Introduction by Allen Turley, Training & Curriculum Development Manager, Teen Challenge USA

We are often asked if we provide group or individual therapy or counseling for our students in Teen Challenge. Some may be tempted to simply answer this question with a "no". As a discipleship ministry we do not offer "therapy" or a "therapeutic" program by the definitions and processes recognized by government or other non-Christ centered based agencies. However, we should not feel intimidated by this question and feel that because we cannot answer that question with a "yes" that we are somehow inferior or have less to offer our students.

Shawn Blankenship, the director for the Oklahoma Teen Challenge adolescent centers, practiced as an LPC for about 7 years and worked in a large community mental health facility (inpatient and outpatient) for 10 years. He has a Master Degree in Counseling Psychology and an MBA. He worked in these environments as a Christian and personally witnessed the ineffectiveness of these programs. I wanted to share his training and experience in order to frame the thoughts he shared on the Teen Challenge discipleship studies in a session at our recent Teen Challenge national conference in Denver.

When I came to Teen Challenge, I found myself apologizing to parents and others who would inquire about the program, telling them that we don't offer traditional therapy. But as a Teen Challenge director, I began to learn about and use the Group Studies for New Christians (GSNC) and Personal Studies for New Christians (PSNC) curriculum. Although GSNC and PSNC do not offer secular treatment "therapy" in the traditional manner, I began to realize this is Christ-centered Bible-based "therapy".

When I looked at the PSNC, I began to see what it really was. I observed that PSNC correlates with what individual therapy attempts to do in secular programs, if done as it is designed and done well; much like a good therapist would begin with some basic issues with the client and then get them to discover what's really going on inside themselves. Through the PSNC work, students self-identify their problems and then take ownership of them by deciding what changes need to be made. The studies, along with the trained PSNC staff member's guidance, leads the student through that process.

A good therapist will sometimes need to be directive at the beginning of treatment and so must we in TC. Students start with very basic PSNC contracts with studies such as Who is God?, but as they grow and progress through various PSNC contracts they should be doing contracts in which they cover issues they have identified themselves or you have helped them to identify. The student is taking ownership. It's about them coming to a self-discovery of the issues in their lives and then guiding them to know how to change. If students have gone through your program and they've never made self-discoveries and self-decisions, and their changes were all about changes you told them to make, then they will leave and fail.

So, instead of apologizing for not having "therapy", describe PSNC to the parents. As they begin to see the process and the value, they have an "a ha" moment and accept what we offer as valid and important. A large part of the "individual therapy" we all use is PSNC. You're able to provide quality help to students when the PSNC contracts are individualized. If you're using nothing but standardized contracts, and you're giving those same contracts to every student, then you're not realizing the full potential of PSNC. It should grow into individualization which correlates with the individual.

The other aspect of what we have to offer is the GSNC. Most groups done in hospitals and inpatient psychiatric units are on standardized topics. It's usually a group on anger, depression, or self-esteem and they have a standardized worksheet that they work from to run this class. Or they have a video that they pop in. That's group therapy in an inpatient unit.

GSNC classes offer thorough outlines with much more information than any groups I've seen or done myself in inpatient settings. GSNC does a good job of giving the facilitator the information they need to lead a very good group session. Plus, an in-patient residential stay is usually 7-10 days and the clients get only one group session on any given topic (depression, anger, etc.). Whereas with GSNC, you're dealing with a given topic such as Attitudes an average of 5 classes, so you're able to pour into them and cover the topic in-depth. Not only that, you're giving them homework that they do throughout that study, thus providing even more time for thought and reflection.

Whether you're explaining and showing the program to a parent or a secular business man that wants to donate to you, it's beneficial to show them some of the specifics of the GSNC and PSNC studies. They will see the value and strength of what you have to offer. Don't apologize for who you are, but share the curriculum details to help them understand. Every grown man typically understands anger and personal rights because they've either experienced it personally in their own life or they've experienced it with their friends. They understand having to overcome anger. Everyone understands growing through failure. I hand people a GSNC student manual and study guide or a Character Qualities book and say this is what we do. They look through it and say, "Wow! This is great stuff." Spend $5 and show people what you do. As you begin to talk about those topics that they understand they will grab hold and realize these are powerful tools.

I can tell you that PSNC and GSNC really work and they really do correlate to secular personal and group therapy. Some in TC may feel pressured to adopt a therapeutic model and I think that comes from not understanding the strength of what we have to offer and thus feeling we have to apologize for who we aren't.

Realize that PSNC and GSNC are therapeutic if taken seriously and done correctly. Take the initiative, that step of faith to add to your program, and get someone that is dedicated to discipleship and watch the change in your program. Watch the impact it has on your program. Watch the insight your students begin to have.

We need to realize we are the best at what we do; secular or Christian. Let's just look at numbers. What other program has over 1,000 programs in 93 countries all over the world? NONE! Why does TC grow? Because we are effective, we don't have to apologize. We have to realize that what we have parallels and exceed what the world is asking for.