Adolescent Substance Abuse Program

ASAP is a 10-week Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) designed specifically for the treatment of substance use disorders in youth ages 12-18.  Group therapy is the primary treatment modality-- group therapy has long proven the most effective technique with teen substance use.  At ASAP the teens attend group therapy three nights per week for 10 weeks, for a total of 30 group therapy sessions, and their parents also get help when they attend one of those sessions each week with their teen, at Parent Night.  Urine drug testing is utilized as a critical tool to verify that teens are no longer using addictive substances.  In 2021 ASAP will proudly celebrate its 30th year.  All ASAP programming is based on evidence-based, "best practices" interventions.  Designed by three Phoenix-area psychologists, Dr. Phil Lett, Dr. Mark Rohde and Dr. Curtis Walling, the ASAP IOP Program pursues the "real-world" changes in home, family, peer, and school environments that yield lasting sobriety and a vastly improved quality of life for the entire family.  The goal of the ASAP IOP Program is to help teens and families re-establish a sober, safe, and mutually supportive relationship.  At ASAP we are proud of our long history of treatment success -- we invite the reader to click on the "Free Resources" page to view more than 100 powerful testimonials hand-written by former ASAP parents and teens. In the ASAP program active participation is required of both adolescents and their parents.  Treatment includes comprehensive admission evaluation, drug education, coping skills training, emotional processing, group therapy, multifamily therapy, and urine drug testing.  An eclectic treatment model and an eclectic staff are utilized to approach adolescents from many diverse angles.  The ASAP Handbook and FAQ's orient adolescents and their parents to the ASAP program.  The ASAP Curriculum is utilized as an effective teaching tool at all sites, and the ASAP Teen and Parent Homework handouts are utilized for growth-oriented homework assignments.  Parents are taught techniques for urine drug testing at home that can serve as the best deterrent of ongoing drug use.  Outcome studies and satisfaction surveys are conducted to measure treatment success and provide the feedback necessary for continuous quality improvement.  All ASAP treatment is evidence-based and follows "best practices".  No smoking is ever allowed at ASAP, and strict adherence to the highest ethical standards is maintained.  You will find our website easy to use-- we believe the simplest website is best.  ASAP is proudly committed to changing the lives of teens and families! ASAP contracts with all major private health insurance companies, including Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna, United (Optum), Ambetter (MHN), HealthNet, Humana, Magellan, Beacon, ComPsych, Multiplan, AZ Foundation, Mines and Associates, Meritain, HMC, Value Options, AmeriBen, Coventry/First Health, and many more.  For more information, call (602) 434-0249.  Some of our contracts include: The ASAP Program was founded by the pioneering work of three psychologists in 1991:  Dr. Phil Lett, Dr. Mark Rohde, and Dr. Curtis Walling.  As of January 1, 2020, Dr.'s Lett and Rohde have retired from ASAP, while Dr. Walling remains as the Clinical Director.  The ASAP Program in 2021 remains proudly true to the original vision of these three men.   Here are the current key staff: Dr. Curtis Walling.  Curtis Walling, Ph.D. is a 4th-generation native Arizonan, proud to say he was born and raised in Phoenix.    Dr. Walling knows the Phoenix-area communities and the mental health community very well.  He earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Florida in 1987.  Dr Walling has worked in private practice as a licensed psychologist since 1987.   He completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship at the Boston VA Outpatient Clinic, specializing in the treatment of substance use disorders, adolescents, and developmental disorders.  Dr Walling has held past appointments as Director of Psychology at Charter Hospital, Clinical Director at Devereux Arizona, and Director of Outpatient Chemical Dependency at Phoenix St. Luke's Hospital.  Dr Walling currently serves as a Clinical Director of the ASAP Program, he was an original founder of the ASAP Program in 1991 and remains the owner and Chief Executive Officer today in 2020.   Dr. Walling's clinical supervision and many years of clinical expertise helps to establish the core of the ASAP Program. Dr. Tyler Davis.  Tyler Davis, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist who currently provides key leadership at all three ASAP Program locations.  Dr. Davis originally came to ASAP to complete his predoctoral internship in 2009.  After earning his Psy.D. degree from the Arizona School of Professional Psychology, in 2012 Dr. Davis accepted the position of ASAP Program Clinical Coordinator.  He earned licensure in Arizona as a psychologist in 2014.  