My name is Jon Wean and I’ve been a substance counselor in San Francisco for over twelve years.  I have predominantly worked with adults dealing with substance use disorders in a variety of settings (jails and prisons, residential treatment centers, outpatient facilities, and online; providing telehealth counseling).  I currently still work with adults at Friendship House, a residential healing center for Native Americans.

The time I spent working in this field has given me the chance to do some great work with adults and witness some miraculous changes for the better.  So, there is hope for adults who are struggling with substance issues to regain their footing, but from very early on in my career it became overwhelmingly apparent that too many people could have been spared an immeasurable amount of pain if they had been given the necessary attention and information around the topics of substance use, abuse, and addiction when they were younger.

Obviously, we all have thought and behavioral patterns/habits, some of them healthy and some of them unhealthy.  Unfortunately, with time, all maladaptive patterns/habits become harder and harder to break. For example, an adolescent who may have low self-esteem could discover that the use of substances enhances their confidence while lowering their inhibitions; instead of this adolescent exploring why they feel inadequate, they simply use the substances to alleviate these negative emotions, and in the blink of an eye ten years have gone by and this person is “stuck” in a downward spiral. This is why it is imperative to address the issues around substance use before any negative thought and behavioral patterns become too deeply ingrained. 

Why Adolescents? 

Fortunately, twelve years ago I spent 1,000 of the 2,400 voluntary clinical hours I had to fulfill as part of attaining my certification, working with students at Lowell and Mission High Schools in San Francisco. Now, looking back after having experienced what I’ve experienced for over a decade in this domain, I know without a shadow of a doubt that the work I did with those students was the most rewarding and fruitful of my professional life; seeing those students feel more informed and empowered to make healthier decisions for themselves as a result of our discussions was absolutely wonderful because I knew then, and I still know now, that adolescents are not getting the adequate information and support that they need to deter themselves from developing the disorders I’ve seen derail too many people’s lives.