugs, you know, but that's not personal. That. That's not part of my story. I grew up around it. I think I was just at a pivotal point in my life when faith became prominent, and this just been my passion. And so a kid will walk up to me and say, hey, mister Austin, what drugs did you? And I say, hey, I didn't use drugs. And they're like, what? Well, how do you own a treatment center, right? And so I get this vibrato from them, and I said, hey, tell me about when your parents got a divorce.

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What was that like? Hmm. I was like, man, mine was kind of that way, too. And I said, hey, you had a friend die or something like that, right? Like, I remember hearing something that. About that in group, and it's like, yeah, it was this and that. And here's the horrific story. I was like, mandy, that sounds a lot like when my brother died when I was 20.

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So I just share these scars that I personally have, and I said, so what makes you and I different? Right?

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What makes us the same isn't drug use. It's these shared experiences that we have. And I had people around me to help me through those things. And that's why you're in treatment is these people around you have the same scars, have the same tattoos, have the same t shirt. Right. Because they have been through it, too. And so a lot of our direct care staff have been there and done that. So they're passionate about being one to one with our kids and sharing their stories and be like, bro, don't do this because you're gonna end up in jail or you might die. We call it transparency. That's one of our values, and we use that to build trust every single day.

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If we don't have that relationship, we don't have trust that the kiddos aren't going to engage us at any level.

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You shared some statistics with me by email the other day. Can you share those with us now and maybe share some success stories that you've had? Yeah.

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So I'm a huge advocate for longer lengths of stay. Most treatment is short term, medically based, or on the other end of that spectrum, it's very long term and not much clinical or medical intervention. And so we try to bridge that gap between 90 and 120 days is really the therapeutic sweet spot, is what I've seen. So the kiddos that go through our continuum, through that 90 days, they follow an aftercare plan. Like, 93% of those kids don't ever need services again. They'll engage in our alumni program, but there's no relapse.

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There's no subsequent treatments. They're kind of done. They're kind of on a new path. We call it the clear fork for a reason, because there was a fork in the road, and they took the new path. We're really happy about those numbers, but the sad part is, is like when lengths of stay are lower than that, our relapse rates are higher.

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They look more like national standards of 50% success.

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Or within less than 28 days, it's probably closer to 35 or 40% of relapse. You had a second question in there. Success stories.

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Oh, success stories. So one of my favorites is when we opened the treatment center, I did everything. I was the trash man, the CEO, and everything in between. I remember this big kid. I'm six, 4200 pounds, of not a small human. We had a big kid who was intimidating, and he wanted to fight everybody. And about 75, 78 days, we were having a discussion. It was late at night. And it was a God question.

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He was like, I don't know why I'm so angry. I don't know why I hate everything, and I want to fight everything. And I.

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Who the f is this God person you talk about anyway? And it was just this vile vomiting from a 16 year old who's. Who's a big kid. And I was like, man, just ask. Just ask. I don't care what that verbiage is, that whoever God is you think is out there, ask.

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Ask him to show you, right? Because I've done this for 75 days with you, and nothing is sticking a power gradient in yourself may be able to restore you to sanity. So he went to bed that night and he asked, and his words were, God, what the f is wrong with me? And so we're sitting on the floor in our group room, and he starts crying.

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And he tells me the story the night before of his prayer. And he began to dream. He began to remember trauma and abuse for several years that he had completely just whitewashed from his brain. He didn't even know was there.

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Been with the kid for 75 days, never a mention of sexual trauma or abuse. And it was a neighbor for two and a half, three years that was a predator. And this young man was able to identify that, see that. And then the next 25 days of treatment were about letting it go, and he was able to do it. And then he graduated high school, and then he went into ROTC. And so now he's a member of society, and he's probably 20 years old right now. It's those moments that we really cherish, and that was year one, right? We're six years in, and there's just story after story after story now with boys, with girls that we have just like that. That's powerful.