As the current Clinical Director at ASAP, Dr. Davis performs critical assessment, therapy, training, and leadership functions at all three ASAP Program locations.  Dr. Davis conducts the admission assessments to determine eligibility for admission to the ASAP Program.  He also serves as the Lead Therapist conducting the Parent Night group therapy at both the Paradise Valley and Glendale ASAP locations.  You will reach Dr. Davis when you call ASAP at (602) 434-0249.  Dr. Davis's ready availability, and the close partnership he forms with parents and close communication he maintains with parents, is certainly a key to the success of the Program.  Sue Yoder.   Sue Yoder, LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has been working with the ASAP Program almost since its inception.  ASAP was launched in 1991, Sue was one of our first interns and we have been blessed to keep her with us ever since she started as an intern in 1993.  Originally the Assessment Coordinator, Sue has held virtually every position and completed virtually every task at ASAP over the years.  Currently Sue conducts all utilization management for ASAP, as well as assisting with financial information with families and health insurance challenges.  She has also been a dynamic part of the team assisting with clinical supervision and program development over the years.  It is fair to say there is nothing about the ASAP Program that Sue does not know.   For the past 8 years, Sue has also provided clinical case management, group therapy, and utilization management at Banner Behavioral Health Hospital  --  she is very familiar with all levels of care.  Sue also has experience in private practice and PHP.   Count on Sue as well as Dr. Walling and Dr. Davis to answer any question about the ASAP Program. Stefanie Nader.   Stefanie Nader, M.S., started her service to the Phoenix community at age 18 as a Director of Preschools.  Stefanie has now spent the past 20 years working as a behavioral health case manager, the last four with the City of Phoenix.  She has been assigned most recently as a Case Worker III / Program Manager for the Landlord Tenant and VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program, providing supervision to 4 full time staff and up to 300 volunteers and 23 VITA sites.   She also provides on-scene crisis counseling for Phoenix Fire, and she is on call to provide resources, domestic violence, advocacy, and creative solutions for Circle the City, St Vincent De Paul, Family Advocacy Center and the VA Hotline.  Stefanie is a proud Vincentian, volunteering at the homeless clinic where she helped develop the Bridges out of Poverty Program.  Stefanie spent her first year with the ASAP Program as an intern, obtaining a Masters in Mental Health and Wellness degree and also a Masters of Science in Addiction Counseling degree from Grand Canyon University.  Stefanie is currently a Lead Therapist at the ASAP Mesa location with a LASAC, and she also serves as the ASAP Program Administrator, typically the first phone contact to answer questions and schedule ASAP admission interviews. Three psychologists, Dr. Curtis Walling, Dr. Mark Rohde, and Dr. Phil Lett, started the ASAP Organization in 1991 when no program of its kind existed in the Valley.   In 2020 Dr.'s Rohde and Lett retired from the Program, and the Program is still owned and operated to this day, nearly 30 years later, by Dr. Walling and his staff.  The ASAP Program is intensive group therapy, three evenings per week for 10 weeks.  Or, more precisely, 30 group therapy sessions.   The teens attend all three sessions per week, and the parents attend one night--  Parent Night -- with their teens each week.   1)  Understanding Adolescent Chemical Use and Dependency,  2) Feelings and Emotional Healing,  3) Communication and Conflict Resolution,  4)  Physical and Behavioral Effects of Use, 5)  Family Systems Part I, 6)  Relapse Prevention Process and Techniques, 7)  Understanding Anger,  8)  Family Systems Part II, 9)  Thoughts and Beliefs and their Role in Substance Use, and 10)  Grief and Loss. The three ASAP sites, located strategically in Mesa, Glendale, and Phoenix/Scottsdale, cover the entire Valley.  Teens and families from every community in the Valley, and from surrounding counties at times, enter the ASAP Substance Abuse IOP Program.  Consequences of Use/ Psychopharmacology of Chemical Use/ Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors/ Conflict Resolution/ Communication Skills/ Relapse Prevention/ Peer Pressure/ Dealing with Relapse/ Family Systems/ Enjoying Sobriety/ Grief and Loss/ The Past and Future/ The Recovery Model/ Barriers to Recovery/ High Risk Situations/ Aftercare Planning/ Recovery Models/ Peer Selection/ Patterns of Use/ Relapse Mapping/ Dealing with Family Members/ Refusal Skills/ Recovery Programs Very Much so.  In fact, ASAP is the only Program of its kind to be successful in the Valley for the past 30 years.  Ample evidence of the quality of the ASAP Program is perhaps best present in the form of more than 100 hand-written testimonials that appear on the ASAP website at www.asapaz.com.

