TEENS BATTLE DRUG ABUSE WITH IMAGINATION

The recent drug-related death of a Plano Senior High School senior Nicole
Wise brought the sensitive issue of teenage substance abuse back to
forefront of the minds of many Plano area parents.

Plano ISD drug experts recently recognized the use of heroin among
teenagers has fluctuated since the late 1990s. While other drugs have
become more popular, local in law-enforcement officials and those working
in local hospitals and treatment centers are seeing a return of heroin.

Among the throngs of outpatient substance abuse treatment centers is the
Imagine Program in East Plano, which is taking an innovative approach to
treatment and prevention.

"Imagine uses a really unique creative approach to treatment or
prevention," said program founder Jim Savage. "I had a lot of success in
using it in my own private treatment programs, and in 2000 I decided to
open my own treatment facility using Imagine as a basis of the program."

A counselor since 1984, Savage found that the mix of art, music and
literature in discussing abuse among adolescents was more popular than what
was normally available at the time.

Savage knows that first impressions are everything.

"The main thing is that it's a creative approach. When you walk in to the
facility, you notice that it's not a sterile hospital setting," said
Savage. "It's intriguing: There is a lot of art and music equipment. When a
kid walks in, it's not what a normal rehab would look like."

Counselors are teaching the same information as they would at a typical
rehab center, but Imagine's fresh approach and festive furnishings make it
a place where kids are excited to attend group therapy, Savage believes.

It becomes interesting when a song or a story becomes a metaphor for drug
addiction and recovery.

"We set a mood," said Savage. "Set and settings are half the battle for
adolescents. They look around the building an they think cool and they
actually want to come to treatment; which is no small feat to have kids say
that they like coming here."

But despite overstuffed pillows in place of hard plastic chairs, dimmed
lights and music, the Imagine program is based on rules and discipline.

"We're pretty strict and have high standards of participation," said
Savage. "So the kids who are here have to participate; they can't just sit
here and do their time and get discharged."

Savage believes that unlike in other programs, his kids are "brought up and
not brought down" - and he promotes healthy friendships and discourages
dishonesty.

"We feel that we have commitment that they are putting their kids in a safe
place and they aren't meeting worse friends," said Savage. "We always have
had a good, healthy, functioning group."

When a new kid comes, he or she enters a group. Everyone is functioning and
participating, so the newcomeri s given positive peer pressure to
participate in this program.

"If you come in here, you have to come in here ready to work. And when they
come here and see the writing on the wall, they see that this not their
normal treatment," said Savage.

Most participants are from Plano, McKinney, Frisco, Allen and elsewhere in
Collin County, though some come from Rockwall, Flower Mound, Carrolton and
Richardson.

"A lot of kids are court-ordered and sent there by probation officers,"
said Savage. "Others are parents who bring them in, because they were
referred by their doctors, kids come in under all manner of circumstances."

They come from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and sit in a group doing a combination of
some activities, such as processing music, art or storytelling into
metaphors for drug abuse and treatment. Group therapy follows, and the
participants talk about their issues and relate to each other.

Those who want to get treatment through the Imagine Program must pay
out-of-pocket or have private insurance. There are a few exceptions to this
rule.

"They can self-pay, and we work on a sliding scale where we work out
something according to individual circumstances," said Savage. "After the
first of the year, we will begin to take CHIPS, which is a children's
health insurance through Parkland Hospital."

"We tell people if there is a student that really wants treatment bad, we
will in no terms turn them away," said Savage. "We do offer some type of
scholarship program."

One of the most integral parts of treatment is the intensive aftercare.

"Insurance doesn't pay for aftercare, but we have created activities that
keep the kids coming back," Savage said. "Once a month, we a have a camping
retreat, which is part of the treatment. There they go through a rites of
passage event, like the Boy Scouts."

Past attendees say that Imagine becomes a community. "Most of these kids
didn't fit any other place have they found a place here," said Savage.

For more information on the Imagine Program call 972-423-6022 or visit
www.imagineprogram.com.