Twelve weeks. Real change.

• Understand substance use, misuse, dependence, and substance use disorder in plain language.
• Establish trust, confidentiality expectations, and group respect.
• Recognize that people have different paths and reasons for using substances.

Real-life scenario: Someone who works, pays bills, and cares for their family wonders whether their drinking has become a problem.

Activity: “The person behind the problem.” Participants identify three strengths they have that are not related to substance use.

Take-home practice: Write down one personal strength and one reason for attending the course.

• Explore stress, grief, trauma, loneliness, pain, peer pressure, and social environments.
• Understand how substance use may become a coping strategy.
• Replace blame with curiosity while still recognizing harmful consequences.

Real-life scenario: A parent drinks every evening because it is the only time they feel able to relax after working two jobs.

Activity: Map the situation, feelings, needs, behavior, and consequences without labeling the person as good or bad.

Take-home practice: Notice one stressful moment and identify what support might help.

• Explore cultural attitudes toward alcohol, medication, drugs, help-seeking, and mental health.
• Discuss family expectations, faith, masculinity, shame, discrimination, and community stigma.
• Learn to respect cultural values without excusing harmful behavior.

Real-life scenario: Someone fears seeking treatment because their family believes personal problems should remain private.

Activity: Discuss the messages participants have received about asking for help. Participants may speak generally rather than disclose personal experiences.

Take-home practice: Identify one supportive person, community resource, or trusted tradition that could contribute to wellbeing.

• Identify emotional, social, environmental, and physical triggers.
• Understand how repeated substance use can affect reward, stress, judgment, and habits.
• Practice noticing cravings without immediately acting on them.

Real-life scenario: A person receives a message from an old friend they used to use substances with and feels a sudden urge to return to old habits.

Activity: Create a trigger map: situation → feeling → urge → possible response.

Take-home practice: Notice one urge or difficult feeling and try a safe alternative response.

• Recognize the relationship between stress, emotional discomfort, and substance use.
• Practice grounding, paced breathing, problem-solving, and reaching out.
• Identify coping strategies that are accessible and culturally meaningful.

Real-life scenario: After an argument, someone wants to use substances to stop thinking about what happened.

Activity: Try a brief grounding exercise, then build a personal coping menu with options for home, work, and public settings.

Take-home practice: Try one coping strategy and reflect on whether it helped.

• Explore how substance use affects trust, family roles, friendships, and parenting.
• Practice saying no, requesting help, and setting boundaries.
• Understand that supporting someone does not mean controlling or rescuing them.

Real-life scenario: A friend repeatedly asks for money, and the person fears the friendship will end if they refuse.

Activity: Practice three respectful responses: a boundary, an honest request, and a supportive refusal.

Take-home practice: Identify one boundary or communication skill to practice safely.

• Understand the potential effects of alcohol, opioids, stimulants, cannabis, sedatives, and other substances.
• Discuss interactions, overdose risks, and the importance of honest conversations with healthcare professionals.
• Recognize when medical care is needed.

Real-life scenario: Someone takes a prescribed sedative and also drinks alcohol, assuming the combination is harmless.

Activity: Review everyday safety situations and identify when to seek professional guidance or emergency help.

Take-home practice: Identify a reliable healthcare or harm-reduction resource.

• Explore uncertainty and mixed feelings about change.
• Connect healthier choices to personal values, relationships, and future goals.
• Recognize that readiness may change over time.

Real-life scenario: A person wants to reduce the harm caused by substance use but fears losing their main social circle.

Activity: Complete a “What might change, and what might stay difficult?” reflection. Set one small, personally meaningful goal.

Take-home practice: Take one achievable step toward that goal.

• Explore professional treatment, peer support, recovery groups, family support, and community resources.
• Identify barriers such as cost, transportation, language, childcare, stigma, or past negative experiences.
• Practice asking for help in a clear, specific way.

Real-life scenario: Someone wants help but worries their employer or community will find out.

Activity: Build a support map showing trusted people, professional services, emergency contacts, and practical resources.

Take-home practice: Contact or research one appropriate source of support.

• Identify warning signs and high-risk situations.
• Develop a practical response plan for cravings, lapses, and renewed substance use.
• Learn how shame can interfere with asking for help.

Real-life scenario: After several weeks of progress, someone returns to substance use following a painful family conflict.

Activity: Create a written plan: warning sign → immediate safe action → person to contact → next support step.

Take-home practice: Keep the plan accessible and identify one person or service to contact if risk increases.

• Explore sleep, physical wellness, meaningful activity, relationships, and daily routines.
• Identify personal strengths, interests, and goals beyond substance use.
• Recognize the impact of practical stressors such as housing, finances, work, and caregiving.