Sam
5 Star
ASAP is a great program with amazing staff. This program has been around for 30 years and the expertise demonstrated by the staff shows. They are knowledgeable, caring, kind, firm, and professional. Throughout this 10 week intensive program teens and parents have the opportunity to build skills in communication, relapse prevention, accountability, and many more. By having the parents involved in the process they get the support that they need from parents and teens in similar situations as well as developing a strong parent/child relationship. The changes I have seen in teens as well as parents and family relationships have been amazing. The staff encourages teens to give feedback to parents and teens alike to promote the sharing of different perspectives and challenge maladaptive behaviors or thought patterns. This program really works, you get what you put into it so if you are actively participating and communicating with staff you will pick up great skills and see tremendous changes.
Thursday 10th February 2022

Christy Larsen
5 Star
As a parent, you never want to be in the situation where you have to find a substance abuse treatment program for your child. I checked out several programs in the valley and felt strongly that the ASAP program was the right fit. Was my child happy about it? NO. Would he have preferred some of the other “enthusiastic sobriety” programs out there? Yes. However it wasn’t about what he wanted, it was about what he NEEDED, and THIS is the program he needed. It was not all sunshine and rainbows along the way, but he completed and graduated from the ASAP program clean AND sober. And I even think he ended up enjoying it. We are a month out and he still hasn’t used and has even stopped vaping nicotine. Thank you ASAP!
Wednesday 23rd March 2022

joanne stroble
5 Star
A huge THANK YOU! to the ASAP team for their amazing work and dedication. Friendly and professional staff all around. They really want what is best for you and your family and are there to help as much as they can and do all they can to get you any/all the help and information you need. I was definitely not excited we had to be apart of this experience but am so glad we were directed here and had this team as a part of our story/journey. Thank you again!
Monday 6th December 2021

Karen Hindhede
5 Star
The ASAP program and the staff are truly incredible. The structure of the program, with a family therapy night and two teen nights, provides peer to peer advice and accountability as well as support for families. It’s the staff, though, that are exceptional, especially in the way they lovingly but firmly challenge the teens and their perceptions. The way they bring up topics and help teens and families work through distinctions between being clean and being sober, family dynamics, grief and loss, etc. are truly stellar. This program helped my daughter climb out of a dark, deep hole and provided the space for healing and trust to take root for us all.
Saturday 27th February 2021

Constanza Santosusso
5 Star
My experience at ASAP saved my life. This program didn't just teach me/motivate me to stay clean, it taught me how to communicate, how to love myself, education on development and how to have healthy relationships. ASAP was the highlight of my week, it gave me something to look forward to. Dr. Davis is incredibly talented and has a true passion for helping others. He is one of a kind; you won't ever meet someone as smart, dedicated and compassionate as him. My mom calls Dr. Davis her hero and says he is our savior. Getting clean and learning how to live a sober life is impossible to do alone. The staff at ASAP provide a perfect mix of education and heart filled conversation. I never knew who I was but ASAP was the one place where I felt like I could be myself. The staff taught me who I am and who I want to be. If you and your family need help I promise you ASAP will be there and teach you things that you won't learn anywhere else. I have been sober now for over 3 years (came in at 15 and stayed sober since), and I wish I could go back just to be around that environment. I miss ASAP, it shaped me and helped plant the seed for growth. ASAP is the best program you can get and if you don't believe me...try it for yourself. (;
Thursday 24th September 2020