Aggression Replacement Training

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Arnold Goldstein, Barry Glick, Gibbs · 1987 · United States

What it is

Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is a manualised, closed, co-facilitated group programme, developed by Arnold Goldstein and Barry Glick in the USA in the 1980s for aggressive adolescents (mainly ages 11 to 18, chiefly in juvenile justice, schools and residential care). It is a structured…

Format

• Format
• 30 sessions over 10 weeks: three sessions a week, one per component, so each component gets 10 sessions. Sessions usually last about 1 hour (the Clearinghouse gives a range of 45 to 90 minutes).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Facilitators and fidelity. Two facilitators trained in the model. The Clearinghouse lists a minimum of a high school diploma. Accreditation involves a 5-day training covering all three components, and UCCI offers a 3-day end-user training. There are three tiers: group facilitator, trainer of facilitators, master trainer. The manual's Appendix B contains session evaluation checklists for fidelity. Washington found…
• Version followed: Glick & Gibbs (2011), Aggression Replacement Training: A Comprehensive Intervention for Aggressive Youth, 3rd edition (Research Press), as described by the publisher, the federal Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse and a state implementation FAQ. Earlier versions are Goldstein & Glick (1987) and Goldstein, Glick & Gibbs (1998, revised edition). The manual itself is not drawn on, so…
• Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is a manualised, closed, co-facilitated group programme, developed by Arnold Goldstein and Barry Glick in the USA in the 1980s for aggressive adolescents (mainly ages 11 to 18, chiefly in juvenile justice, schools and residential care). It is a structured programme with three linked curricula rather than a single therapy. It treats aggression as "simultaneously a behavioral,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• homework not done. See Section 5.
• harsh self-criticism. Shape it into specific coaching.
• borrowed reminders that feel fake. Use the youth's own words.
• labels used as insults. Keep naming the thought, not the person.
• the co-actor provoking beyond the brief. Use "Freeze" and re-brief.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.