Youth Mental Health Matters
We're for the developing brain -- our world's most valuable natural resourceWelcome.
Simply put, this website offers information about child and adolescent mental health — particularly as it relates to substance use and addiction.
Contributors to DrThurstone.com are big believers in evidence-based medicine that has practical, real-world applications — meaning science that has been subjected to the rigorous review of reputable scholars and can be used at home and throughout a community.
We do not have all the answers — but we are confident the information you find here is trustworthy enough to guide your search for them responsibly.
— Dr. Christian Thurstone, M.D.
Chair of Behavioral Health at Denver Health and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado
Featured
Thurstone named ‘Top Doc’ in ’26
I am deeply humbled and grateful to have been included in the 2026 Castle Connolly Top Doctors® list. Receiving this recognition for the 11th consecutive year -- awarded through a rigorous, peer-nominated and physician-led process that honors only about 7 percent, or...
Denver Health among first hospitals named Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic
If a book ever were written about the history of mental healthcare in Colorado, Jan. 6, 2026, would earn prominent mention because Denver Health, the public hospital where Dr. Chris Thurstone serves as chairman of behavioral health services, became the state’s first...
IMAP: Denver Health’s groundbreaking integrated medical and psychiatric care unit
Denver Health's new Integrative Medical and Psychiatric Care Unit (IMAP) is a first in Colorado and one of few in the United States. The 12-bed unit brings together medical and behavioral healthcare specialists in one collaborative setting to better treat patients...
Dr. T featured in “Cannabis-Induced Psychosis: A Silent Epidemic”
Our friends at the drug-abuse prevention and education nonprofit Johnny's Ambassadors have produced an important documentary about cannabis-induced psychosis. We hope you'll make time to watch Cannabis-Induced Psychosis: A Silent Epidemic and share it far and wide....
Proud Parenting Moment: Asa Thurstone, Valedictorian
We're delighted to share that our son, Christian Asa Thurstone, is valedictorian of the Valor Christian High School Class of 2025. Asa, who already has one research publication under his belt, has accepted the prestigious Aequitas Fellowship in Global Public Health at...
Prevention and Treatment for Families
Help and hope for families wanting to avoid and address problems associated with substance use and addiction.
How parents can help their adolescents not use drugs
The most important thing parents can do for their adolescent with a substance problem is to maintain a positive, warm and loving relationship with him or her because this is the most important tool parents have to shape their child's values and future directions. This...
Parents don’t have to accept youth substance use
These are common questions: If so many teens are using addictive substances such as alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, what's the big deal? Isn't it normal to experiment like this? After all, teens will be teens -- and a lot of parents had their own flings with smokes...
American psychiatric society review: Clearing the Haze ‘commendable effort’
The May 2017 edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry includes a review of our book, "Clearing the Haze: Helping Families Face Teen Addiction." Dr. Christopher Hammond calls it "parent-friendly" and writes: "Thurstone and Tatum...
Get the impACT diagnostic manual
This is the first adaptation of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) for adolescent substance treatment. The manual is a general guide for treatment using Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles.
Animal- assisted therapy for impACT
The use of animal-assisted therapy will promote comfort, accelerate rapport-building, encourage trust, elevate mood, reinforce activities of daily living (ADLs), increase interpersonal contact, encourage communication and encourage self-care.
Read the book
Clearing the Haze is a guide designed to help parents determine whether their child may have a substance problem and, if so, how to begin to address it. This book includes the voices and insight of experts in substance abuse counseling, young people in recovery, and parents who have lived the nightmare of adolescent addiction.
Hot Topics, Great Resources
Marijuana
Opiates
Brain Development
Find a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist
Remember: Adolescent mental health extends to age 25. A great way to find a physician who understands the unique mental health needs of children and adolescents is searching the online member directory of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.