Evidence-Based Programs

When you ask providers for proof that their programs are effective, the majority will give anecdotal evidence. The reason is few, if any, have evidence-based studies to prove it.

Even if they were to conduct a research study based on the fifteen point criteria for evidence-based studies, the majority would find the results so poor that they would not want to publish them.

Studies of other life skills programs indicate a deterrent factor of six to twelve months. The main reasons are the providers' lack of knowledge, understanding or expertise of how to deliver their program at a deep enough level to make a change.

The medical field has seen great advances in the past 20 years. However, in the realm of behavioral sciences, little has changed. Most programs are stuck in the 70s and 80s and have hit a wall or just repeat what they have been doing, sometimes giving it a new coat of paint.

Their sub par performance isn't necessarily the fault of the instructor but the poorly designed, empty material they are using. To see the proof of this, just attend one of your provider's counseling classes and observe for yourself. A judge in Colorado attended one of his provider's classes. He was dismayed by what he observed. This would be normal across the nation.

The truth is most other, if not all, counseling programs you refer your offenders to have no or insubstantial proof that their programs are effective. Close observation of these programs would actually show that they increase recidivism rates because they take the place of something that could actually help. A good example of this would be the program called, "Thinking for a Change" published and distributed by the US Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrections. It is so bad it should be labeled "injustice." On a scale of one to ten, it would have to be a three.

ACCI does not proclaim that it has all the answers, but what ACCI does assert is that it is decades ahead of other organizations and the nation's leading provider of cognitive restructuring programs. If your goal is to change faulty thinking and self defeating thoughts and behaviors, then you should put our assertions to the test and conduct a class yourself.

You will want to use our material because you care about your clients and you want to maximize your time and effort. Why use ineffective curriculum when you could be using highly effective, evidence-based materials? The workbooks are filled with tried and tested cognitive restructuring science as well as unique intervention techniques developed by ACCI. You will be surprised and encouraged at the results and satisfied that you can help people change their lives. The highest goal in the counseling field should be to help clients become self-empowered and take charge of their lives.