Our Methodology

Theoretical Approach
Lifestyle Counseling (LSC) is a culturally specific, cognitive-behavioral change approach to working with contemporary youth who are at-risk of becoming involved in the thug/drug lifestyle. The program incorporates a reality-based approach to counseling with youth. The approach is designed to raise the level of consciousness of youth and provide them with the critical thinking skills to make healthy decisions that influence the quality of life for themselves, as well as, family members and their community.

The model was developed from the belief that young people learn the culture of their community (ways of thinking and behaving) from the people they interact with. They learn by taking for themselves the ways of acting and thinking provided by their cultural environment. ATL assist the adolescent in navigating reality by challenging their perception of reality within the context of their culture. Through Addicted to the Lifestyle Prevention/Early Intervention Education adolescents learn to identify and eliminate what is or has been unhealthy self-destructive thinking and behavior.

Methodology
Research has supported the assumption that cultural competency is the key to working with diverse populations. This is especially true of the mental health and substance abuse arena (NASW, 2000). Cognitive behavioral approaches have been shown to be particularly effective with youth in the juvenile justice system, as well as, for children with anger or conduct problems more generally. The cognitive-behavioral approach is based on the theory that thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes determine emotion and behavior. CBT is a didactic approach that involves teaching youth about the thought-emotion-behavior link and working with them to modify their thinking patterns in a way that will lead to better, more adaptive behavior in challenging situations (NMHA,2000). The model which was initially designed to provide intervention with pre and post adjudicated youth has been modified and expanded to provide both intervention (Addicted to the Lifestyle) and prevention/early intervention education with youth between the ages of 9-21 years of age.