Treatment Program Curriculum

The Four Agreements are one of the holistic approaches we use to supplement our behavioral therapies. In the first week, we teach you The Four Agreements to give you a solid foundation of reliability and trust on which to build your life after recovery.

Week 1 Schedule:

Day One — The First Agreement
Skill — Safe place

Day Two — The Second Agreement
Skill — Container

Day Three — The Third and Fourth Agreements
Skill — Light stream

The Four Agreements are:

• Be Impeccable With Your Word
  • You should speak honestly and positively about yourself and others. You shouldn’t say things you don’t mean or things that you wouldn’t want others to say about you. You need to let truth and love guide the way you speak.
• Don’t Take Things Personally
  • You need to understand that the things other people do and say are not about you but are instead about them as they are projecting their own reality onto the world around them. By becoming immune to the words and actions of others, you will save yourself from needless pain.
• Don’t Make Assumptions
  • You will be taught to communicate openly and ask for the things you want rather than assuming others will figure it out. This will help you avoid miscommunication, sadness, and drama.
• Always Do Your Best
  • Your best efforts are not the same as another person’s best efforts. Your best may not even be the same from day to day. But when you do the best you can every day, you save yourself from self-judgment and regret.

We believe that in order to understand how to overcome mental illness and substance use, as well as things like trauma that cause them, you must understand the way they impact the brain.

Understanding how trauma and negative thoughts affect the brain and thought processes can be crucial to finding success in recovery. We take the time to help you understand how your brain responds to certain situations and triggers so you can overcome those situations.

The primary tool we use to do this is known as the ABC method, which identifies an activating event, then a rational and irrational belief, and the corresponding healthy and unhealthy consequences.

Week 2 Schedule:

Day One — Brain Works Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Skill — ABC worksheet

Day Two — Brain Works CPT
Skill — ABC worksheet

Day Three — Brain Works CPT
Skill — ABC worksheet

Substance use and mental illness often put a strain on the social relationships in patients’ lives. However, humans are social creatures, and it is often tough to recover successfully without the support of a social network. At Continuum Outpatient, we teach you how to start mending those relationships with friends, family, and other loved ones.

We use methods including:

• DEAR MAN, which stands for Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, Mindfulness, Appear confident, and Negotiate
• GIVE FAST, which stands for Gentle, Interested, Validate, Easy manner, and be Fair, don’t be Apologetic, Stick to your values, and be Truthful
• “I feel” statements where you focus on your own feelings rather than the actions of others

Week 3 Schedule:

Day One — Interpersonal Effectiveness
Skill — (DEAR MAN)

Day Two — Interpersonal Effectiveness
Skill — (GIVE FAST)

Day Three — Love and Apology – The Languages
Skill — “I feel” statements

Trauma is one of the primary factors that lead to mental illness and substance use disorders for many people. In our IOP training, we focus on helping people learn to understand, deal with, and overcome their past trauma. This allows for lots of personal growth and helps you develop the ability to see yourself as more than a product of your past trauma.

To achieve this, we use tools like grounding, where you find ways to physically ground yourself in the space you are currently in, as well as things like exercise and focusing on the moment.

Week 4 Schedule:

Day One — What Happened to You? PTSD
Skill — Improve the moment

Day Two — The Limbic System on Trauma
Skill — 54321 grounding

Day Three — Post-Traumatic Wisdom
Skill — Intense exercise