Our materials help counselors and clients throughout the adult version of The Seven Challenges program — from training and implementation to counseling sessions and beyond.
Leap of Power was written by Robert Schwebel, Ph. D., the Author and Developer of The Seven Challenges, for clients to read. It helps clients respectfully evaluate the impact of drugs on their lives, without judgement or putdowns of any sort or an agenda telling them how to behave. Clients who have a drug problem and want to make changes will get help evaluating their options and detailed guidance on how to succeed with either setting new limits or quitting. Clients who are uncertain whether they have a drug problem will get help making their own determination about the matter.
The Seven Challenges journals are a valuable tool for helping clients reflect on their lives and drug use and supporting them in their decision-making and change process. Each client works through the set of journals, one at a time, by writing in the journal and giving it to their counselor to respond and make comments. Each journal will pass back and forth between the client and their counselor several times during the supportive journaling process. This gives clients a chance to open up and reflect on their lives without the pressure of an immediate face-to-face audience. The journals use a combination of short answers, lists, and checkboxes to keep it simple, even for clients who struggle with focusing, reading, and writing.
For each room where sessions are facilitated, there are two full-sized color posters that counselors use to help frame the program and process. One poster is called “Challenging Yourself” and lists the seven challenges for easy reference during sessions. The other poster is called “Working Sessions” and serves as a visual aid for helping clients learn what it means to "work" in counseling sessions.
Each counselor providing the adult program will read the adult version of The Seven Challenges Manual before their organization's Initial Training. The manual includes information about counseling approaches for each of the challenges, instructions for implementing the program, strategies for introducing the program and materials, guidelines for responding to journals, and ideas about how to effectively monitor and supervise the program. Beyond implementation, counselors often refer back to the manual as needed.
The Seven Challenges Activity Book includes a wide array of counseling activities that help clients examine and consider changing their drug use behavior, while also helping them overcome situational and psychological problems. Counselors find an appropriate activity to support each session, and each activity contains instructions for preparation, facilitation, suggested discussion topics, and relevant readings from The Book of Readings. The book also has helpful information about skillfully leading activities, applying Seven Challenges counseling skills, and adapting group activities for individual work.
