About the Decisions Cognitive Skills Process
Vita’s Decisions curriculum uses decision making as a basis for teaching cognitive skills. The five-point process teaches individuals to ask specific questions in order to analyze situations. It leads them through progressive levels of thinking, from the concrete to the abstract, which culminates in making a logical decision. Our process develops cognitive skills by requiring individuals to organize thoughts, examine and challenge assumptions, and develop complex reasoning.
Activities within every point introduce the concepts and give opportunities to practice with both examples and the participant’s real situations. Through these activities, participants learn to recognize the factors that influence their decision making and identify repetitive patterns of unsuccessful behavior.
The Decisions process is unique in that it integrates feelings, attitudes, and values as integral parts of decision making. Participants learn to identify elements in a situation, set goals, recognize unsuccessful patterns of behavior, and predict consequences of their choices. This reduces reactivity which leads to better decision making.
Decisions Cognitive Skills Materials
Decisions For Living (DFL) is a course for incarcerated individuals. DFL is taught by professional staff to groups, or by trained volunteer tutors to individual clients. The course focuses on challenges faced while incarcerated and upon reentry into the community. The course can be taught in approximately twelve hours.
Decisions For Change (DFC) is a course for men and women on Probation or Parole. DFC focuses on the everyday decisions that need to be made while transitioning back into the community. The course can be taught in approximately twelve hours.
Decisions For Action (DFA) is a course for adults in basic education settings. It can be used by classroom teachers or case managers. The process supports persistence by developing problem-solving skills that are applicable to both academic content and personal situations. The course can be taught in approximately twelve hours.
Click here for sample workbook and facilitator manual pages
Purchasing the Decisions cognitive skills materials gives you access to Vita’s facilitator training videos.
Click here for a clip from the Facilitator Training Program video series.