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Life skills resources

A New Freedom Life Skills Curriculum covers a wide array from developing coping skills and communication skills to vocational readiness, stress management, anger management and money management.

These resources provide comprehensive programs for adults and juveniles to develop skills for daily living. The curriculum is designed to address critical life and lifestyle issues. The overall objective is to help participants improve their general health and happiness as functioning members of society.

The skills and concepts taught here are the basics of a healthy and happy life. Each lesson comprises a lesson plan with a detailed narrative for the counselor or teacher, and a handout, worksheet, or other activity for the learners. Designed to maintain attention and promote active involvement, each hour-long lesson is based on identified behavioral objectives.



HYGIENE

  • Introduction
  • A clean body
  • Taking care of your hair
  • Taking good care of your face
  • Taking good care of your teeth
  • Taking good care of your clothing
  • Cleaning your clothes
  • Worksheet: Self-care (change) action plan


  • NUTRITION

    • A simple and proper diet
    • Going shopping for food
    • Easy meals - breakfast
    • Easy meals - lunch
  • Easy meals - dinner
  • Easy meals - snacks
  • Food storage and kitchen cleanup
  • Eating out
  • Worksheet: Shopping/nutrition action plan


  • PERSONAL ORGANIZATION

    • Choosing your clothing
    • Get yourself together
    • Having a backup plan
    • Making use of community resources
    • Affirming yourself
  • Worksheet: Taking charge of your life: your mind, your body, your future
  • Worksheet: Purpose and direction
  • Worksheet: Taking the initiative
  • Worksheet: Turning points
  • Worksheet: What’s really important to me?
  • Worksheet: Making changes


  • PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH

    • Visiting the doctor and other health care people
    • At the office of your doctor or other health care professional
    • After the visit
    • Taking your meds
    • How am I doing today?
  • What to do when you are having bad feelings
  • Worksheet: Stress and health
  • Worksheet: Making a choice
  • Worksheet: Where am I? (self-checklist)
  • Worksheet: Self-efficacy worksheet
  • Worksheet: Short health topics (*see list below)


  • MONEY MANAGEMENT

    • Keeping track of everyday spending
    • Travel expenses
    • Clothing costs
    • Household furnishings
    • Summary activity
  • When you need more money
  • Becoming Money Smart
  • Your budget
  • Money action plan
  • Worksheet: Where are you now? Where do you want to be?


  • INDEPENDENT LIVING

    • What makes a “home?”
    • Safety in your home
    • Safety in your neighborhood
  • Apartment living guidelines
  • Moving in
  • Keeping your apartment clean


  • LEISURE TIME

    • Seeking happiness and contentment
    • Identifying your needs and wants: for happiness, contentment, and comfort
    • Making your dreams come true
    • Increasing the joy in your life
    • Your most important values
    • Adding balance to your life with new activities
  • Worksheet: Dealing with crises
  • Worksheet: Taking the initiative
  • Worksheet: Joy and humor
  • Worksheet: New activities
  • Worksheet: The basic recipe for meeting new people


  • HANDLING THE TOUGH TIMES

    • What’s happened to you?
    • What pushes your buttons?
    • Living smarter. Living longer
    • How am I doing today?
    • What to do when you are having bad feelings
    • Get yourself together
    • Making use of community resources
  • External supports
  • How to be good to yourself
  • Handling difficult situations
  • Worksheet: Your internal resources
  • Worksheet: The rest of your life can be the best of your life
  • Worksheet: Let’s check your confidence
  • Worksheet: Connections: a key protective factor


  • INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

    Set 1:
    • Introduction to Anger
    • Basic skills for better communication - problem identification
    • Basic skills for better communication
    • Basic skills for better communication
    • Becoming a better listener
    • Becoming a better listener
    • Becoming a better listener
    • Becoming a better listener
    • Learning to be assertive
    • Learning to be assertive
    • Learning to be assertive
    Set 2:
  • Where does your anger come from?
  • Where does your anger come from?
  • Before you get angry
  • Where does your anger go?
  • How to keep out of fights
  • How to keep out of fights
  • When you are accused of something
  • When you are accused of something
  • Handling provocations
  • Handling provocations


  • Set 3:
  • When someone else is angry at you
  • Preparing yourself for a stressful conversation
  • When you need to express a complaint
  • Handling peer pressure
  • Offering specific help
  • When you have made a mistake/When others have made a mistake
  • Assertion skills practice: broken record
  • Assertion skills practice: fogging
  • Protecting your boundaries
  • Protecting your boundaries - part 2
  • Conflict resolution practice
  • Refusal skills #1 - when you can be totally honest with them
  • Refusal skills #2
  • Refusal skills #3
  • Using your escape skills


  • Set 4:
  • When you have set yourself up or embarrassed yourself by saying something
  • When you have set yourself up or embarrassed yourself by doing something
  • When you have not done well
  • Adding balance to your life with new activities
  • Introduction to stress management
  • What is stress doing to you?
  • How have you “coped” in the past?
  • Coping skill - Slowing it down #1
  • Coping skill - Warning yourself
  • Breathing skill for relaxation
  • Muscle Relaxation
  • Coping skill - slowing it down #2
  • Coping skills - the basic stop
  • Having a backup plan



  • PERSONAL PREPARATION PROGRAM (Job seeking/job maintenance)

    • Getting started: developing a vision of what’s possible
    • Let’s look at your skills
    • What kind of work would you like to do?
    • Job values
    • Motivation: developing a positive attitude is a critical part of the process
    • Thinking realistically about work
    • Practical aspects of finding a job
    • Personal marketing for jobs—one step at a time
    • Have a “Data Sheet” you can bring to every contact and meeting
    • Resumes for certain kinds of jobs
  • Interviews (typically provided over two sessions)
  • Keeping a job!
  • Common interview questions, part 1
  • Common interview questions, part 2
  • Your job success skills report card
  • Ideal job worksheet
  • Role play situations
  • Job ethics: discussion questions
  • Checklist for facing the future (optional lesson)
  • Summary checklist


  • COPING SKILLS

    • 4-7-8 Technique
    • Affirmations (optional skill)
    • Anchoring
    • Assessing your symptoms practice (FID)*
    • Deep breathing for relaxation
    • Distraction skills (3 parts)
  • Combined skills script
  • Creative visualization script
  • Muscle relaxation for relaxation
  • Self-soothing
  • Self-suggestion (for relaxation)
  • Thought stopping


  • SHORT HEALTH TOPICS

    (Some are focused on the older population, others apply to everybody)

    • diabetes
    • asthma
    • arthritic, bones, joints
    • urinary tract; prostate.
    • bowel problems
    • cancers
    • heart, circulation
    • poor diet habits
    • consequence of poor lifestyle choices before incarceration (smoking, alcohol/drug use/.abuse)
    • lack of preventative and positive health care practices
    • infectious diseases
  • preparedness for aging: anticipating possible cognitive changes (slowing down, dementia, etc.)
  • body changes with aging (sensitivity to heat, cold, pain)
  • eating issues (taste, dental, swallowing, gastrointestinal, weight loss)
  • risks and problems associated with falls
  • lower level of activity
  • lack of exercise
  • deceased muscle strength; fitness
  • increased amounts and types of meds
  • changes in the nervous system (tremors, dementia stroke, Parkinsons)
  • vision changes
  • hearing loss


  • For more information, contact us or complete a form for a phone consultation.


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