The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The RETHINK Curriculum program has been reviewed by the CEBC in the area of: Anger Management (Adult), but lacks the necessary research evidence to be given a Scientific Rating.

• Types of Maltreatment: Does not target any specific kind of maltreatment
• Target Population: Adults having difficulty managing anger. The program has also been used with young children with language skills through teenagers.

The book, Creative Anger: Putting that Powerful Emotion to Good Use and the RETHINK workbooks provide seven skills to help each person learn to manage their anger and use this powerful emotion to build good, loving, and productive relationships. The program follows this premise: “Anger, hardwired into our brains for protection, is the more misunderstood emotion. It contains a paradox. Anger out of control destroys, yet anger, when understood and controlled, is a constructive force and can be used for creativity, change, and growth.”

The goals of the RETHINK Curriculum are to:

• Learn to recognize when you are angry.
• Learn the seven RETHINK skills to manage anger.
• Learn how to reframe thinking toward a constructive end.
• Learn how to put each of these skills into practice.

The essential components of the RETHINK program are the seven skills to manage anger. They are cognitive/behavioral skills that will help a person change the way they think in order to change the way they feel.

The skills are:

• R - recognize your anger and what triggers it
• E - empathize with the other person and put yourself in the other person’s shoes
• T - think about the situation and your anger and try to reframe the situation in a less angry way. Humor can help.
• H - hear what the other person is communicating with words and nonverbal action.
• I - use I statements to express yourself. Integrate respect with your response.
• N - notice how your body reacts to your angry feelings and notice how you can calm yourself.
• K - keep your attention on the present moment

RETHINK Curriculum was not designed with a child component.

RETHINK Curriculum was not designed with a parent/caregiver component.

RETHINK Curriculum was designed with an adult component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Managing anger

RETHINK Curriculum was designed to be conducted in a group setting; but has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended group size:

8-10

Recommended Intensity:

Weekly 1-2 hour sessions

Recommended Duration:

10 weeks, though it can be 8 weeks if the sessions are longer

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community Agency
• Hospital
• Residential Care Facility
• School

RETHINK Curriculum includes a homework component:

Participants are encouraged to practice skills they learn through the RETHINK Curriculum at home between sessions.

RETHINK Curriculum does not have materials available in a language other than English.

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Room that can hold at least 8 people, cassette/cd player (optional), and overhead projector and/or screen for Power Point presentation (optional- slides are included in the Manual).

There is no minimum education requirement to be trained in the RETHINK Curriculum though social workers, psychologists, and professionals working in schools, at recreation centers, and with various populations have been trained in the past.

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program, and there is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Suzanne Stutman
  stutman.suzanne@gmail.com
  phone: (202) 364-0402

Training is obtained:

Formatted based on organizational need.

Number of days/hours:

Formatted based on organizational need.

Additional Resources:

There currently are additional qualified resources for training:

Paula Mintzies, Email: pmintzies@aol.com

This program has been reviewed and it was determined that this program lacks the type of published, peer-reviewed research that meets the CEBC criteria for a scientific rating of 1 – 5. Therefore, the program has been given the classification of "NR - Not able to be Rated." It was reviewed because it was identified by the topic expert as a program being used in the field, or it is being marketed and/or used in California with children receiving services from child welfare or related systems and their parents/caregivers. Some programs that are not rated may have published, peer-reviewed research that does not meet the above stated criteria or may have eligible studies that have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature. For more information on the "NR - Not able to be Rated" classification, please see the Scientific Rating Scale.

Child Welfare Outcomes: Not Specified

No reference materials are currently available for RETHINK Curriculum.