Even after teens have successfully completed treatment, recovering alcoholics often become overwhelmed with the desire to drink when their brains receive signals that remind them of the pleasurable sensations that alcohol produces. According to a report by the National Families in Action, a group that studies drug and alcohol abuse, approximately  percent of all teen alcoholics submit to this desire and revert to their former drinking patterns. This is known as relapse.

Any number of signals can cause a recovering teen alcoholic to relapse. These signals can be as simple as contact with alcohol, people, or activities that remind them of their former lives, or as complex as unresolved emotional issues that encouraged them to abuse alcohol in the past. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for some young alcoholics to experience as many as five relapses before recovering completely. Therefore, in order to...