Transcript Thresholds/Decisions Of Rutland, Vermont

A Program of Rutland Dismas House
Thresholds / Decisions
The Thresholds program was initiated
in 1965 by Dr. Milton Burglass, a former
prisoner.
Thresholds training in Rutland,
Vermont is developed and coordinated by
Thresholds/Decisions of Rutland, a
program of Rutland Dismas House.
THRESHOLDS / DECISIONS
Thresholds / Decisions is
a structured course in
decision-making
developed by and for a
community of volunteers.
The Thresholds/Decisions Program:
Understand and catalyze change in criminal
behavior
Involvement of local citizens in making our
criminal justice system more effective
Put the Community into the community
correctional system
Thresholds/Decisions
Programs:
The Thresholds curriculum is
offered to inmates at the
Marble Valley Community
Correctional Facility in a
week long training each
Spring and Fall.
Thresholds/Decisions
• “Community” training in decision
making and goal setting in which
volunteers are trained to work with
inmates and residents of Rutland
Dismas House.
• The course includes 18 hours of
instruction and interactive training in
goals, strategies and specific tools of
THRESHOLDS.
• Topics include: decisional living,
language and behavior skills with the
intentional use of symbols, imagery
poetry, film and music.
Thresholds/Decisions
Community Training is also available
for Teachers, Mentors, Social Workers,
Students (some credit is offered),
Correctional Staff and people who
simply want to use Decisonal Living
skills in their own lives for themselves,
their families and their friends
Thresholds/Decisions
Additional Offerings:
• High School Students
• College Students
• Upward Bound Students
• The General Community
We also offer Artform Workshops
Where Music and Art are used
Extensively in Decision Making.
Thresholds/Decisions
Curriculum
•
Goal setting and decision-making
•
Developing and carrying out long
and short range plans
•
Attitudinal changes, and
consideration of a satisfactory life style
Thresholds/Decisions
Decision Making
The purpose of this decision-making
program is to offer skills that will
help you to increase the amount of
control you have over your life.
Step 1
See The Situation Clearly
•
Isolate and define situations
•
Separate external events from internal
feelings
•
See the real limits and possibilities in
your life
Your Life is a Series of Discrete Events
See The Situation Clearly!
The
arrow is your life and the ÒXsÓ are separate, discrete situations in your
life. Life is indeed a series of separate situations and not one continuous, formless event.
We are different from what we were in the past and we will be different in the future. We
ARE capable of change! You can examine each event in your life as a separate situation.
What am I Feeling?
External/Internal
• There is more than one possible feeling that can result
from any given external situation, and therefore more
than one way of acting in response to it.
• Understanding this allows us to make decisions on how
to act in any given situation rather than reacting
automatically.
• If someone goads us, we don’t have to punch him; we
can walk away, we can say something to him or we can
agree with him.
External/Internal
(Examples)
Family
External
Parents Divorced
Internal
I hated It
School
Quit in 11th Grade
I was Bored
Job
Construction: Got
Fired
Hard and I hated
The Job
Step 2
Know What You Want
•
Find a direction in your life
•
Set a specific goal!
•
Be clear on what you want from a given
situation
Which Road? What Goal?
How Do You Make Decisions?
What is Your Plan?
Every Problem Has a Goal
Know What You Want!
FORWARD MOVEMENT
If you don’t know what you want, you may
become stuck in a reaction cycle. Each
situation sets up a reaction which causes a
slightly different situation which sets up a new
reaction and so on and so on…. If you are not
aware of such cycles, someone else may be
running your life without you knowing it. If
you know what you want, you can break these
cycles. You NEED forward movement toward a
goal!!!
Step 3
Expand Possibilities
•
Identify alternatives
•
Create new ones to develop more than
one way to reach a goal!
Expand The Possibilities
1
2
3
8
4
7
6
5
There is more than one way to reach
a goal. Lots of possible solutions can
be generated. Brainstorming should
be used to look at ALL the
possibilities. The symbol used here
looks like the sun, its rays
representing all the possible routes to
a goal. There are 360 degrees of
possibilities. DO NOT make
judgments now of right or wrong,
cool or stupid
Step 4
Evaluate and Decide
•
Look at possible outcomes
•
Consider risks
•
What are the odds of success?
•
Are there any alternatives?
•
Be aware of your values
RISKS
ODDS OUTCOMES
Evaluating means weighing all the possibilities against
each other. By doing this you will learn how to deal with
RISKS, ODDS and OUTCOMES. For example, is one of
your possible courses of action worth the risk? What are
the odds that you will achieve the goal? What will be the
outcome for you if you choose this possibility?
Step 5
ACT
•
Learn to map out goals, strategies and
tactics for getting things done
•
Self-monitoring is emphasized
Reach Your Goal
Put down in words or pictures what your goal
is, how you intend to achieve your goal and in
what time frame you will get there. DO IT!
ACTION PLAN
Strategies
1
2
Keep working 2nd job for 6
months
Look for rental near bus stop
3
Open savings account
4
Save $1,000 by June
5
Pop the question in July
Action Plan
Set Discreet Goals with Endpoints
Goals
Date
Time
Status
Goal 1
April 4th
2:00 PM
DONE
Goal 2
June 13th
6:00 PM
On time
Goal 3
August 9th
4:00 PM
On time
Artforming
Artforming is a Technique and a Skill
ARTFORMING
1.
2.
3.
Equalizes everyone
Encourages decision-making
Shows us that no matter how remote
or familiar an object or situation is, it
can relate to us personally and in our
own situations
ARTFORMING (cont…)
4. Increases our awareness level
5. Increases our perceptions
6. Helps identify similarities and
differences
7. Helps us think things through
8. Helps us think, feel, experience,
decide, act and relate
The Artforming Process
(Examples)
Question
Purpose
Task
Type
What Stands Out?
Recall
Perceiving
(Awareness)
Objective
What Would You
Change?
Opinion
Getting in
Touch
Subjective
When In Your life
Have You
Experienced This
Internalizing
Insight
Involvement