Thinking for a Change

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Bush, Glick, Taymans

What it is

T4C is a manualised, closed-group cognitive-behavioural intervention (CBI) for justice-involved adults and youth. It is delivered in prisons, jails, probation, parole and community corrections, usually by trained corrections staff rather than therapists. It is a group programme, not an individual…

Format

• Format (5.0)
• Lessons and sessions: 25 sequential lessons over about 30 sessions. Many lessons take two sessions.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Facilitator training: at least 32 hours of formal training before access to the materials. Facilitators are expected to prepare for at least 60 minutes per lesson.
• Give the 5.0 pre-test, which covers social skills, emotional self-regulation and problem solving.
• Version followed: Thinking for a Change (T4C) 5.0 (National Institute of Corrections; revision authored by Reginald Prince and Archie Weatherspoon IV) for the structure, lesson order, dosage and implementation rules. Step-by-step lesson procedures come from the publicly archived T4C 3.1 lesson plans (Bush, Glick and Taymans, NIC). Their numbering for Lessons 1–11 and 16–19 matches 4.0 and 5.0. The full 5.0 lesson…

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 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?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• 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

• plans with no when, where or who.
• a single preferred choice defended from the start.
• anxiety about losing the group. Link members to aftercare.
• an all-or-nothing verdict on the outcome. Review step by step.
• revenge goals, unrealistic goals, and opinions presented as facts.

Problems the guide addresses

• Problems the sources address
• Problems the sources do not address

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.