The 7 Skills for Addiction-Free Living: Problem Solving
by Terrence Real
Watch therapist Terrence Real work with an audience in recovery using his five-step approach to problem solving: defining the problem, visualizing solutions, dealing with obstacles, identifying sources of help, and making an action plan.

If you are in recovery, then you have already moved toward solving one of the biggest problems anyone might face. But once recovery has begun, it can seem paradoxically like life gets more complicated as all the smaller daily problems come into focus—relationship troubles, workplace conflicts, unpaid bills, and more. It is essential to find reliable methods of addressing problems as they come up, without slipping back into the old strategy of avoiding them using drugs or alcohol.

In this empowering video, therapist Terrence Real breaks down the process of problem solving to five manageable steps: defining the problem, visualizing solutions, dealing with obstacles, identifying sources of help, and making an action plan. With a live studio audience in various stages of substance abuse recovery, Real helps participants and viewers alike tackle a range of problems, from unsatisfying romantic relationships to troubled children, from poor study skills to unclear career paths. Learn along with the studio audience as they move from frustration to clarity and optimism in just a few short hours, thanks to Real’s expert guidance.

This video is part of the series 7 Skills for Addiction-Free Living, and is primarily geared towards people in recovery, as well as their family members and loved ones. It is also an excellent resource for educators and trainers in addiction counseling programs, as well as staff at recovery treatment centers. Therapists in private practice will want this in their library to lend to clients struggling with substance abuse.

What therapists are saying…

"We are in new territory when we become sober, asserts Terry Real MSW in this video. Particularly challenging in this new territory is problem solving which involves a set of skills that many people did not learn in childhood. Terry Real walks members of a lively studio audience through the steps of problem solving. He directs them to carefully identify the problem, visualize practical and wild solutions and overcome the external and internal obstacles to change. This is a valuable resource for individuals in recovery."

-- Julie Tapley, MFT, San Francisco, California
In Depth
Specs
Bios
By viewing this video, you will:
  • Learn to define the problems you face and answer the question of whether change or acceptance is the right solution;
  • Get creative in generating potential solutions;
  • Distinguish between internal and external factors of a problem, and choose strategies for handling each;
  • Practice laying out short-term and long-term action plans, including dealing with obstacles and identifying internal and external resources to help you.

Length of video: 1:54:00

English subtitles available

Individual ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-281-6

Group ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-282-4

Group ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-282-2

Terrence Real, MSW, has been a practicing family therapist for more than twenty years and has lectured and given workshops across the country. A senior faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge in Massachusetts and a retired Clinical Fellow of the Meadows Institute in Arizona, Real is also a bestselling author of several books, including I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression, and The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Make Love Work. His work has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Today, Good Morning America, and Oprah, as well as in The New York Times, Psychology Today, Esquire, and numerous academic publications.
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