Real-life scenario: Someone is making progress but feels lost without the routines and friendships associated with their previous lifestyle.

Activity: Build a realistic seven-day wellness plan that includes rest, connection, responsibility, and enjoyment.

Take-home practice: Complete one small action that supports a meaningful life goal.

• Review the skills and insights developed throughout the course.
• Create a personal continuing-support plan.
• Celebrate participation, effort, learning, and personal growth without comparing people.

Real-life scenario: Someone finishes a structured program but worries about managing stress without weekly group meetings.

Activity: Complete a personal “My next 30 days” plan with goals, support contacts, coping tools, and a response plan for difficult days.

Take-home practice: Receive the certificate of completion and celebrate the group’s progress.

• Separate your identity from mistakes, grades, money, popularity, or other people’s opinions.
• Identify strengths, values, and personal qualities.
• Practice positive self-talk without pretending life is always easy.

Real-life scenario: A student is called “lazy” after struggling in class and begins believing the label.

Activity: Write five strengths and one skill you want to improve.

• Understand why rules exist and how to evaluate whether they are fair, proportionate, and consistently applied.
• Distinguish safety boundaries from unfair restrictions or discriminatory treatment.
• Practice respectful disagreement, asking questions, and seeking help when rights may be violated.

Real-life scenario: A school introduces a phone restriction for safety and learning. A student also believes the rule is being enforced unfairly against certain students.

Activity: Evaluate the rule’s purpose, evidence, impact, consistency, and available appeal process.

• Recognize emotions and physical signs of stress.
• Practice pausing, breathing, and choosing a response.
• Understand that emotional strength includes asking for support.

Real-life scenario: A friend insults you in a group chat and expects you to retaliate publicly.

Activity: Use the pause–name–choose method: pause, name the feeling, choose a response.

• Recognize supportive, controlling, and harmful relationship patterns.
• Practice saying no and expressing needs.
• Identify peer pressure and ways to exit uncomfortable situations.

Real-life scenario: Friends pressure someone to share a private photo to prove loyalty.

Activity: Practice three ways to say no, change the subject, or get help.

• Recognize scams, manipulation, cyberbullying, and privacy risks.
• Understand consent, digital footprints, and respectful online behavior.
• Learn how to document and report harmful conduct.

Real-life scenario: An online contact offers money in exchange for private images or personal information.

Activity: Identify warning signs, decide what information to protect, and select a trusted adult or reporting channel.

• Prioritize tasks and break large goals into manageable steps.
• Develop routines for sleep, schoolwork, activities, and responsibilities.
• Understand the difference between discipline and perfectionism.

Real-life scenario: A student has several assignments due, spends hours scrolling, and feels overwhelmed.

Activity: Build a realistic weekly plan using three priorities per day.

• Understand income, spending, saving, needs, and wants.
• Practice a simple budget and compare purchase choices.
• Recognize financial scams, high-pressure sales, and risky borrowing.

Real-life scenario: A teenager receives money and spends it immediately, then cannot afford transportation for an important activity.

Activity: Divide a sample budget into needs, savings, goals, and flexible spending.

• Explore interests, skills, education, trades, entrepreneurship, and careers.
• Turn a broad ambition into smaller, measurable steps.
• Recognize barriers without assuming they determine the outcome.

Real-life scenario: A student is told that their family background means certain careers are unrealistic.

Activity: Choose a goal, research one pathway, and identify two people or resources that can help.

• Use assertive communication rather than aggression or silence.
• Learn to disagree without insults, threats, or escalation.
• Know when a conversation is unsafe and it’s better to leave or seek help.

Real-life scenario: A teacher or supervisor corrects you in front of others, and you feel embarrassed and angry.

Activity: Practice a calm response and a respectful follow-up conversation.

• Understand the role of sleep, movement, nutrition, and supportive relationships.
• Recognize stress and know when professional help may be useful.
• Practice seeking help for bullying, substance exposure, emotional distress, or safety concerns.

Real-life scenario: A young person hides serious stress because they believe asking for help makes them weak.

Activity: Build a personal wellbeing plan and identify two trusted support options.

• Understand leadership as responsibility, not control.
• Practice accountability, admitting mistakes, and making repairs.
• Explore how to stand up for others without putting yourself in unnecessary danger.

Real-life scenario: A group mocks a student, and everyone is afraid of becoming the next target.

Activity: Identify three safe ways to respond, such as supporting the student privately, reporting the conduct, or seeking help from a responsible adult.

• Review the skills developed throughout the program.
• Create a personal 30-day growth plan.
• Recognize progress, strengths, and future opportunities.

Real-life scenario: A young person finishes the course and wonders how to maintain their motivation once the weekly sessions end.

Activity: Set one personal, one educational or career, and one wellbeing goal, each with a first step.