Brief Challenges is designed for adolescents and young adults who have a known or suspected drug problem — and is used in four, one-hour individual sessions. These sessions can stand alone or serve as an entry point to more services for clients who may want or need to receive additional counseling.
The four Brief Challenges sessions are always one-on-one — between one counselor and one client — and last about one hour. During sessions, information is gathered in a sequential fashion, with the counselor and the client working together in My Story. This book incorporates different aspects of The Seven Challenges, including the journals and activities.
Counselors who will provide Brief Challenges attend two days of training, either on-site or online. We regularly provide remote Brief Challenges trainings, so it's easy for an organization's new hires to get trained when there's turnover.
The book used with clients during Brief Challenges sessions is called My Story, which provides a framework for the counseling process. Both the client and the counselor write in My Story throughout the four sessions. In addition to training and support documents, each counselor will use the Brief Challenges Manual.