Programs

A.A. Preamble (Revised 2021*)

Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our Primary Purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

*The A.A. Preamble was revised in 2021 to replace the words “men and women” with “people” in the first sentence of the Preamble. The revision was approved through advisory action at the 71st General Service Conference annual meeting held online over April 17 to April 25, 2021.

Any A.A. Literature referenced on this Website, is a Copyright of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

1-2-3 Magic is a group format discipline program for parents of children approximately 2-12 years of age. The program can be used with average or special needs children. 1-2-3 Magic divides the parenting responsibilities into three straightforward tasks: controlling negative behavior, encouraging good behavior, and strengthening the child-parent relationship. The program seeks to encourage gentle, but firm, discipline without arguing, yelling, or spanking.

Parents as Teachers™ is a home visiting model that promotes the optimal early development, learning, and health of children by supporting and engaging their parents and caregivers. The home visiting model can be offered prenatally through kindergarten and can be replicated by various types of organizations including health departments, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, and school districts.

The Parents as Teachers model offers a cohesive package of services for families with young children and is framed around four dynamic components: Personal Visits, Group Connections, Child Screenings, and Resource Network. These components are guided by explicit fidelity and quality standards that guide program service delivery and replication of the program.

Parents as Teachers home visiting professionals meet families where they are comfortable; each personal visit includes a focus on parent-child interaction, development-centered parenting, and family well-being.

A-CRA is a behavioral intervention that seeks to increase the family, social, and educational/vocational reinforcers of an adolescent to support recovery from substance abuse and dependence. The manual outlines an outpatient program that targets youth 12-25 years old with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) cannabis, alcohol, and/or other substance use disorders. A-CRA also has been implemented in intensive outpatient and residential treatment settings. A-CRA includes guidelines for three types of sessions: adolescents alone, caregivers alone, and adolescents and caregivers together. According to the adolescent’s needs and self-assessment of happiness in multiple areas of functioning, therapists choose from among 17 A-CRA procedures that address, for example, problem-solving skills to cope with stressors, communication skills, and participation in positive social and recreational activities with the goal of improving life satisfaction and eliminating substance use problems. The adult model, Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA), has also been rated by the CEBC.

ACTION is a developmentally sensitive group treatment program for depressed youth that follows a structured therapist's manual and workbook. Each of the 20 group and 2 individual meetings lasts approximately 60 minutes. The child treatment is designed to be fun and engaging while teaching the youngsters a variety of skills and therapeutic concepts that are applied to their depressive symptoms, interpersonal difficulties, and other stressors. Skills are taught to the children through didactic presentations and experiential activities. The skills are rehearsed during in-session activities and are applied through therapeutic homework. Skills application is monitored and recorded through completion of workbook activities, and completion of the therapeutic homework is encouraged through an in-session reward system. In general, the first nine sessions focus primarily on affective education and teaching coping and problem-solving skills. Sessions 10–19 focus primarily on learning and applying cognitive restructuring as well as continued use of previously learned strategies. Beginning with the 11th meeting and continuing through the 20th meeting, children work to improve their sense of self.

Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) is designed to be a comprehensive approach for reducing or preventing the effects of exposure to child or family anger, aggression, and/or child physical abuse. Accordingly, it seeks to reduce many of the known risks for physical abuse/violence while also helping families to recover from the effects of exposure to these conditions. AF-CBT (originally named Abuse-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) teaches parents and children intrapersonal and interpersonal skills to enhance self-control, promote positive family relations, and reduce violent behavior. These skills include anger and anxiety management, how to challenge misattributions to support flexible thinking, child social skills, effective and safe discipline strategies, and healthy family communication and problem-solving skills. These skills seek to improve self-control, help families get along better, and maintain a safe and secure home environment. AF-CBT seeks to improve the relationships between children and their parents/caregivers who experience any of the following clinical concerns:

• Family conflict/arguments
• Anger and verbal aggression, including emotional abuse
• Child behavior problems, including physical aggression
• Threats or use of harsh/punitive/ineffective physical discipline or punishment
• Child physical abuse

AF-CBT is a treatment based on principles derived from learning and behavioral theory, family systems, cognitive therapy, developmental victimology, and the psychology of aggression.