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That's powerful. You have a family and kids yourself, and I'd love to hear about those. I'm sure our listeners would, too. What's your real life like, and how do the kids feel about the work you're doing?

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Yeah. Our dinner table conversations are lively. My wife has her master's in education, and so when we started the treatment center made sense for her to stay home. She left the education world, and we homeschool now. We're kind of this entrepreneurial family and have a rigorous homeschool curriculum and co op and things like that. The kids know what daddy does, right? They know choices are impactful in their life and what mental health and substance use does. And so we have a very curated technology policy at the house. And, and so it's, you know, iPads get checked in and out.

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They're only for school. We're not drowning our dopamine and all of our senses in a device. And so it's go outside and play. Go ride your bike, go jump on trampoline. Let's be outdoors. Let's go hike. My wife being an educator and me being in the treatment world, we see the worst. So trying to protect our kids and create legacy that is authentic and grounded and faith centered. So a little bit, little bit there. There's a lot. There's a lot I can talk about my kids all day long. So we're involved in sports and music and things like that. We're very, very busy family. Intentionally busy, not just busy with things of the world, but really trying to see new places in terms of travel and have experiences that our kids, when they're 25, 30 years old, can go look back and go. We did that with mom and dad.

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I was going to ask you how you balanced running a treatment program with family. You know, I think work life balance is. Some people would say it's a lie, right? Like, it's. I try to be all in when I'm at work and then I'm all home when I'm at home. So I've made a commitment to myself and my wife, my family that I'm sitting at the dinner table at least four times a week when the family's having dinner at least three days for crisis. And if crisis happens when I'm at the dinner table, then I've got a team of folks that manage all of that and make the trains run on time. So it's really about building teams and structures to have that. So we're not always on.

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Tell us how people can find out more information about the work you do. I think our website's the easiest place. It's Clearfork academy.com. it's everything from our values to our treatment locations. It's really easy. We're a phone call or click away. Somebody needs, I don't know what I need. I just need somebody to talk to me to get some ideas. Is my grandkid need treatment? And at what level do they need treatment? We've got a 24 hours call center with folks to help with those assessments and just figure it out.

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That's great. Thanks, Austin, for your time today. I appreciate it.

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Thank you so much. It's been good to talk with you. Thanks so much for joining us today for another episode of grandparents raising grandchildren, nurturing through adversity I encourage you to share your challenges and your successes with us. Your story is undoubtedly one someone else needs to hear. You can submit your stories to the links provided in the podcast information. Your contributions will enrich upcoming conversations, creating a more supportive community in which we can learn and grow together. If you enjoyed this show, please share it with a friend that needs to hear. And if you love the show and you're listening on a broadcasting platform like Apple or Spotify, just scroll down in your app and please leave us a review. Next week, I hope you'll join us for a heartfelt and enlightening episode featuring Michelle Kuhn, a dedicated mom who has become a beacon of hope for parents navigating the intricate world of developmental challenges. Michelle's journey with her son, who has a rare genetic disorder known as TBR one, has shaped her into a passionate advocate for clarity and support in the realm of special education and developmental delays. In this episode, Michelle shares her personal experiences, valuable insights, and hard earned wisdom on how to effectively advocate for your child's needs.

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She's here to help grandparents raising grandchildren understand the complex systems of healthcare and education, offering tips on how to streamline the process and avoid the pitfalls of endless doctor's visits. Whether you're a grandparent seeking guidance for your grandchild's unique needs or simply looking for inspiration, this episode promises to illuminate the path towards empowerment and understanding.

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Discover how to forge a meaningful journey of communication and support for the children you love. Don't miss this enlightening conversation. Thank you for tuning in to grandparents raising grandchildren nurturing through adversity. Remember, you are not alone. Together we can find strength and hope in the face of adversity. Peace be with you and I pray that you find some time this week to listen to your inner wisdom amongst the noise and the pandemonium of this world.