ARISE Formula
Since 1986, people who had never before conducted an interactive group session have used the ARISE Formula to successfully teach almost 5,000,000 DOCUMENTED hours of ARISE life-skills lessons.
The ARISE founders designed both the unique ARISE formula and each ARISE lesson so those responsible for educating at-risk youth needn’t be trained teachers. YES, ARISE staff training is available, but it is not a requirement.
Our primary goal in working with at-risk youth is to see positive behavior changes. Research shows that focusing on the positive—what the youth have and what they can do rather than what they do not have or cannot do—is a key in changing behavior. Another key is allowing self-expression. In fact, Karen Tallman and Arthur Bohart, psychologists and authors of How Clients Make Therapy Work: The Process of Active Self Healing, report that “The most helpful factor is having a time and a place to focus on themselves and talk.” The ARISE formula gives you the framework to do that.
Why Is the ARISE Formula So Important?
It’s no secret that lessons must be pre-planned to be effective. The ARISE formula is the key to preparing and presenting effective, interactive ARISE lessons.
It reduces your planning time.
It increases your sense of satisfaction with a job well done.
ARISE group sessions become a fully collaborative partnership between the youth and the ARISE group facilitator.
All of the above are based on the concepts and practices of cognitive behavioral models and effective Motivational Interviewing interventions.
What Is the ARISE Formula?
The ARISE Formula is the key to planning and presenting effective, interactive ARISE lessons. The formula guides you to organize, introduce, present and reinforce the basic content of any ARISE life-skills lesson. All you have to do is add details of the specific lesson/topic you will be facilitating. Using the ARISE Formula is easy and it works! In fact, most people who are successfully using ARISE lessons have never taught a day in their lives before learning to use this formula.
The formula also encourages high levels of interaction and positivism that open the doors for learning. This is key when working with at-risk populations.
Benefits of Using the ARISE Formula
- Boosts your confidence
- Establishes credibility
- Provides direction for meeting goals and objectives
- Organizes and sequences what you’re going to teach
- Ensures you cover everything you need to
- Manages group delivery time
- Ensures consistency when you’re teaching different groups over time
- Helps identify what to revise when something didn’t work well
Components of the ARISE Formula
The ARISE Formula is the main tool used to generate interactive ARISE lessons, and it can be applied to all ARISE materials and to all groups you conduct. There are four components of the ARISE Formula:
Introduction
The topic of a lesson is not always self-evident. A good way to introduce the topic for the group is to start with “Today’s discussion is about ____________. We will be doing an activity that will help us understand…_____.” In other words, say what the topic is in general, and then add a sentence or two to get more specific.
Guided Group Discussion
The purpose of an ARISE lesson is to get the youth involved in thinking about a topic, discussing it, and participating in an activity to reinforce the learning. At least 75% of the time spent in an ARISE group should involve interaction. ARISE guided group discussion involves asking questions, brainstorming, and mind-mapping.
Activity
Most ARISE lessons will include worksheets, but some will not. The worksheet is usually presented toward the end of the discussion. Remember that the discussion is the major part of the lesson. The activity is there to help cement what the youth have learned.
Wrap-up/Conclusion
End the ARISE lesson with a question designed to tell you what the group session meant to the youth. This helps determine the effectiveness of the lesson. And please end ARISE groups with a positive quotation or a genuine compliment.
