What is Guiding Good Choices?

A FREE five-part workshop (once per week for 5 weeks) for parents or caregivers of children ages 9-14. The program seeks to promote healthy youth development and to prevent teen alcohol, tobacco and other drug use by helping parents gain skills to:

  • build family bonds,
  • establish and reinforce clear and consistent guidelines and expectations for behavior,
  • teach children skills to resist peer influence,
  • improve family management practice, and
  • reduce family conflict.

Session Topics

Session One - Getting Started

How to Prevent Drug Abuse in Your Family

Session Two - Setting Guidelines

How to Develop Healthy Beliefs and Clear Standards

Session Three - Avoiding Trouble

How to Say No (Children attend this session with their parents.)

Session Four - Managing Conflict

How to Control and Express Anger

Session Five - Involving Everyone

How to Strengthen Family Bonds

Research

GGC is based on research and has been PROVEN to:

  • Improve parenting skills and parent-child interactions.
  • Reduce adolescent substance abuse.
  • Reduce adolescent depressive symptoms.
  • Reduce rates of self-harm by teens.

In high quality research studies, children of participants had:

  • 40% lower rates of alcohol and marijuana use,
  • 54% less progression to more serious substance abuse,
  • 26% greater likelihood of remaining drug free if not already using drugs,
  • 38% lower rates of self-harm,
  • 28% fewer feelings of worthlessness.

Free!

Includes a FREE light dinner for the family and FREE onsite childcare! All materials are provided at no cost to participants.

Convenient!

  • The workshop series is only a five night commitment
  • Series are offered on several different days of the week.
  • Series are offered at different times of the day.
  • Series are available throughout the school year.
  • Series are offered in all five towns.

 

Download a registration packet!

Here’s what parents in our community are saying about Guiding Good Choices:

"I learned that many of the skills I had were in fact good, and that some needed overhaul….To those of you who are skeptical, the worst thing that can happen is that you’ll meet nice people, have a friendly meal, and maybe fi nd a common ground with your kids."